Their cosmogony is a paraphrase of that of Genesis (Squier, _Serp.
Symbol_, from Payne's MSS.); the number seven is as sacred with them as
it was with the Chaldeans (Whipple, u. s.); and they have improved and
increased by contact with the whites. Significant in this connection is
the remark of Bartram, who visited them in 1773, that some of their
females were "nearly as fair and blooming as European women," and
generally that their complexion was lighter than their neighbors
(_Travels_, p. 485). Two explanations of these facts may be suggested.
They may be descendants in part of the ancient white race near Cape
Hatteras, to whom I have referred in a previous note. More probably they
derived their peculiarities from the Spaniards of Florida. Mr. Shea is of
opinion that missions were established among them as early as 1566 and
1643 (_Hist. of Catholic Missions in the U. S._, pp. 58, 73). Certainly
in the latter half of the seventeenth century the Spaniards were
prosecuting mining operations in their territory (See _Am.
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