"Those strangers came from the sun-setting, in search of a yellow stinking wood, which dyes a fine yellow colour; but the people of this nation, that they might not be tempted to visit them, had destroyed all those kind of trees. Two other nations in their neighbourhood however, having no other wood, could not destroy the trees, and were still visited by the strangers; and being greatly incommoded by them, had invited their allies to assist them in making an attack upon them the next {289} time they should return. The following summer I accordingly joined in this expedition, and after traveling five long days journey, we came to the place where the bearded men usually landed, where we waited seventeen days for their arrival. The Red Men, by my advice, placed themselves in ambuscade to surprize the strangers, and accordingly when they landed to cut the wood, we were so successful as to kill eleven of them, the rest immediately escaping on board two large pettiaugres, and flying westward upon the Great Water.

"Upon examining those whom we had killed, we found them much smaller than ourselves, and very white; they had a large head, and in the middle of the crown the hair was very long; their head was wrapt in a great many folds of stuff, and their cloaths seemed to be made neither of wool nor silk; they were very soft, and of different colours. Two only of the eleven who were slain had fire-arms with powder and ball. I tried their pieces, and found that they were much heavier than yours, and did not kill at so great a distance.

"After this expedition I thought of nothing but proceeding on my journey, and with that design I let the Red Men return home, and joined myself to those who inhabited more westward on the coast, with whom I travelled along the shore of the Great Water, which bends directly betwixt the north and the sun-setting. When I arrived at the villages of my fellow-travellers, where I found the days very long and the night very short, I was advised by the old men to give over all thoughts of continuing my journey. They told me that the land extended still a long way in a direction between the north and sun-setting, after which it ran directly west, and at length was cut by the Great Water from north to south. One of them added, that when he was young, he knew a very old man who had seen that distant land before it was eat away by the Great Water, and that when the Great Water was low, many rocks still appeared in those parts. Finding it therefore impracticable to proceed much further, on account of the severity of the climate, and the want of game, I returned by the same route by which I had set out; and reducing my whole travels westward to days journeys, I compute that they would have employed {290} me thirty-six moons; but on account of my frequent delays, it was five years before I returned to my relations among the Yazous."

Moncacht-ape, after giving me an account of his travels, spent four or five days visiting among the Natchez, and then returned to take leave of me, when I made him a present of several wares of no great value, among which was a concave mirror about two inches and a half diameter, which had cost me about three halfpence. As this magnified the face to four or five times its natural size, he was wonderfully delighted with it, and would not have exchanged it with the best mirror in France. After expressing his regret at parting with me, he returned highly satisfied to his own nation.

Moncacht-ape's account of the junction of America with the eastern parts of Asia seems confirmed from the following remarkable fact. Some years ago the skeletons of two large elephants and two small ones were discovered in a marsh near the river Ohio; and as they were not much consumed, it is supposed that the elephants came from Asia not many years before. If we also consider the form of government, and the manner of living among the northern nations of America, there will appear a great resemblance betwixt them and the Tartars in the north-east parts of Asia.



CHAPTER II.

An Account of the Several Nations of Indians in Louisiana.



SECTION I.

Of the Nations inhabiting on the East of the Missisippi.

If to the history of the discoveries and conquests of the Spaniards we join the tradition of all the nations of America, we shall be fully persuaded, that this quarter of the world, before it was discovered by Christopher Columbus, was very populous, not only on the continent but also in the islands.

However, by an incomprehensible fatality, the arrival of the Spaniards in this new world seems to have been the unhappy epoch of the destruction of all the nations of America, {291} not only by war, but by nature itself. As it is but too well known how many millions of natives were destroyed by the Spanish sword, I shall not therefore present my readers with that horrible detail; but perhaps many people do not know that an innumerable multitude of the natives of Mexico and Peru voluntarily put an end to their own lives, some by sacrificing themselves to the manes of their sovereigns who had been cut off, and whose born victims they, according to their detestable customs, looked upon themselves to be; and others, to avoid falling under the subjection of the Spaniards, thinking death a less evil by far than slavery.

The same effect has been produced among the people of North America by two or three warlike nations of the natives. The Chicasaws have not only cut off a great many nations who were adjoining to them, but have even carried their fury as far as New Mexico, near six hundred miles from the place of their residence, to root out a nation that had removed at that distance from them, in a firm expectation that their enemies would not come so far in search of them. They were however deceived and cut off. The Iroquois have done the same in the east parts of Louisiana; and the Padoucas and others have acted in the same manner to nations in the west of the colony. We may here observe, that those nations could not succeed against their enemies without considerable loss to themselves, and that they have therefore greatly lessened their own numbers by their many warlike expeditions.

