{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_69985/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_69985","id":"gutenberg_69985","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69985","summary":null,"tags":["Aquifoliaceae","Black drink","Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: Drugs/Alcohol/Pharmacology","Category: History - Other","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Category: Science - Biology","Ilex vomitoria","Indians of North America -- Food -- Southern States"],"text":"[Illustration:\n\n    Bulletin 14, Division of Botany, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.\n                                                             PLATE 1.\n\n             ILEX CASSINE.]\n\n\n\n\n  U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.\n\n  DIVISION OF BOTANY.\n\n  BULLETIN No. 14.\n\n  ILEX CASSINE,\n\n  THE ABORIGINAL NORTH AMERICAN TEA.\n\n  ITS HISTORY, DISTRIBUTION, AND USE AMONG THE\n  NATIVE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.\n\n  BY\n\n  E. M. HALE, M. D.\n\n  PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE.\n\n  WASHINGTON:\n  GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.\n  1891.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.\n\n\n  SEPTEMBER, 1891.\n\nSIR: I have the honor of presenting for publication the accompanying\npaper on the history, distribution, and uses of Ilex cassine, commonly\ncalled youpon, a shrub belonging to the southern and southeastern parts\nof the United States. Dr. E. M. Hale, the author, has made a thorough\nexamination of the scattered information which is to be found on the\nsubject.\n\nIn my opinion it is well to publish this paper, in order to perpetuate\nin a concise form the recorded facts concerning the economic and\nceremonial uses of this plant among the North American Indians. The\nleaves are now used to a limited extent among the Southern people, and\npossibly their use may be somewhat extended.\n\nIt seems that the detection of caffeine in the leaves of this Ilex\nrests upon the chemical analysis of Professor Venable, of the\nUniversity of North Carolina. I am not aware that any analysis has been\nmade by others.\n\n  GEO. VASEY,\n  _Botanist_.\n\n  HON. J. M. RUSK,\n  _Secretary of Agriculture_.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nSeveral years ago, when reading that delightful narrative, by the\nyounger Bartram, relating to his travels in Florida, I was much\ninterested in his mention of the Ilex cassine, and the decoction\nmade from it, called the \u201cblack drink,\u201d in use among the Creeks and\nother aborigines of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. My curiosity led\nme to investigate the subject, and I was surprised to find so little\nwritten about it. I have consulted all the works in which there are any\nallusions to the Ilex cassine, and the results of this research are\nembodied in this bulletin.\n\nI must acknowledge the kind assistance and encouragement of many\neminent men; among whom are Dr. George Vasey, Dr. A. W. Chapman, Albert\nS. Gatschet, Dr. Daniel G. Brinton, Horatio Hale, and Prof. F. P.\nVenable.\n\nI hope this imperfect paper may stimulate others to further\ninvestigations of this indigenous analogue of tea and coffee.\n\n  EDWIN M. HALE, M. D.\n\n  No. 2200 _Prairie Avenue, Chicago, Ill._\n\n\n\n\nILEX CASSINE, THE ABORIGINAL NORTH AMERICAN TEA.\n\nEDWIN M. HALE, M. D., _Chicago_.\n\n\nThere is a shrub or small tree, a species of holly (Ilex cassine),\ngrowing in the Southern States along the seacoast, not extending inland\nmore than 20 or 30 miles, from Virginia to the Rio Grande. Its leaves\nand tender branches were once used by the aboriginal tribes of the\nUnited States in the same manner as the Chinese use tea and the South\nAmericans use mat\u00e9. But while the use of _Thea sinensis_ and _Ilex\nparaguayensis_ still survives, the use of the shrub above mentioned has\nbeen almost abandoned by our native Indians and by the white people who\nonce partially adopted it as a beverage.\n\nThe reason for its disuse is hard to discover, for, in common with the\ntea and mat\u00e9, it contains caffeine, or a similar alkaloid. The object\nof this paper is to examine its history, to suggest its restoration to\na place among the stimulant beverages, and inquire into its possible\neconomic value.\n\nI have been able to trace its use as a beverage back to the legendary\nmigration of the Creeks from their supposed far western home to the\nseacoast of the Carolinas. Whether it was used by the prehistoric\nmound-builders is a question which may not at present be solved.\nBut some arch\u00e6ologist of the future may find in the remains of the\nmound-builders or their predecessors proof of its use among them.[1]\n\n\nBOTANY OF CASSINE.\n\nBefore tracing the history of the cassine from the earliest historic\nperiod down to the present, a few botanical notes relating to the genus\nIlex are appropriate. According to Bentham and Hooker in their \u201cGenera\nPlantarum,\u201d this genus contains about 145 species, mostly natives of\nCentral and South America, but some belonging to the southern portions\nof North America; others to the central and tropical parts of the\nEastern Hemisphere; and a few to Africa and Australia.[2]\n\nThe question whether any other species than the I. cassine contains an\nalkaloid analogous to caffeine has not been investigated. It is also\na question whether any of the allied species, such as those of the\nsections _Prinoides_ and _Prinos_, contain a constituent which would\nenable them to be a substitute for the cassine.[3] Chapman, in his\n\u201cBotany of the Southern States,\u201d enumerates three principal species\nof the genus Ilex, and one variety, namely, _Ilex opaca_ (common\nholly), _Ilex dahoon_ (dahoon holly), and _Ilex cassine_, sometimes\ncalled \u201cIlex vomitorea.\u201d The one variety is the _Ilex myrtifolia_\n(myrtle-leaved holly). He mentions three species of the section\n_Prinoides_ and four of _Prinos_. The habitat of all the species,\nexcept the I. cassine, extends from the seacoast inland in swamps,\nalong river courses, and low pine lands. In fact, no mention is made of\ntheir occupying the light sandy soil close to the seacoast.\n\nRev. E. C. Reinke writes from Fairfield, Island of Jamaica, that there\nare four species of Ilex on the island, viz, _I. obcordata_, _I.\noccidentalis_, _I. di\u0153ca_, _I. montana_. Most of these are found on\nthe Blue Mountains, 5,000 feet above the level of the sea. He could\nnot ascertain that any use whatever was made of the leaves or berries\neither on the island or anywhere in the West Indies. As the aborigines\nof the West India Islands are all extinct, or nearly so, it is not\nstrange that no present use is made of the Ilex. It is probable that\nnone of these species contains any such active constituents as the _I.\ncassine_.\n\nDr. Chapman, in a recent letter, says: \u201cThe I. cassine grows along the\nwhole east and west coast of Florida, and on the shores of the Gulf and\nin Texas, if the _Orcophiles_ (Scheele) is the same, as is possible.\u201d\n\nJohn M. Coulter (Contributions U. S. National Herbarium, vol. II, No.\n1, Texas) mentions that the _Ilex cassine_ yaupon \u201cextends into Texas\nto the valley of the Colorado.\u201d This would imply that it is not found\nfarther westward than the mouth of the Colorado River, which is at\nMatagorda Bay, about halfway from the Louisiana line to the Rio Grande.\n\nIn a recent pamphlet on the extinct coast Indians of Texas, the\n_Karankawas_, Gatschet mentions their use of the cassine. They gathered\nit \u201cin the woods, _not_ on the coast line,\u201d but probably not beyond the\ntide water of the rivers. These Indians lived on the coast from the\nColorado River to the Rio Grande, so it must be found as far as the\nlatter river. Possibly its habitat extends down along the Mexican coast.\n\nP. M. Hale, in his \u201cWoods of North Carolina,\u201d describes several species\nof holly. Of Ilex cassine he writes as follows:\n\n    Yopon (_I. Cassine_ Linn.).--An elegant shrub, 10 to 15 feet\n    high, but sometimes rising into a small tree of 20 to 25\n    feet. Its native place is near to salt water, and it is found\n    from Virginia southward, but never far in the interior. Its\n    dark evergreen leaves and bright red berries make it very\n    ornamental in yards and shrubberies. The leaves are small,\n    \u00bd to 1 inch long, very smooth, and evenly scalloped on the\n    edges, with small rounded teeth. In some sections of the\n    lower district, especially in the region of the Dismal Swamp,\n    these are annually dried and used for tea, which is, however,\n    oppressively sudorific--at least, to one not accustomed to\n    it. The mat\u00e9, or Paraguay tea, of South America, is of the\n    same genus as this, but a very different species. Our yopon is\n    the article from which the famous black drink of the Southern\n    Indians was made. At a certain time of the year they come\n    down in droves from a distance of some hundred miles to the\n    coast for the leaves of this tree. They make a fire on the\n    ground, and putting a great kettle of water on it, they throw\n    in a large quantity of these leaves, and, seating themselves\n    around the fire, from a bowl that holds about a pint they\n    begin drinking large draughts, which in a short time occasion\n    them to vomit freely and easily. Thus they continue drinking\n    and vomiting for the space of 2 or 3 days, until they have\n    sufficiently cleansed themselves; and then, every one taking a\n    bundle of the tree, they all retire to their habitations.