The Outer Banks area was occasionally visited by Algonquian-speaking Indians but was never permanently settled. Ocracoke was called "Wokokkon" and was used as a subsistence hunting and fishing ground for the Hatterask Indians, a Croatoan people. Yaupon Tea or Black Drink was made from the dried leaves of the indigenous yaupon, a native holly, and was used ceremonially by the Indians in the area. Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano described the area in detail in 1524. He was unable to navigate the shallow inlets leading into Pamlico Sound.