Note 164 — Chapter II · THE APALACHES.

The Cherokees plastered their houses both roofs and walls inside and out with clay and dried grass, and to compensate for the lowness of the walls excavated the floor as much as three or four feet. From this it is probable they were the “Indi delle Vacche” of Cabeza de Vaca “tra queste case ve ne havea alcune che erano di terra, e tutte l’altre sono di stuore.” (Di Alvaro Nunnes Relatione in Ramusio, Viaggi, Tom. III., fol. 327, B.) A similar construction was noticed by Biedma in Acapachiqui where the houses “etaient creusées sous terre et rassemblaient à des cavernes,” (Relation, pp. 60, 61,) by the Portuguese Gentlemen in Capachiqui, (Hackluyt, Vol. V., p. 498.) and by La Vega among the Cofachiqui, (Conq. de la Florida, Lib. III., cap. XV., p. 131.) Hence the Cherokees are identical with the latter and not with the Achalaques, as Schoolcraft erroneously advances. (Thirty Years with the Indian Tribes, p. 595.) I suppose it was from this peculiar style of building that the Iroquois called them Owaudah, a people who live in caves. (Schoolcraft, Notes on the Iroquois, p. 163.)