\n\n\nETYMOLOGY OF THE NAMES \u201cDAHOON,\u201d \u201cCASSINE,\u201d AND \u201cYOUPON.\u201d\n\nI have been at some pains to ascertain the correct etymology of these\nnames.\n\nDr. Albert S. Gatschet, of the Bureau of Ethnology, at Washington, D.\nC., one of the best authorities, writes me as follows:\n\n    According to Lawson there are two or three sorts of youpon. The\n    Indians of South Carolina call it \u201ccassina.\u201d It grows on sand\n    banks and islands near the sea. (Used by the North Carolina\n    Indians for tea.) It is written _cassena_. From Mutter it\n    would appear that the cassine are chiefly African plants, nor\n    do I think that the name is Indian. I find no word in Katawba\n    corresponding to the word \u201cdahoon.\u201d I saw here in the Botanical\n    Garden a shrub from North Carolina called _Ilex vomitoria_,\n    undoubtedly the _Assi shrub_. \u201cAssi\u201d is only an abbreviation\n    of _Assi lupub\u2019ski_ (Creek), \u201csmall leaves.\u201d The Shetimasha\n    term was _no\u2019ut_ (Ch. C. Jones). Tomochichi calls it \u201cfoskey,\u201d\n    probably Yamassi, a dialect of the Creek.\n\nW. R. Gerard, of New York, an eminent philologist, writes me:\n\n    The word _cassine_ belongs to the language of the now extinct\n    Timucua Indians of Florida. Little is known of the language\n    of those people. It has seemed to me that they borrowed the\n    word from the Creeks, who call Ilex cassine _ussie_, leaf tea.\n    Cassine (c-assi-ne) would seem to be this word with a guttural\n    prefix and a suffix _ne_ of unknown meaning. I can not refer\n    the word _dahoon_ to any Indian language. I believe it to be\n    of French origin, \u201c_houx d\u2019Ahon_.\u201d _Youpon_ is Indian, and\n    seems to belong to the language of the long-extinct Waccoons of\n    North Carolina. The word is Catawba, for in Catawba _y\u00e1p_, also\n    pronounced \u201cyop,\u201d means wood, stick, and tree.\n\nProf. Lester F. Ward, botanist of the U. S. National Museum, writes:\n\n    Linn\u00e9 first used \u201ccassine\u201d as a generic name, and applied it to\n    a South African plant (Gen. Ed. Nova: No. 371, 1753, and his\n    Systema Natur\u00e6, ed. 13th, Lipsi\u00e6, 1791). Thomas Walter used\n    it first as a specific name for Ilex (Flor.-Carolina, Loud.,\n    1778). None of these two refer to the origin of the word.\n    Thomas Walter used dahoon as a specific name; Linn\u00e9 copied from\n    him and spells it \u201cduhoon.\u201d\n\nProbably Gerard\u2019s explanation of the etymology of those three words\nis correct, for at the time Walter and Linn\u00e9 wrote the Indian names\nof plants had been carried abroad by botanists and travelers in this\ncountry.\n\n\nCHEMISTRY OF CASSINE.\n\nANALYSIS OF THE LEAVES OF ILEX CASSINE.\n\nI quote the following from a paper by F. P. Venable, PH.D., University\nof North Carolina:\n\n    Having on hand a small sample of the leaves procured from New\n    Berue during the winter of 1883, it seemed desirable to make an\n    examination of them, to decide, if possible, the presence of\n    any alkaloid or other principle which would make the decoction\n    useful as a beverage. The usual treatment with magnesium oxide,\n    exhaustion with water, separation by means of chloroform, and\n    subsequent purification was adhered to, resulting in obtaining\n    a small amount of a white substance slightly soluble in water,\n    more so in alcohol, and easily soluble in chloroform, which\n    gave distinctly the tests for caffeine, especially the murexide\n    reaction, and very closely resembled a specimen of pure\n    caffeine from Powers & Weightman.\n\n    This caffeine formed .32 per cent. of the dried leaves. Later\n    on, in May, a much larger supply of the same leaves was\n    gotten from the neighborhood of Wilmington. A more thorough\n    examination of them was then made, with the following results:\n\n      Water in air-dried samples   13.19\n      Extracted by water           26.55\n      Tannin                        7.39\n      Caffeine                       .27\n      Nitrogen (on combustion)       .73\n      Ash                           5.75\n\n    Mat\u00e9 or Brazilian holly (_Ilex paraguayensis_) belongs to the\n    same genus. Its ash analysis, as made by Se\u00f1or Arate, is given\n    in the second column. The plant grows wild in Brazil, and is\n    very largely used by the South Americans. It has, according to\n    Peckolt (Pharm. J. Trans. (3) 14, 121-124; Abstract Jour. Chem.\n    Soc., 1884, 479), been planted, and seems to succeed well,\n    in the Cape of Good Hope, Spain, and Portugal. It is stated\n    that six different species of Ilex are used in the preparation\n    of this tea. Peckolt gives, in his analysis of the air-dried\n    leaves, the percentage of caffeine as 0.639. The average\n    percentage of analyses by different authors is about 1.3. I\n    can find mention of only one other Ilex used as a substitute\n    for tea. The analysis of this by Ryland and Brown is quoted\n    in Blythe\u2019s \u201cComposition and Analysis of Foods\u201d (p. 343). It\n    is called the Ilex cassiva, is said to be used as a tea in\n    Virginia, and the percentage of caffeine is given as 0.12.\n    This is probably the same thing as the yopon, the analysis of\n    which is given above, and the \u201ccassiva\u201d may be a misprint for\n    \u201ccassine.\u201d\n\nIn a more recent paper Professor Venable reports additional analyses,\nwhich are interesting. He says:\n\n    Some years ago an analysis of the leaves of Ilex cassine\n    was given in this journal.[4] In this analysis appeared the\n    interesting fact that these leaves contained a small percentage\n    of caffeine. During the winter of 1885-\u201986, at the request\n    of some medical friends whose attention was drawn to the\n    analysis, a more thorough examination was undertaken, not only\n    of the leaves, but of the berries. It was thought advisable,\n    at the same time, to examine the leaves and fruit of other\n    representatives of the Ilex family in this State--_Ilex opaca_\n    and _Ilex dahoon_. This was primarily a search after alkaloids,\n    and not intended as a complete chemical examination. As no\n    alkaloids were found other than the caffeine already mentioned,\n    no account of the work was published, and the results have been\n    hidden away in my note books ever since. Thinking, however,\n    that even negative results are often of some value and that the\n    partial analysis might be of aid to others, I offer this paper\n    for publication in the journal of the society.\n\n    Besides the _I. opaca_, _I. dahoon_, _I. cassine_, according\n    to Curtis there are in this State five additional species\n    of this genus: _I. decidua_ Walt. _I. ambigua_ Chapman; _I.\n    verticillata_ Gray, _I. glabra_ Gray, _I. coriacea_ Chapm, but\n    the examination was not extended to them. In searching for the\n    alkaloids the directions of Dragendorff were first followed.\n    The leaves (or crushed berries) were first digested at 40\u00b0-50\u00b0\n    with dilute sulphuric acid. This extract was evaporated to\n    a sirupy consistence, the residue mixed with three or four\n    times its bulk of alcohol, filtered after 24 hours\u2019 standing,\n    and washed with alcohol. The alcohol was then distilled off\n    from the filtrate, the watery residue was diluted with water\n    and filtered. Petroleum-ether, benzol, and chloroform were\n    successively used to extract the alkaloidal principles, if any\n    were present in the acid liquid. Then, after rendering alkaline\n    with ammonia, the liquid was again extracted with the solvents\n    mentioned.