I mentioned that nature had contributed no less than war to the destruction of these people. Two distempers, that are not very fatal in other parts of the world, make dreadful ravages among them; I mean the small-pox and a cold, which baffle all the art of their physicians, who in other respects are very skilful. When a nation is attacked by the small-pox, it quickly makes great havock; for as a whole family is crowded into a small hut, which has no communications with the external air, but by a door about two feet wide and four feet high, the distemper, if it seizes one, is quickly communicated to all. The aged die in consequence of their advanced years and the bad quality of their food; and the young, if they are not {292} strictly watched, destroy themselves, from an abhorrence of the blotches in their skin. If they can but escape from their hut, they run out and bathe themselves in the river, which is certain death in that distemper. The Chatkas, being naturally not very handsome, are not so apt to regret the loss of their beauty; consequently suffer less, and are much more numerous than the other nations.

Colds, which are very common in the winter, likewise destroy great numbers of the natives. In that season they keep fires in their huts day and night; and as there is no other opening but the door, the air within the hut is kept excessive warm without any free circulation; so that when they have occasion to go out, the cold seizes them, and the consequences of it are almost always fatal.

The first nations that the French were acquainted with in this part of North America, were those on the east of the colony; for the first settlement we made there was at Fort Louis on the river Mobile. I shall therefore begin my account of the different nations of Indians on this side of the colony, and proceed westwards in the same order as they are situated.

But however zealous I may be in displaying not only the beauties, but the riches and advantages of Louisiana, yet I am not at all inclined to attribute to it what it does not possess; therefore I warn my reader not to be surprised, if I make mention of a few nations in this colony, in comparison of the great number which he may perhaps have seen in the first maps of this country. Those maps were made from memoirs sent by different travellers, who noted down all the names they heard mentioned, and then fixed upon a spot for their residence; so that a map appeared stiled with the names of nations, many of whom were destroyed, and others were refugees among nations who had adopted them and taken them under their protection. Thus, though the nations on this continent were formerly both numerous and populous, they are now so thinned and diminished, that there does not exist at present a third part of the nations whose names are to be found in the maps.

The most eastern nation of Louisiana is that called the Apalaches, which is a branch of the great nation of the Apalaches, {293} who inhabited near the mountains to which they have given their name. This great nation is divided into several branches, who take different names. The branch in the neighbourhood of the river Mobile is but inconsiderable, and part of it is Roman Catholic.

On the north of the Apalaches are the Alibamous, a pretty considerable nation; they love the French, and receive the English rather out of necessity than friendship. On the first settling of the colony we had some commerce with them; but since the main part of the colony has fixed on the river, we have somewhat neglected them, on account of the great distance.

East from the Alibamous are the Caouitas, whom M. de Biainville, governor of Louisiana, wanted to distinguish above the other nations, by giving the title of emperor to their sovereign, who then would have been chief of all the neighbouring nations; but those nations refused to acknowledge him as such, and said that it was enough if each nation obeyed its own chief; that it was improper for the chiefs themselves to be subject to other chiefs, and that such a custom had never prevailed among them, as they chose rather to be destroyed by a great nation than to be subject to them. This nation is one of the most considerable; the English trade with them, and they suffer the traders to come among them from policy.

To, the north of the Alibamous are the Abeikas and Conchacs, who, as far as I can learn, are the same people; yet the name of Conchac seems appropriated to one part more than another. They are situated at a distance from the great rivers and consequently have no large canes in their territory. The canes that grow among them are not thicker than one's finger, and are at the same time so very hard, that when they are split, they cut like knives, which these people call conchacs. The language of this nation is almost the same with that of the Chicasaws, in which the word conchac signifies a knife.

The Abeikas, on the east of them, have the Cherokees, divided into several branches, and situated very near the Apalachean mountains. All the nations whom I have mentioned {294} have been united in a general alliance for a long time past, in order to defend themselves against the Iroquois, or Five Nations, who, before this alliance was formed, made continual war upon them; but have ceased to molest them since they have seen them united. All these nations, and some small ones intermixed among them, have always been looked upon as belonging to no colony, excepting the Apalaches; but since the breaking out of the war with the English in 1756, it is said they have voluntarily declared for us.

The nations in the neighbourhood of the Mobile, are first the Chatots, a small nation consisting of about forty huts, adjoining to the river and the sea. They are Roman Catholics, or reputed such; and are friends to the French, whom they are always ready to serve upon being paid for it. North from the Chatots, and very near them, is the French settlement of Fort Louis on the Mobile.

A little north from Fort Louis are situated the Thomez, which are not more numerous than the Chatots, and are said to be Roman Catholics. They are our friends to to such a degree as even to teaze us with their officiousness.

