The great war chief’s seat or place is in the same cabin with and immediately to the left hand of the king and next to the white people; and to the right hand of the mico or king the most venerable headmen and warriors are seated. The assembly being now seated in order, and the house illuminated, two middle-aged men, who perform the office of slaves or servants _pro tempore_, come in together at the door, each having very large conch shells full of black drink, and advance with slow, uniform, and steady steps, their eyes or countenance lifted up, singing very low but sweetly; they come within 6 or 8 paces of the king’s and white people’s cabin, when they stop together, and each rests his shell on a tripod or little table, but presently takes it up again, and bowing very low, advances obsequiously, crossing or intersecting each other about midway; he who rested his shell before the white people now stands before the king, and the other, who stopped before the king, stands before the white people, when each presents his shell, one to the king and the other to the chief of the white people; and as soon as he raises it to his mouth, the slave utters or sings two notes, each of which continues as long as he has breath, and as long as these notes continue so long must the person drink, or at least keep the shell to his mouth. These two long notes are very solemn, and at once strike the imagination with a religious awe or homage to the Supreme, sounding somewhat like a hoo-ojah and a he-yah. After this manner the whole assembly are treated as long as the drink or light continues to hold out; and as soon as the drinking begins, tobacco and pipes are brought. Mark Catesby (_Hortus americanus_, 1763) describes the _Ilex cassine_ as follows: This shrub usually rises from the ground with several stems to the height of 12 feet, shooting into many upright, slender, stiff branches, covered with a whitish, smooth bark, and set alternately with small evergreen serrated leaves, resembling those of the Aleternus; its flowers are small and white, and grow promiscuously among the leaves, and are succeeded by small spherical berries on short footstalks. These berries turn red in October and remain so all winter, whereby with the green leaves and white bark they produce an elegant appearance.