\n\n    As, even with water but slightly acidified with sulphuric acid,\n    some risk of the destruction or change of the alkaloids was run\n    during the long evaporation, a second method was made use of,\n    as follows:\n\n    The leaves were digested for 10 hours with 70 per cent alcohol,\n    the alcohol distilled off, and the residue treated with lead\n    acetate and soda. The excess of lead was removed by means of\n    sulphuretted hydrogen and the filtrate from this evaporated\n    to a thin sirup. This was then treated with strong alcohol,\n    filtered, and the excess of alcohol distilled off. Bismuth,\n    potassium-iodide, and sulphuric acid were next used to\n    precipitate any alkaloid present. The presence of albuminoid\n    matter rendered it necessary to decompose this by means of\n    soda, neutralized with dilute sulphuric acid, and reprecipitate\n    with mercuric chloride. The solutions to which mercuric\n    chloride had been added were allowed to stand several days. The\n    results may be tabulated as follows:\n\n      I. opaca, leaves       No alkaloid.\n      I. opaca, berries      No alkaloid.\n      I. dahoon, leaves      No alkaloid.\n      I. dahoon, berries     No alkaloid.\n      I. cassine, leaves     Caffeine.\n      I. cassine, berries    No alkaloid.\n\n    I regard these analyses as conclusive, at least, of the absence\n    of the known, well characterized alkaloids. It is, of course,\n    possible that other methods might reveal the presence of some\n    of the more elusive ones.\n\nIt is interesting to note in this connection that of the five species\nin the genus _Thea_, only one contains _theine_; of the genus\n_Cinchonace\u00e6_, to which coffee belongs, only one contains _caffeine_;\nwhile of the many species of Ilex in South America, only three, so far\nas known, contain caffeine. Chemists assert that theine and caffeine\nare identical, but physicians know that they differ widely in their\nphysiological and therapeutic effects.\n\n\nPHYSIOLOGICAL AND TOXIC EFFECTS.\n\nAll of the hollies possess decided physiological action on the human\nsystem. _Ilex opaca_ once had a large reputation in Europe and England\nin rheumatism, gout, cutaneous diseases, and intermittent fever. The\nyoung leaves and branches, in France, are fed to cattle, and said to\nincrease the quantity and quality of the milk of cows.\n\nGriffith (Medical Botany, 1847) writes of the _cassine_:\n\n    Another native species, the _I. vomitoria_, of Aiton, appears\n    to be endowed with still more powerful properties. This is a\n    native of the most southern parts of the country, where it is\n    held in high esteem amongst the Indians, who considered it\n    a holy plant, and employed it in their religious ceremonies\n    and councils, to purge their bodies from all impurities. They\n    called both this and the _I. dahoon_ by the name of \u201ccassena.\u201d\n    The leaves, which were the part employed, were collected\n    with great care, and formed an article of trade among the\n    tribes. Dr. B. S. Barton (\u201cCollections,\u201d 38) says of it: \u201cIt\n    is thought to be one of the most powerful diuretics hitherto\n    discovered. It is held in great esteem among the Southern\n    Indians; they toast the leaves and make a decoction of them. It\n    is the men alone that are permitted to drink this decoction,\n    which is called \u2018black drink.\u2019\u201d These leaves are inodorous,\n    and have a somewhat aromatic, acrid taste. In small doses\n    the decoction acts as a powerful diuretic, and in large ones\n    produces discharges from the stomach, bowels, and bladder. In\n    North Carolina, on the seacoast, the inhabitants modify the\n    deleterious action of their brackish water by boiling a few\n    leaves of cassena with it. (The African kola nut, powdered\n    and added to foul water, is said to purify it. It contains\n    theobromine, an alkaloid analogous to caffeine.)\n\nRafinesque (Medical Botany, 1828) calls it \u201c_Cassine Peragua_\u201d\n(Schoeph), or _Ilex vomitoria_ (Aiton), and says:\n\n    This by some is said to be the true cassine of the Florida\n    tribes. But _C. aumlosa_ (Rafinesque), _Ilex cassine_, and\n    _dahoon_, _Viburnum cassinoides_, are all equally so named\n    and used. The leaves are bitterish, sudorific, purgative,\n    and diuretic; vomitive and purgative in strong decoctions,\n    called \u201cblack drink.\u201d Said to be useful in gravel, nephritis,\n    diabetes, fevers, and small-pox.\n\nKing (Dispensatory, 1864) says: \u201cThe _Ilex vomitoria_, or \u2018South Sea\ntea,\u2019 is the cassine of the Indians. A few leaves of this plant lessen\nthe injurious influence of saline water.\u201d\n\nIt has never been made officinal in any pharmacop\u0153ia in this country or\nEurope.\n\n\nMETHOD OF PREPARATION.\n\nThe leaves and young tender branches were carefully picked. The fresh\ncassine was gathered at the time of harvest or maturity of the fruits,\nwhich was their New Year. The New Year began with the \u201cbusk,\u201d which was\ncelebrated in July or August, \u201cat the beginning of the first new moon\nin which their corn became full eared,\u201d says Adair. The leaves were\ndried in the sun or shade and afterwards roasted. The process seems to\nhave been similar to that adopted for tea and coffee. The roasting was\ndone in ovens, remains of which are found in the Cherokee region; or in\nlarge shallow pots or pans of earthenware, such as the Indian tribes\nmade.\n\nThese roasted leaves were kept in baskets in a dry place until needed\nfor use. Laudonni\u00e8re (1564) writes of being presented with baskets\nfilled with leaves of the cassine. A description of the method of\nmaking the decoction, or \u201cblack drink,\u201d will be found in Dickenson\u2019s\nand Bartram\u2019s narrations, and in other quotations below. A special\nfeature was the practice of pouring the liquid from one bowl to another\nuntil a deep froth appeared. Whether this was supposed to increase the\npotency of the beverage, or was a fashion, like the Spanish method of\nwhipping chocolate to a foam, is a question; probably the latter is the\ntrue explanation. The Japanese treat their infusions of tea in the same\nmanner.\n\n_Was it an article of commerce?_--There seems to be no doubt on this\nsubject. Allusions to the drinking of the \u201cblack drink\u201d are found,\nindicating its use among tribes residing at a long distance from the\nhabitat of the cassine.\n\nLawson (1709) writes of its being \u201ccollected by the savages of the\ncoast of Carolina, and from them sent to the westward Indians and sold\nat a considerable price.\u201d Dr. Porcher, author of the \u201cResources of the\nSouth,\u201d says: \u201cThe Creek Indians used a decoction of the cassine at the\nopening of their councils, _sending to the seacoast for a supply_,\u201d and\nadds that the coast Indians sent it to the far west tribes. How far its\nuse extended northward I can not ascertain. From some allusions of the\nearly French writers I think it was used by the Natchez, and that it\nwas sent up the Mississippi from the coast of Louisiana. The Indians of\nWisconsin, Illinois, and westward, used a decoction of willow leaves\nas a beverage, but I can not find that they used it in ceremonials, or\nthat it was looked upon with the same reverence.\n\nIt appears from the accounts of various early writers that there were\nseveral methods of preparing the black drink.\n\n(1) The decoction made of the fresh leaves and young branches.\n\n(2) A decoction of the dried and roasted leaves. It is probable that\nthe leaves during roasting developed new qualities, as the roasting of\ncoffee brings out the aromatic odor due to a volatile oil.\n\n(3) A decoction which was allowed to ferment. In this condition\nit became an alcoholic beverage, capable of causing considerable\nintoxication, similar to that caused by beer or ale.\n\nMcCullough, in his \u201cResearches,\u201d seems to be in error when he asserts:\n\n    None of the people of Florida appear to have used intoxicating\n    drinks; but they made a hot tea from the leaves of the cassine\n    (_Prinos glaber_), which they poured backwards and forwards\n    until it frothed. This tea may have been slightly stimulant,\n    but it seems to have had no other than a diaphoretic or\n    diuretic effect.\n\nThis seems to have been the belief of all the early writers, but I\nhave always doubted it, for if true the North American Indians would\nstand about alone among races above the lower grade of savagery in\ntheir ignorance of alcoholic beverages. The Mexican Indians (Aztecs),\nthe tribes of the Pacific coast and of Central America, all had\nintoxicating drinks. I admit that there is no proof that the Indians of\nCanada and of the States north of the Ohio and the Potomac possessed\nintoxicating beverages, but there is ample proof that the southern\nIndians brewed from cassine a strong beer.\n\nIn my experiments I find that an infusion of cassine leaves with\nboiling water, after standing till cool, gives a scarcely perceptible\ntaste and slight odor. This infusion, if boiled for half an hour,\ngives a dark liquid like very strong black tea, of an aromatic odor,\n_sui generis_, not like coffee, but more like Oolong tea without\nits pleasant rose odor. The taste is like that of an inferior black\ntea, quite bitter, but with little delicacy of flavor. It is not an\nunpleasant beverage, and I can imagine that the palate would become\naccustomed to it, as to mat\u00e9, tea, or coffee.