7.

[284-2] Beverly, _Hist. de la Virginie_, p. 266. The dialect he specifies
is "celle d'Occaniches," and on page 252 he says, "On dit que la langue
universelle des Indiens de ces Quartiers est celle des _Occaniches_,
quoiqu'ils ne soient qu'une petite Nation, depuis que les Anglois
connoissent ce Pais; mais je ne sais pas la difference qui'l y a entre
cette langue et celle des Algonkins." (French trans., Orleans, 1707.)
This is undoubtedly the same people that Johannes Lederer, a German
traveller, visited in 1670, and calls _Akenatzi_. They dwelt on an
island, in a branch of the Chowan River, the Sapona, or Deep River
(Lederer's _Discovery of North America_, in Harris, Voyages, p. 20).
Thirty years later the English surveyor, Lawson, found them in the same
spot, and speaks of them as the _Acanechos_ (see _Am. Hist. Mag._, i. p.
163). Their totem was that of the serpent, and their name is not
altogether unlike the Tuscarora name of this animal _usquauhne_. As the
serpent was so widely a sacred animal, this gives Beverly's remarks an
unusual significance. It by no means follows from this name that they
were of Iroquois descent. Lederer travelled with a Tuscarora (Iroquois)
interpreter, who gave them their name in his own tongue. On the contrary,
it is extremely probable that they were an Algonkin totem, which had the
exclusive right to the priesthood.

[285-1] Riggs, _Gram. and Dict. of the Dakota_, p. ix; Kane, _Second
Grinnell Expedition_, ii. p. 127. Paul Egede gives a number of words and
expressions in the dialect of the sorcerers, _Nachrichten von Groenland_,
p. 122.

CHAPTER XI.

THE INFLUENCE OF THE NATIVE RELIGIONS ON THE MORAL AND SOCIAL LIFE OF
THE RACE.

Natural religions hitherto considered of Evil rather than of
Good.--Distinctions to be drawn.--Morality not derived from
religion.--The positive side of natural religions in incarnations
of divinity.--Examples.--Prayers as indices of religious
progress.--Religion and social advancement.--Conclusion.

Drawing toward the conclusion of my essay, I I am sensible that the vast
field of American mythology remains for most part untouched--that I have
but proved that it is not an absolute wilderness, pathless as the
tropical jungles which now conceal the temples of the race; but that, go
where we will, certain landmarks and guide-posts are visible, revealing
uniformity of design and purpose, and refuting, by their presence, the