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Nov. 3, 2006 Twenty years ago Evans, Georgia was beautiful. I used to commute to then Augusta College from my parent's home and my morning drive would take me through the pleasant scenery of thick oak and pine woods and lovely green fields and horse pastures that in the month of May would be an explosion of colorful wild flowers. Now an incredible transformation has taken place, and Evans, Georgia is one big ugly parking lot with super Krogers, Wal Marts, Targets, and hundreds of mini shopping centers filled with establishments that are little more than trash cans where yuppies can throw their money away: nail salons, tanning salons, get-fat-doughnut and pizza joints, and pay-five-bucks-for-a-cup-of-coffee dives. And all this surrounded by residential neighborhoods of cloned houses packed together like sardines in a can. Don't get me wrong. I appreciate modern comforts as much as the next man, but getting stuck in bumper to bumper traffic jams in the middle of this crowded capitalist wasteland makes me wish I could open up a backdoor in time and see the quiet wilderness of 1700. That isn't possible so I read books like A New Voyage to Carolina by John Lawson. John Lawson was a well heeled Englishman who decided to travel to the Carolinas in 1700 and luckily for us he was intelligent and literate, and he left us a wonderful record of his experiences. He visited New York City at a time when it was more of a town (described as a few brick buildings and a fort) than a city, and he went on an expedition exploring the interior of both Carolinas from Charleston to as far inland as the Yadkin River which is in the piedmont section of the state and back toward the coast near the Hatteras Islands. While reading this book, I think I discovered information that historians may have overlooked. Historians have often wondered over the fate of the first English colony in North America at Jamestown. The people who settled there simply disappeared and historians theorize the survivors were assimilated by Indians, but scholars are tentative without direct evidence. Lawson provides some convincing information to support this theory. The Hatteras Indians told Lawson that several of their ancestors were white and could "talk in a book" (read). Though genetic tests have yet to prove this theory, the surnames of the members of that settlement are common in North Carolina today, suggesting that they did survive. John Lawson gives entertaining descriptions of fauna that is now extinct or rare. He writes about how when hiking along an Indian path they saw a mountain lion in the distance. His dog took off after it. The big cat sat down and waited for the dog, and realizing that this cat didn't run, the dog returned with its tail between its legs. Lawson describes the now extinct Carolina parrakeet and the passenger pigeon. The following is considered one of the best descriptions of the latter. "...we went to shoot pigeons, which were so numerous in these Parts, that you might see many Millions in a flock; they sometimes split off the limbs of stout oaks, and other trees, upon which they roost o'Nights. You might find several Indian towns of not above 17 Houses, that have more than 100 gallons of Pigeon oil, or fat; they using it with Pulse, or Bread, as we do butter, and making the Ground as white as a Sheet with their Dung. The Indians take a Light and go among them in the night, and bring away some thousands, killing them with long Poles, as they roost in Trees. At this time of year, the flocks, as they pass by, in great measure, obstruct the Light of Day." Lawson's description of the flora is not as good as William Bartram's, but his experiments with gardening and orcharding are interesting. He lists the varieties of apple trees he grew--many of which are rare today. Apples were important then, mainly for hard cider. Cider was a substitute for beer--an essential Englishmen's drink, but difficult to make unless farmers planted barley which could be difficult to cultivate. Lawson also remarks of the native peach trees that were already being grown by the Indians who contrary to what Lawson says must have gotten the seeds from the Spanish. The way Lawson describes the peaches makes them sound similar to the high quality fruit grown in South Carolina today. The book includes a catalogue of animals Lawson encountered. He was not a biologist. He categorizes reptiles as insects and attributes unfounded wives tales about snakes as fact. Most animals are regarded as food sources and Lawson has nothing but praise for bear. "The flesh of the Beast is very good, as nourishing, and not inferior to the best of Pork in Taste. It stands betwixt Beef and Pork, and the young Cubs are a Dish for the greatest Epicure living. I prefer their Flesh before any Beef, Veal, Pork, or Mutton; and they look as well as they eat, their fat being as white as Snow, and the sweetest of any Creature's in the World. If a man drink a Quart thereof melted, it never will rise in his Stomach. We prefer it above all things, to fry Fish and other things in...But I who have eaten a Great Deal of Bear's Flesh in my Life-time do think it equalizes, if not excels any meat I ever eat in Europe." The diet of Lawson during his expedition varied. Indians were generous, but their cuisine was uneven. One favorite dish was uncleaned venison fetus still in the bag, and some Indians cooked game--fur, entrails, and all--a practice Lawson found understandably revolting. Other Indians--one in particular--were clean cooks and made cakes out of cornmeal and dried peaches. Turkey was so abundant that Lawson got tired of it. He encountered flocks of five hundred--unheard of today. Some times they had to eat whatever they could catch and once he ate a stew of teal (wild duck), possum, and dried venison--a dish Lawson referred to as "curious." Red beans were an important item of Indian diet. "The small red Pease is very common with them, and they eat a great deal of that and other sorts boil'd with their Meat, or eaten with Bears Fat, which makes them break Wind backwards, which the Men frequently do, and laugh heartily at it, it being accounted no Ill Manners amongst the Indians. Yet the women are more modest, than to follow that ill custom." Tragically, Lawson was killed by Indians, probably tortured to death. After ten years in Carolina, Lawson still enjoyed expeditions and his last one was fatal. It is believed that a companion decided to save his own skin, and he convinced their Indian captors to execute Lawson instead of him. This was unfortunate because Lawson was liberal for his time and defended the Indians against unfair European greed. Lawson is our sole source of information for many Indian tribes that are now completely extinct. ------------ About the author Mark Gelbart: My book, Talk Radio, is a black comedy about a radio talk show host who gets kidnapped and psychologically tortured by a loser. www.mark-gelbart.com Email: agelbart@aol.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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