\n\n\nHISTORY.\n\nThe early history of the use of _Ilex cassine_ as a beverage is lost\nin the darkness of prehistoric ages. Probably the same can be said of\ntea, coffee, mat\u00e9, and cocoa. But it is a singular fact that while all\nthe latter beverages still continue to be used in the countries where\nthey are indigenous, as well as all over the world, the use of cassine\nis nearly extinct, as it is now only used occasionally in certain\nimportant religious ceremonies by the remnants of the Creek Indians,\nand will disappear with them unless rescued by chemical research and\nits use revived for hygienic or economical reasons.\n\nThe very earliest mention of cassine was made in the \u201cMigration Legend\nof the Creek Indians.\u201d This curious legend has been lately published\nby A. S. Gatschet, of the Bureau of Ethnology, Washington, D. C., with\ntext, glossaries, etc. In his preface he says: \u201cThe migration legend\nof the Kosihta tribe is one of the most fascinating accounts that has\nreached us from remote antiquity and is mythical in its first part.\u201d\nThis tribe was a part of the Creek Nation. Its chief, Tchikilli, read\nthe legend before Governor Oglethorpe and many British authorities\nin 1735. It was written in red and black characters (pictographic\nsigns) on a buffalo skin. This was sent to London, and was lost there;\nbut fortunately a text of the narrative was preserved in a German\ntranslation.\n\nIt begins by narrating that the tribe started from a region variously\nsupposed to be west of the Mississippi, or in southern Illinois, or\nsouthern Ohio. They traveled west, then south, then southeast, until\nthey reached eastern Georgia. Here they met a tribe, called in the\nlegend, the \u201cPalachucolas,\u201d who gave them \u201cblack drink\u201d as a sign of\nfriendship, and said to them, \u201cOur hearts are white, and yours must be\nwhite, and you must lay down the bloody tomahawk, and show your bodies\nas a proof that they shall be white.\u201d\n\nThis was evidently the first knowledge the Kosihta tribe had of this\nbeverage.\n\nThe next mention is by Cabeza de Vaca, who found the Cutalchiches west\nof the mouth of the Mississippi drinking a tea from the leaves of a\ntree like an oak. Another narrative says, \u201cLeaves like a plum leaf.\u201d It\nwas drunk by men only.\n\nJean Ribault, the French explorer of east Florida (1666), mentions\nhis first experience in tasting the beverage: \u201cLeur boisson qu\u2019ils\nappellent _cassinet_ se fait d\u2019herbes compos\u00e9es, et m\u2019a sembl\u00e9 de telle\ncouleur que la cervoyce de ce pays; j\u2019en ay goust\u00e9 et ne l\u2019ay point\ntrouv\u00e9 fort estrange.\u201d (Their drink, which they call _cassinet_, is\nmade of compounded herbs, and seemed to me about the color of French\nbeer. I tasted it and did not find it at all unpleasant.)\n\nGatschet, in commenting on the mention of cassine in the legend, says:\n\n    Black drink was prepared from the small and narrow leaves\n    and the tender shoots of the shrub Ilex cassine, which grows\n    spontaneously as far north as the thirty-seventh degree of\n    latitude. The white people of the Carolinas prepared from it a\n    sort of tea. The botanical name formerly given to the plant was\n    _Cassine yaupon_, yaupon being a derivative from the Katawba\n    term _y\u00e1p_ or _yop_ plant, tree, or shrub. The name cassine was\n    first applied, as Prof. Lester F. Ward informs me, as a generic\n    name to a South African plant by Linn\u00e9, and as a species name\n    for an Ilex by Thomas Walter. (Dahoon is the name of another\n    Ilex; Walter spells it duhoon, others _houx d\u2019ahon_.) The\n    plant and decoction are called by the Sketimasha, _nu\u2019ut_; by\n    the Creeks, Assi luputski, _small leaves_, which is generally\n    abbreviated to Assi leaves. The term black drink originated\n    among the British traders. In Ch. C. Jones\u2019s \u201cTomochichi,\u201d p.\n    118, it is called \u201cfoskey.\u201d\n\n    The Creeks made use of the Assi as we use fermented liquors, to\n    promote conviviality; but it entered also into their ceremonies\n    of religion and warfare. But the black drink potion was not\n    always prepared in the same strength. The ancient Creeks had\n    three modes of preparing it; the three potions resulting from\n    them widely differed in strength according to the uses for\n    which they were intended. Small quantities of the young leaf,\n    parched in a pot until it assumed a brown color, produced a\n    liquor acting as an exhilarant and gentle diuretic; it was\n    drank by the people at the busk, and by the \u201celders\u201d when\n    assembled in council or when discussing every-day topics. After\n    the potion had been poured from one pan or cooler into another,\n    it begins to ferment and to produce a white froth, from which\n    it is styled also _white drink_, the term \u201cwhite\u201d alluding\n    simultaneously to its purifying qualities. To make the liquid\n    stronger a larger infusion of the parched leaves is required;\n    it then assumes a dark hue, nearly as black as molasses, and\n    acts as a powerful intoxicating stimulant. A still larger\n    addition of the cassine leaf produces a strong narcotic, which\n    was, as mentioned previously, used by conjurors to evoke\n    prophetic ecstacies accompanied by dreams. The black drink of\n    the weaker sort acts as an emetic,[5] and was used as such at\n    the annual busk and on other occasions extensively; this gave\n    to the liquid its renown as a bodily and moral purificator,\n    for primitive people are prone to regard agencies which act\n    with mysterious force upon the bodily constitution as symbols\n    for abstract spiritual or religious ideas. This drink being\n    served at all games and festivals, councils, and conclusions of\n    treaties, special ministrants, the Hinihalgi, were appointed\n    for its manufacture by the miko of the town. On festive days\n    they prepared it with peculiar ceremonies and served it to all\n    who attended the celebration in the square. The singing of the\n    yahola, or black-drink note, was, and is still, a peculiar rite\n    connected with the drinking of this favorite liquid.\n\nNarvaez writes (1536) of the Indians on the coast of Texas:\n\n    They have a sort of drink made of the leaves of a tree like\n    the mulberry tree, which they boil very well and work it up\n    into a froth, and so drink it as hot as ever they can suffer\n    it to come into their mouths. All the while this is over the\n    fire the vessel must be close shut; and if by chance it should\n    be uncovered, and a woman should come by in the meantime, they\n    would drink none of it, but fling it all away. Likewise, while\n    they stand cooling it and pouring it out to drink, a woman must\n    not stir or move, or they would throw it all to the ground,\n    or spew it up again if they had drunk any; she herself would\n    incur the bastinado. All this time they continue bawling out\n    aloud, \u201cWho will drink?\u201d and when the women begin to hear these\n    exclamations, then it is that they settle themselves in their\n    postures, and were they sitting or standing, though it were a\n    tiptoe, or one leg up and the other down, they must continue so\n    till the men have cooled their liquor and made it fit to drink.\n    The reason of this is every whit as foolish and unreasonable\n    as the custom itself, for they say should not the women stand\n    still when they hear their voice some bad thing would be\n    conveyed into the liquor, which they say would make them die;\n    and if such a generation of asses were all poisoned it were no\n    great loss to the world.\n\nIn the narrative of Ren\u00e9 Laudonni\u00e8re (1564) he says of his expedition\nfrom Fort Caroline, at the mouth of the river of May (St. Johns),\nFlorida:\n\n    I departed with fifty of my best soldiers in two barks, and\n    arrived in the dominion of Utina, distant from our fort about\n    40 or 50 leagues (125 miles); and going ashore we drew near his\n    village, situated 6 leagues from the river, where we took him\n    prisoner. They (his tribe) therefore brought me fish in their\n    little boats, and their meal of mast (maize); they also made\n    their drink which they call cassine, which they sent to Utina\n    and me.\n\nThe map in Le Moine\u2019s Narrative shows the residence of Utina to be west\nof the river St. Johns, and in such a position that it is possible that\nLaudonni\u00e8re went up the St. Johns to the Ochlawaha River, then up that\nriver to Orange Creek and to Orange Lake, which is of crescent shape,\njust as it is figured on Le Moine\u2019s map. The cassine which Utina\u2019s men\nsent to him must have been obtained from the east or west coast, unless\nit was the leaves of the _Ilex dahoon_, which grows in the interior of\nFlorida.