meat were never eaten together.[1] According to Spelman, each Indian had his own dish,[2] but other writers represent individuals of the same sex, or both sexes, as taking their meals from the same receptacle, the man seated on one side and the woman on the other.[3] Before an Indian began to eat, he took a small piece of food from the dish and threw it into the fire as an offering to the evil spirit, and he also mumbled out a short grace with the same intention of propitiation. The remains of the bread and meat were gathered up, either to be served again, or to be given to those who were destitute.[4] All the formalities of the meal were strictly regarded even in the presence of the English; when the adventurers stopped at Kecoughtan, on their voyage up the Powhatan, their Indian hosts would not suffer them to eat until they were seated on the mats spread out on the ground, on which the food had been placed.[5] During the visit of Smith to Werowocomoco in 1608, in the absence of Powhatan, he was entertained by the women at a great feast, consisting of fruit deposited in baskets; of fish, fowl, and venison in very large platters, fashioned from blocks of wood skilfully burnt, and afterwards scraped with a shell; and of beans and peas in quantities that would have furnished an ample meal for twenty hogs. Smith and his four companions were served by some of the women, while the rest sang and danced for their amusement. Doubtless the same provision was made for the Englishmen which Powhatan required at his meals, to whom a platter of water was brought, both before and after he had dined, for the
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