A
DOG'S LIFE IN THE CAROLINAS1
An excerpt from
Erik
the Red, Leif the Lucky and other pre-Columbian Discoverers of America
by P.Oswald
Moosmüller,
translated by George P. Upton, A.
C. McClurg & Co, 1911:58-60.
The Expedition of Madoc, the Welsh Prince (ca
1170)1
It is
conjectured
that Madoc settled upon the coast of North or South Carolina, and that
the colonists never returned to Wales but gradually were
assimilated with the powerful Indian stock, though they preserved their
language. At the beginning of the English colonization
in these regions there are not lacking reports concerning this Welsh
remnant of Madoc's and also of Gaelic speech used by
the Indians. Some of these reports attracted little attention and were
not credited at the time, but one of them,
which deserves careful consideration, is that of Rev. Morgan Jones, who
wrote a letter in 1686, setting forth his experiences
among the Tuscarora Indians in 1660. In this letter is the following
remarkable statement:
"In
the year 1660, when I lived in Virginia and was Field Chaplain for
Major General Bennett, the General and Sir William Berkeley sent
two vessels to Port Royal, now called South Carolina, which lies
sixty
leagues south of Cape Fair and I was sent there to
serve as chaplain. We left Virginia on the eighth of April and arrived
on the nineteenth of the same month at the entrance
of the harbor of Port Royal, where we waited for the other vessels of
the fleet to arrive from the Barbadoes and Bermuda
Islands with the Honorable Mr. West, who had been appointed
Vice-Governor of this place. As soon as the fleet came, the
smaller vessels sailed up the river to a place called Oyster Point.
There I remained eight months and as we often suffered
for the necessities of life, five other men and myself travelled
through the wilderness until we came to the country of the
Tuscaroras.
The
Indians made us prisoners and we told them we were going to Virginia.
During the night they took us to their village and confined us in a
secure place, much to our dismay. On the next day they held a council
over us, after which an interpreter informed us we were
condemned to die on the next day. At this intelligence I was greatly
dejected and said in Welsh speech:
' Have I escaped so many
dangers only to be killed like a dog?'
Thereupon
one of the Indians, who was a war chief, and the chief of the
Doegs (who are descended from the old Britons or Celts) came up to me
and seized me about the waist and told me in Welsh I should not
die. Thereupon he took me to the Emperor
of the Tuscaroras and
arranged for my ransom and that of my
companions. They, the Doegs, made us welcome in their village and
cordially entertained us four months during which time I had frequent
opportunities for conversing with them in the
Welsh language and I preached to them in the same language three times
a week. They spoke to me about something which was difficult to
understand. Upon our departure they provided us with an abundance of
everything we needed. They lived on the Pontige River, not
far from Cape Atios. This is a brief account of my journey among the
Doeg Indians."
Morgan
Jones,
Son of John Jones, of Bastaeg,
at Newport, in the county of Monmouth.
I am ready
to
take a Welshman or others to that region, at any time.
New York, March
10, 1685-1686."
1. Title, expedition date and emphases added.