\n\nLe Moine, in his \u201cNarrative,\u201d illustrated with drawings and written in\n1504, has the following mention of cassine:\n\n    I sent a second expedition, with two shallops, having soldiers\n    and sailors aboard, with a present to be given in my name to\n    the widow of a deceased chief named Hionacara, who lived about\n    12 miles north of us. She received my men kindly, and loaded\n    both of these shallops, for me, with maize and nuts; and she\n    sent in addition some baskets of cassina leaves, of which they\n    make a drink.\n\nIn another place he describes the proceedings of the original\nFloridians in deliberating on important affairs; this description is\nillustrated with a spirited drawing:\n\n    The chief and his nobles are accustomed during certain days of\n    the year to meet early every morning for this express purpose\n    in a public place, in which a long bench is constructed, having\n    at the middle of it a projecting part laid with nine round\n    trunks of trees, for the chief\u2019s seat. On this he sits by\n    himself for distinction sake; and the rest come to salute him,\n    one at a time, the oldest first, by lifting both hands twice\n    to the height of the head, and saying, \u201cHa, he, ya, ha, ha.\u201d\n    To this the rest answer, \u201cHa, ha.\u201d Each as he completes his\n    salutation, takes his seat on the bench. If any question of\n    importance is to be discussed the chief calls upon his lauas\n    (that is, his priests), and upon the elders, one at a time, to\n    deliver their opinions. They decide upon nothing until they\n    have held a number of councils over it, and they deliberate\n    very sagely before deciding. Meanwhile the chief orders the\n    women to boil some cassine; which is a drink prepared from\n    the leaves from a certain root and which they afterwards pass\n    through a strainer.\n\n    The chief and his councillors being now seated in their places,\n    one stands before him, and spreading forth his hands wide\n    open, asks a blessing upon the chief and the others who are to\n    drink. Then the cup-bearer brings the hot drink in a capacious\n    shell, first to the chief, and then, as the chief directs, to\n    the rest in their order, in the same shell. They esteem this\n    drink so highly that no one is allowed to drink it in council\n    unless he has proved himself a brave warrior. Moreover, this\n    drink has the quality of at once throwing into a sweat whoever\n    drinks it. On this account those who can not keep it down, but\n    whose stomachs reject it, are not intrusted with any difficult\n    commission, or any military responsibility, being considered\n    unfit, for they often have to go three or four days without\n    food; but one who can drink this liquor can go for 24 hours\n    afterward without eating or drinking. In military expeditions\n    also, the only supplies which they carry consist of gourd\n    bottles or wooden vessels full of this drink. It strengthens\n    and nourishes the body, and yet does not fly to the head, as we\n    have observed on occasion of these feasts of theirs.\n\nIn \u201cThe Karankawa Indians, the coast people of Texas,\u201d by A. S.\nGatschet (Peabody Museum, 1891), Mrs. Oliver, who lived among that\ntribe, says:\n\n    At their principal festival, at the full moon, they assembled\n    in a tent, in the middle of which was a small fire upon which\n    boiled a very strong and black decoction made from the leaves\n    of the youpon tree. From time to time this was stirred with\n    a whisk, till the top was covered thickly with a yellowish\n    froth. This tea, contained in a vessel of clay of their own\n    manufacture, was handed around occasionally and all the Indians\n    drank freely. It was very bitter and said to be intoxicating,\n    but if so, it could only have been when drunk to great excess,\n    as it never seemed to produce any visible effect upon them.\n\nShe further mentions a chant, which rose and fell in a melancholy\ncadence, and occasionally all the Indians joined in the chorus, which\nwas ha-i-yah, ha-i-yah, hai, hai-yah, hai-yah. The first two words were\nshouted slowly, then a succession of hai-yahs very rapidly uttered in\nchromatic ascending and descending tones, ending in an abrupt hai! very\nloud and far reaching. [Compare this with the Creek ceremonies--Adair.]\n\nGatschet adds a note: \u201cThe Texans find it [yopon] in the woods, not on\nthe coast line, and drink a tea or decoction of it with sugar and milk.\nThe white people east of the Mississippi do the same.\u201d\n\nIn the narrative of the expedition of Dominique de Gourges (1567) to\nFlorida, to revenge the massacre of the Huguenots at St. Augustine, it\nis narrated that when he was on a visit to the Chief Satoriona, whose\ntribe lived in southern Georgia, near the seacoast--\n\n    Before leaving there the savages made a beverage, called by\n    them _cassine_, which they are accustomed to take at all times,\n    and when they go to fight in places where there is danger. This\n    beverage, made of a certain plant, and drunk quite hot, keeps\n    them from being hungry or thirsty for 24 hours. They presented\n    it first to Captain Gourges, who pretended to drink it, and\n    swallowed none of it; then Satoriona partook of it, and after\n    him all the others, each one according to his rank.\n\nThis assertion that the drink prevents hunger and thirst reminds us of\nthe similar effect of coca leaves used by the Peruvian Indians, and now\nan officinal medicine used for the same purpose.\n\nJames Adair was an Englishman, who lived 40 years among the Southern\nIndians (from 1735 to 1775), and whose \u201cHistory of the American\nIndians\u201d is invaluable to the antiquarian. It was published in London,\nA. D. 1775, and is a mine of valuable information. He thus describes\nthe cassine:\n\n    There is a species of tea that grows spontaneously and in great\n    plenty along the seacoast of the two Carolinas, Georgia, and\n    east and west Florida, which we call _yopon_ or _casseena_.\n    The Indians transplant and are very fond of it. They drink it\n    on certain occasions, and in the most religious ceremonies,\n    with awful invocations; but the women and children and those\n    who have not accompanied their holy ark, _pro aris et focis_,\n    dare not even enter the sacred square when they are on their\n    religious duty.\n\nHe says distinctly that the Indians \u201ctransplant\u201d the shrub, which means\nthat they cultivated it, and in another place he uses a phrase which\nimplies that they had plantations near to their \u201ctemples,\u201d or places\nof worship. Travelers in Paraguay assert that, though attempts have\nbeen made by Jesuits and others to cultivate plantations of mat\u00e9, or\nParaguay tea, it has never succeeded under cultivation. Adair is the\nonly author who mentions this transplanting.\n\nIn another place Adair says:\n\n    The yopon, or casseena, is very plenty [in northwest Florida]\n    as far as the salt air reaches over the lowlands. It is well\n    tasted and very agreeable to those who accustom themselves\n    to use it. Instead of having any noxious quality, according\n    to what many have experienced of the East India insipid and\n    costly tea, it is friendly to the human system, enters into and\n    contests with the peccant humors, and expels them through the\n    various channels of nature. It perfectly cures a tremor of the\n    nerves.\n\nAt the time Adair wrote the above, Chinese tea was a rare and expensive\nluxury in England, and its use was opposed as intensely as was the use\nof tobacco when it was first introduced. The power ascribed to cassine\nof curing \u201ctremors\u201d is significant. Adair, in the same paragraph,\nmentions another leaf used as a beverage, but his description is so\nindefinite that I am not able to decide as to its botanical name. It\nis certainly not the _Ceanothus_ (New Jersey tea). On referring to\nRafinesque, I think this \u201cNorth America tea\u201d may be the _Viburnum\ncassinoides_, which, he says, is \u201calso named cassine, and so used.\u201d He\nalso says that \u201c_V. levigatum_ and _V. prunifolium_ are used for the\ntea in the South.\u201d\n\nAdair further says:\n\n    The North American tea has a pleasant aromatic taste and the\n    same salubrious property as the casseena. It is an evergreen\n    and grows on hills. The bushes are about a foot high, each\n    of them containing in winter a small, aromatic, red berry in\n    the middle of the stalk. Such I saw it about Christmas, when\n    hunting among the mountains, opposite to the lower Mohawk\n    Castle, in the time of deep snow. There is no visible decay of\n    the leaf, and October seems the proper time to gather it.\n\nHe frequently refers to the \u201csacred uses\u201d of the _black drink_, a\ndecoction of the cassine. I quote his most important allusions:\n\n    There is a carved human statue of wood, to which, however, they\n    pay no religious homage. It belongs to the head war town of\n    the upper Muskogee country, and seems to have been originally\n    designed to perpetuate the memory of some distinguished hero\n    who deserved well of his country, for when this _casseena_,\n    or bitter black drink, is about to be drank in the Synedrion\n    they frequently on common occasions will bring it there and\n    honor it with the first conch shell full, by the hand of the\n    chief religious attendant, and then they return it to its\n    former place. It is observable that the same beloved waiter, or\n    holy attendant, and his coadjutant, equally observe the same\n    ceremony to every person of reputed merit of that quadrangular\n    place.\n\n(Adair seems to have written this book for the sole purpose of proving\nthat the Creeks were one of the lost tribes of Israel. He imagines that\nin one of their religious festivals they invoke the name of Jehovah\nunder the appellation of Y-O-He-Wah.)\n\n    When this beloved liquid, or supposed drink offering, is fully\n    prepared and fit to be drank, one of the magi brings two old,\n    consecrated, large conch shells out of a place appropriate for\n    containing the holy things, and delivers them into the hands of\n    two religious attendants, who, after a wild ceremony, fill them\n    with the supposed sanctifying bitter liquid; then they approach\n    near to the two central red and white seats (which the leaders\n    call the war and beloved cabins), stooping with their heads\n    and bodies pretty low. Advancing a few steps in this posture,\n    they carry their shells with both hands, at an instant, to\n    one of the most principal men on those red and white seats,\n    saying in a bass key, Yah, quite short; then in like manner\n    they retreat backwards, facing each other with their heads\n    bowing forward, their arms across rather below their breasts\n    and their eyes half shut. Thus in a very grave, solemn manner\n    they sing on a strong bass key the awful monosyllable O for\n    the space of a minute; then they strike up a majestic He on\n    the treble, with a very intent voice, as long as their breath\n    allows them, and on a bass key, with a bold voice and short\n    accent, they at last utter the strong, mysterious accent Wah,\n    and thus finish the great song, or most solemn invocation of\n    the divine essence. The notes together compose the sacred,\n    mysterious name, Y-O-He-Wah. The favored persons, whom the\n    religious attendants are invoking the divine essence to bless,\n    hold up their shells with both hands to their mouths during the\n    awful sacred invocation, and retain a mouthful of the drink to\n    spurt out upon the ground as a supposed drink offering to the\n    great self-existing giver, which they offer at the end of their\n    draft. If any of the traders who at those times are invited\n    to drink with them were to neglect this religious observance\n    they would reckon us as godless and wild as the wolves of\n    the desert. After the same manner the supposed holy waiters\n    proceed, from the highest to the lowest, in their Synedrion,\n    and when they have ended that awful solemnity they go round the\n    whole square, or quadrangular place, and collect tobacco from\n    the sanctified sinners, according to ancient customs: \u201cFor they\n    who serve at the altar must live by the altar.\u201d\n\nIn another place (page 106), in describing at great length one of the\nreligious festivals of the Creeks, Adair says: \u201cHe\u201d [the Arch Magus, or\nfire-maker,] \u201cconsecrates the button-snake root and casseena by pouring\na little of those two strong decoctions into the pretended holy fire.\nHe then purifies the red and white seats with those bitter liquids and\nsits down.\u201d\n\nThis leads me to observe that the sacred \u201cblack drink\u201d was not made\nof the cassine alone, but sometimes of several bitter and aromatic\nroots and leaves. Mrs. A. E. W. Robertson, in a letter from Okmulgee,\nInd. T., writes: \u201cThe black drink as now prepared is, I think, made\nfrom three plants, the \u201cPassa,\u201d (Pasa) or Button Snakeroot (_Eryngium\naquaticum_), and the Mekko Hoyonee v. (_Micco-Hoyonvicha_), a small\nwillow, and the third I do not now recall.\u201d It may be that cassine is\nnot now used at all by the Creeks in Indian Territory, for it does not\ngrow there, and if used would have to be imported from the Atlantic or\nGulf coast.\n\nBossu, who traveled through the country now known as Louisiana,\nMississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, in 1751, makes no mention of the\nuse of cassine by the Indians of the two first-named States (Natchez),\nnor by the Indians along the Mississippi as far as he traveled, namely,\nto the country of the Illinois. But in his travels eastward, when he\nwas in the neighborhood of Mobile, he writes:\n\n    All the Allibamas drink the cassine.[6] This is the leaf of\n    a little tree which is very shady; the leaf is about the\n    size of a farthing, but dentated on its margins. They toast\n    these leaves as we do coffee, and drink the infusion of them\n    with great ceremony. When this diuretic potion is prepared,\n    the young people go to present it, in calabashes formed into\n    cups, to the chiefs and warriors, that is, the honorables,\n    and afterwards to the other warriors, according to their rank\n    and degree. The same order is preserved when they present the\n    calumet to smoke out of. Whilst you drink, they howl as loud as\n    they can and diminish the sound gradually. When you have ceased\n    drinking they take their breath, and when you drink again they\n    set up their howls again. These sorts of orgies sometimes\n    last from 6 in the morning to 2 o\u2019clock in the afternoon. The\n    Indians find no inconvenience from this potion, to which they\n    attribute many virtues, and return it without any effort. The\n    women never drink of this beverage, which is only made for the\n    warriors.\n\nWhat Bossu says relating to the size of the leaves shows conclusively\nthat it was the leaf of the tree _Ilex cassine_, for one of the leaves\nis just the diameter of the English farthing, a coin the size of the\nold half cent of American currency. His phrase \u201creturn it without any\neffort\u201d is rather ambiguous, but it probably refers to the expulsion\nof the decoction after having drenched their stomachs with it. I do\nnot think this was a true emesis, for there is no proof that it was an\nemetic. The Indians doubtless swallowed such large quantities that it\nwas regurgitated without effort.\n\nBossu\u2019s only other reference to the cassine is when, in describing a\ncouncil between the French and the Allibamas, he writes:\n\n    The Chevalier de Emville held a speech to the assembly in his\n    turn, and made the nation a present which the governor had sent\n    him. The Indians gave him the great calumet of peace to smoke;\n    all the soldiers and French inhabitants likewise smoked it, in\n    sign of a general amnesty. Afterwards they drank the cassine,\n    which is the potion of the white word, _i. e._, the potion of\n    oblivion and peace.\n\nBernard Romans, \u201cNatural History of Florida\u201d (1775), page 94, writes as\nfollows:\n\n    The _cassine_ is used by them (the Creeks) as a drink; they\n    barbecue or toast the leaves and make a strong decoction of\n    them; then men only are permitted to drink this liquor, to\n    which they attribute many virtues. It is made so strong as\n    to be _black_ and raise a froth. When they drink it at their\n    assemblies in the square they call it black drink.\n\nRomans states (p. 96) that it was the business of the women to \u201cprepare\nthe cassine drink.\u201d These are his only allusions to cassine.\n\nWilliam Bartram, in his \u201cTravels in Florida\u201d (1792), one of the\nmost fascinating books ever written, narrates that he attended a\n\u201cfeast\u201d given by the \u201cWhite king of Talahafochta,\u201d near the River\n\u201cAppalochuchla\u201d (Apalachicola), and says:\n\n    When the feast was over, * * * our chief, with the rest of the\n    white people in town, took their seats according to order;\n    tobacco and pipes were brought; the calumet was lighted and\n    smoked, circulating according to the usual forms and ceremony;\n    and afterwards _black drink_ concluded the feast. The king\n    conversed, drank _cassine_, and associated familiarly with his\n    people and with us. (P. 234.)\n\nAgain, when in what is now Georgia, or extreme north Florida, meeting\nthe Creek Indians at a town he calls \u201cAttasse,\u201d he attended a great\ncouncil of the chiefs of that nation:\n\n    I was introduced to the ancient chiefs at the public square\n    or areopagus; and in the evening in company with the traders,\n    who are numerous in this town, repaired to the great rotunda,\n    where were assembled the greatest number of ancient, venerable\n    chiefs and warriors that I had ever beheld; we spent the\n    evening and greater part of the night together in drinking\n    cassine and smoking tobacco. The great council house, or\n    rotunda, is appropriated to much the same purpose as the public\n    square, but more private, and seems particularly dedicated to\n    political affairs; women and youth are never admitted, and I\n    suppose it is death for a female to presume to enter the door\n    or approach within its pale. It is a vast conical building of\n    circular dome, capable of accommodating many hundred people:\n    constructed and furnished within exactly in the same manner as\n    those of the Cherokees already described, but much larger than\n    any I had seen of them; there are people appointed to take care\n    of it, to have it daily swept clean, and to provide canes for\n    fuel or to give light. As their vigils and manner of conducting\n    their vespers and mystical fire in this rotunda are extremely\n    singular, and altogether different from the customs and usages\n    of any other people, I shall proceed to describe them. In the\n    first place, the governor or officer who has the management\n    of this business, with his servants attending, orders the\n    black drink to be brewed, which is a decoction or infusion of\n    the leaves and tender shoots of the _cassine_; this is done\n    under an open shed or pavilion, at 20 or 30 yards distance,\n    directly opposite the door of the council house. Next he orders\n    bundles of dry canes to be brought in; these are previously\n    split and broken in pieces to about the length of 2 feet, and\n    then placed obliquely crossways upon one another on the floor,\n    forming a spiral circle round about the great center pillar,\n    rising to a foot or 18 inches in height from the ground; and\n    this circle, spreading as it proceeds round and round, often\n    repeated from right to left, every revolution increases its\n    diameter, and it at length extends to the distance of 10 or 12\n    feet from the center, more or less, according to the length of\n    time the assembly or meeting is to continue. By the time these\n    preparations are accomplished, it is night, and the assembly\n    have taken their seats in order. The exterior extremity or\n    outer end of the spiral circle takes fire and immediately rises\n    into a bright flame (but how this is effected I did not plainly\n    apprehend; I saw no person set fire to it; there might have\n    been fire left on the earth; however, I neither saw nor smelt\n    fire or smoke until the blaze instantly ascended upwards),\n    which gradually and slowly creeps round the center pillar, with\n    the course of the fire, feeding on the dry canes, and affords\n    a cheerful, gentle, and sufficient light until the circle is\n    consumed, when the council breaks up.\n\n    Soon after this illumination takes place the aged chiefs and\n    warriors are seated on their cabins or sofas, on the side\n    of the house opposite the door, in three classes or ranks,\n    rising a little one above or behind the other; and the white\n    people and red people of confederate towns in like order on\n    the left hand, a transverse range of pillars, supporting a\n    thin clay wall about breast high, separating them; the king\u2019s\n    cabin or seat is in front; the next to the back of it the\n    head warriors\u2019, and the third or last accommodates the young\n    warriors, etc.\n\n    The great war chief\u2019s seat or place is in the same cabin with\n    and immediately to the left hand of the king and next to the\n    white people; and to the right hand of the mico or king the\n    most venerable headmen and warriors are seated. The assembly\n    being now seated in order, and the house illuminated, two\n    middle-aged men, who perform the office of slaves or servants\n    _pro tempore_, come in together at the door, each having very\n    large conch shells full of black drink, and advance with\n    slow, uniform, and steady steps, their eyes or countenance\n    lifted up, singing very low but sweetly; they come within 6\n    or 8 paces of the king\u2019s and white people\u2019s cabin, when they\n    stop together, and each rests his shell on a tripod or little\n    table, but presently takes it up again, and bowing very low,\n    advances obsequiously, crossing or intersecting each other\n    about midway; he who rested his shell before the white people\n    now stands before the king, and the other, who stopped before\n    the king, stands before the white people, when each presents\n    his shell, one to the king and the other to the chief of the\n    white people; and as soon as he raises it to his mouth, the\n    slave utters or sings two notes, each of which continues as\n    long as he has breath, and as long as these notes continue\n    so long must the person drink, or at least keep the shell to\n    his mouth. These two long notes are very solemn, and at once\n    strike the imagination with a religious awe or homage to the\n    Supreme, sounding somewhat like a hoo-ojah and a he-yah. After\n    this manner the whole assembly are treated as long as the drink\n    or light continues to hold out; and as soon as the drinking\n    begins, tobacco and pipes are brought.\n\nMark Catesby (_Hortus americanus_, 1763) describes the _Ilex cassine_\nas follows:\n\n    This shrub usually rises from the ground with several stems to\n    the height of 12 feet, shooting into many upright, slender,\n    stiff branches, covered with a whitish, smooth bark, and set\n    alternately with small evergreen serrated leaves, resembling\n    those of the Aleternus; its flowers are small and white, and\n    grow promiscuously among the leaves, and are succeeded by small\n    spherical berries on short footstalks. These berries turn red\n    in October and remain so all winter, whereby with the green\n    leaves and white bark they produce an elegant appearance.\n\n    But the esteem the American Indians have for this shrub,\n    from the great use they make of it, renders it most worthy\n    of notice. They say its virtues have been known amongst them\n    from the earliest times, and they have long used it in the\n    same manner as they do at present. They prepare the leaves for\n    keeping by drying or rather parching them in a pottage pot over\n    a slow fire, and a strong decoction of the leaves thus cured\n    is their beloved liquor, of which they drink large quantities,\n    both for health and pleasure, without sugar or other mixture.\n    They drink it down and disgorge it with ease, repeating it very\n    often, and swallowing many quarts. They say it restores lost\n    appetite, strengthens the stomach, and confirms their health,\n    giving them agility and courage in war. It grows chiefly in the\n    maritime parts of the country, but not farther north than the\n    capes of Virginia.\n\n    The Indians on the seacoast supply those of the mountains\n    therewith, and carry on a considerable trade with it in\n    Florida, just as the Spaniards do with their South Sea tea\n    from Paraguay to Buenos Ayres. Now, Florida being in the same\n    latitude north as Paraguay is south, and no apparent difference\n    being found on comparing the leaves of these two plants\n    together, it is not improbable they may be both the same.\n\n    In South Carolina it is called cassena, in Virginia and North\n    Carolina it is known by the name of yopon; in the latter of\n    which places it is as much in use amongst the white people as\n    among the Indians, and especially among those who inhabit the\n    seacoast.\n\n    This plant is raised from the seeds, which lie 2 years in the\n    ground before it appears; it grows plentifully on many of the\n    sand banks on the seashore of Carolina.\n\nIn that rare and quaint narrative of Jonathan Dickenson (1790), \u201cwho\nwas shipwrecked on the southeast coast of Florida among the savage\ncannibals,\u201d he states that when a short distance south of the \u201cvillage\nof Sta. Lucca\u201d (St. Lucia), and among the Indians and at the \u201chouse\nof the Cassekey,\u201d he heard often a strange noise in another part of\nthe house which he could not account for. The following quotation is\ninteresting; it shows that cassine grows on the extreme south coast of\nFlorida, and gives the method of preparing the black drink among those\nbarbarous nations:\n\n    In one part of this house where the fire was kept was an Indian\n    man having a pot on the fire wherein he was making a drink of\n    the leaves of a shrub (which we understood afterward by the\n    Spaniard is called cassena), boiling the said leaves after they\n    had parched them in a pot; then with a gourd having a long neck\n    and at the top of it a small hole which the top of one\u2019s finger\n    could cover and at the side of it a round hole of 2 inches\n    diameter, they take the liquor out of the pot and put it in a\n    deep round bowl, which being almost filled containeth nigh 3\n    gallons. With this gourd they brew the liquor and make it froth\n    very much; it looketh of a deep brown color. In the brewing of\n    this liquor was this noise made which we thought strange, for\n    the pressing of the gourd gently down into the liquor and the\n    air which it contained being forced out of the little hole at\n    top occasioned a sound, and according to the time and motion\n    given would be various, this drink, when made and cooled to\n    sup, was in a shell first carried to the Cassekey, who threw\n    part of it on the ground and the rest he drank up, and then\n    would make a loud _hem_, and afterwards the cup passed to the\n    rest of the Cassekey\u2019s associates as aforesaid, but no other\n    man, woman, or child must touch or taste of this sort of drink,\n    of which they sat sipping, chattering, and smoking tobacco, or\n    some other herb instead thereof, for the most part of the day.\n\nIn a letter from William Baldwin, a noted naturalist and surgeon in the\nU. S. Navy, written from St. Marys, Fla. (6 miles from Fernandina),\nin 1816, he mentions finding the _Ilex prinoides_ predominant on the\nsandy, shrubby plains of the vicinity:\n\n    Its common height is about 6 or 8 feet, and at this season\n    (December), with its ripe crimson-colored fruit, makes a fine\n    appearance. The berry of this species is considerably larger\n    than that of any other I have seen, and is not unpleasant to\n    the taste, possessing an agreeable sweet, along with a slight\n    bitter. I have eaten freely of it with entire impunity.\n\nHe discusses the question whether the genus Prinos should not be merged\ninto that of Ilex. They are so near alike that their leaves doubtless\npossess similar properties, and are probably mixed with cassine.\n\nCollinson, in a letter from London, England, to John Bartram, 1739,\nmakes mention of \u201cthe yupon of Virginia, or cassena of Carolina\u201d (_Ilex\ncassena_ or _I. vomituria_). The Indians drive a great trade with the\nberries (?) to make tea with to the Gulf of Mexico. It grows nowhere to\nthe northward of that island they found it on, which belongs to Col.\nCustis. I have it in my garden. (He errs as to the berries being used,\nbut proves that it can be cultivated.)\n\nDr. Fothergill cultivated it together with mat\u00e9 in his botanical garden\nin London in 1784. (See his Memoirs.)\n\nJohn Lee Williams, in his history of east and west Florida, 1837, a\nwork unique in character and of special value to historians, contains\nbut one mention of the \u201cblack drink.\u201d It is in a mention of Oseola, a\nnoted chief of the Seminoles. In writing of his parentage, he says:\n\n    Powell, or Oseola, is a native Red Stick; who his father was\n    is unknown, but it is said that his mother was at one time\n    connected with an Englishman of the name of Powell. We are\n    informed by a respectable Creek chief that his name is As-sin\n    Yahole, \u201cSinger at the black drink.\u201d\n\nNow this word As-sin is a variation of cassine, and Oseola was probably\none of those whose duty it was to sing during the ceremonies which\naccompanied the drinking of cassine.\n\nIt is strange that the cassine has not been celebrated in poetry or\nsong. The songs of the Creeks have not been preserved. Perhaps they\nsung the praises of the \u201cblack drink.\u201d The only mention I find in\npoetry is an allusion to it as \u201cthe tough cassine,\u201d in the poems of\nMrs. Sigourney, when she enumerates the variety and qualities of the\ntrees of America.\n\nC. C. Jones, in his \u201cAntiquities of the Southern Indians,\u201d writes (page\n11): \u201cThe black drink was a decoction of the leaves and tender twigs\nof the cassine, or Ilex yupon.\u201d He mentions no other ingredients,\nbut other observers claim that the _Iris versicolor_ (blue flag) and\nsometimes the _Lobelia inflata_ were used. My opinion is that, when\nused in their wars or religious festivals, other ingredients were used,\nfor it is represented as powerfully purgative and emetic. Yet, on the\nother hand, we are told that the two species of _Ilex cassine_ and\n_dahoon_ possess these qualities. The _I. cassine_ is called by some\nbotanists _Ilex vomitoria_. On social occasions the black drink was\nprobably made of the leaves of the cassine alone, or made much weaker.\nJones writes:\n\n    The Mico councillors or warriors meet every day in the public\n    square, sit and drink acee (assi), a strong decoction of the\n    cassine yupon, called by traders black drink, talk of the news,\n    the public and domestic concerns, etc. They have a regular\n    ceremony for making as well as delivering the acee to all who\n    attend the square.\n\nThe black drink made by the Seminoles is described as \u201cnauseous to the\nsmell and taste, and emetic and purgative.\u201d It is a mixture and not\nbrewed of the cassine alone. All our beverages, such as tea, coffee,\nmat\u00e9, and even chocolate, when drank very strong are capable of causing\ndiuresis, purging, and vomiting.\n\nOne peculiarity of the drinking of the black drink is that, so far as I\ncan ascertain, it was not used at their meals as we use tea and coffee,\nbut wholly as a social beverage or at festivals and other public\noccasions. I do not think the women were allowed to drink it, at least\nnot publicly. Authorities differ on this point.\n\nAmong the Creeks the women sometimes prepared the black drink, but\nNarvaez writes that the Indians on the coast of what is now Texas did\nnot allow a woman to come near it during its preparation.\n\nThat a beverage containing caffeine should fall into disuse and become\nalmost forgotten is a singular fact. The use of mat\u00e9 has not decreased\nfrom the time of the conquest of South America by Europeans. The reason\nwhy the latter is still in use and the former not lies, perhaps, in\nthe fact that the Europeans in South America mixed with the natives,\nmarried, and adopted their customs, while the English and French\nwho settled the Gulf States did not associate with the Indians, and\nadhered to the use of Chinese tea. Now that we know that the leaf of\nthe cassine contains caffeine or theine, can its use as a beverage be\nrevived?\n\nIt is not as pleasant in odor and taste as _Thea sinensis_, and this\nmay be against it; on the other hand, it seems to have some salutary\nproperties which the latter does not possess, and may, perhaps, be far\nmore cheaply obtained.\n\n[Illustration: Distribution of the _Ilex cassine_, indicated by dotted\nportions along coast line.]\n\nA rough estimate can be made as to the number of square miles upon\nwhich it grows. Estimating the coast line from the James River,\nin Virginia, to the Rio Grande, in Texas--about 2,000 miles--and\nmultiplying this by 20 miles, the extent of its growth inland, we get\na total of about 40,000 square miles. On this area could be picked an\nimmense quantity of the leaves, and if the trees are not destroyed in\nthe picking the crops could be harvested every year. No estimate can be\napproximated even of the amount of the crop of leaves which could be\ngathered, because we can not estimate the number of trees on this area.\n\nIt would seem possible that further inquiries on this point and careful\nexperiments in cultivation and manipulation might result in furnishing\nour market with a product which would be found in many cases an\nacceptable and useful substitute for the more expensive imported teas.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] This was written before Professor Venable\u2019s recent investigations,\nhereafter referred to.\n\n[2] Prof. W. Trelease, of the Shaw School of Botany, St. Louis, Mo.,\nhas written an excellent synopsis of the genus Ilex in the United\nStates embracing 14 species.\n\n[3] This was written before Professor Venable\u2019s recent investigations,\nhereafter referred to.\n\n[4] Vol. II, p. 39, \u201cElisha Mitchell Scientific Society.\u201d\n\n[5] Only when drunk in great quantity.--H.\n\n[6] This is the _Prinus glaber_ of Linn\u00e6us sp. pl. p. 471 and Cassena\nvera Floridanorum, Catesby\u2019s Carolinas, 2 t. 57.\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber\u2019s Notes\n\nObvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations\nin accents have been standardised but all other spelling and\npunctuation remains unchanged.\n\nItalics are represented thus _italic_.","title":"Ilex cassine, the aboriginal North American tea: $b Its history, distribution, and use among the native North American Indians","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":11454}