Further north live the Taensas, who are a branch of the Natchez, of whom I shall have occasion to speak more at large. Both of these nations keep the eternal fire with the utmost care; but they trust the guard of it to men, from a persuasion that none of their daughters would sacrifice their liberty for that office. The whole nation of the Taensas consists only of about one hundred huts.

Proceeding still northwards along the bay, we meet with the nation of the Mobiliens, near the mouth of the river Mobile, in the bay of that name. The true name of this nation is Mouvill, which the French have turned into Mobile, calling the river and the bay from the nation that inhabited near them. All these small nations were living in peace upon the arrival of the French, and still continue so; the nations on the east of the Mobile serving as a barrier to them against the incursions of the Iroquois. Besides, the Chicasaws look upon them as their brethren, as both they, and their neighbours on the east of the {295} Mobile, speak a language which is nearly the same with that of the Chicasaws.

Returning towards the sea, on the west of the Mobile, we find the small nation of the Pacha-Ogoulas, that is, Nation of Bread, situated upon the bay of the same name. This nation consists only of one village of about thirty huts. Some French Canadians have settled in their neighbourhood, and they live together like brethren, as the Canadians, who are naturally of a peaceable disposition, know the character of the natives, and have the art of living with the nations of America. But what chiefly renders the harmony betwixt them durable, is the absence of soldiers, who never appear in this nation.

Further northwards, near the river Pacha-Ogoulas, is situated the great nation of the Chatkas, or Flat-heads. I call them the great nation, for I have not known or heard of any other near so numerous. They reckon in this nation twenty-five thousand warriors. There may perhaps be such a number of men among them, who take that name; but I am far from thinking that all these have a title to the character of warriors.

According to the tradition of the natives, this nation arrived so suddenly, and passed so rapidly through the territories of others, that when I asked them, whence came the Chatkas? they answered me, that they sprung out of the ground; by which they meant to express their great surprize at seeing them appear so suddenly. Their great numbers awed the natives near whom they passed; their character being but little inclined to war, did not inspire them with the fury of conquest; thus they at length arrived in an uninhabited country which nobody disputed with them. They have since lived without any disputes with their neighbours; who on the other hand have never dared to try whether they were brave or not. It is doubtless owing to this that they have increased to their present numbers.

They are called Flat-heads; but I do not know why that name has been given to them more than to others, since all the nations of Louisiana have their heads as flat, or nearly so. They are situated about two hundred and fifty miles north {296} from the sea, and extend more from east to west than from south to north.



Those who travel from the Chatkas to the Chicasaws, seldom go by the shortest road, which extends about one hundred and eighty miles, and is very woody and mountainous. They choose rather to go along the river Mobile, which is both the easiest and most pleasant route. The nation of the Chicasaws is very warlike. The men have very regular features, {297} are large, well-shaped, and neatly dressed; they are fierce, and have a high opinion of themselves. They seem to be the remains of a populous nation, whose warlike disposition had prompted them to invade several nations, whom they have indeed destroyed, but not without diminishing their own numbers by those expeditions. What induces me to believe that this nation has been formerly very considerable, is that the nations who border upon them, and whom I have just mentioned, speak the Chicasaw language, though somewhat corrupted, and those who speak it best value themselves upon it.

I ought perhaps to except out of this number the Taensas, who being a branch of the Natchez, have still preserved their peculiar language; but even these speak, in general, the corrupted Chicasaw language, which our French settlers call the Mobilian language. As to the Chatkas, I suppose, that being very numerous, they have been able to preserve their own language in a great measure; and have only adopted some words of the Chicasaw language. They always spoke to me in the Chicasaw tongue.

In returning towards the coast next the river Missisippi, we meet with a small nation of about twenty huts, named Aquelou-Pissas, that is, Men who understand and see. This nation formerly lived within three of four miles of the place where New Orleans is built; but they are further north at present, and not far from the lake St. Lewis, or Pontchartrain. They speak a language somewhat approaching to that of the Chicasaws. We have never had great dealings with them.

Being now arrived at the river Missisippi, I shall proceed upwards along its banks as far as to the most distant nations that are known to us.

The first nation that I meet with is the Oumas, which signifies the Red Nation. They are situated about twenty leagues from New Orleans, where I saw some of them upon my arrival in this province. Upon the first establishment of the colony, some French went and settled near them; and they have been very fatal neighbours, by furnishing them with brandy, which they drink to great excess.

{298} Crossing the Red River, and proceeding still upwards, we find the remains of the nation of the Tonicas, who have always been very much attached to the French, and have even been our auxiliaries in war. The Chief of this nation was our very zealous friend; and as he was full of courage, and always ready to make war on the enemies of the French, the king sent him a brevet of brigadier of the red armies, and a blue ribbon, from whence hung a silver medal, which on one side represented the marriage of the king, and on the reverse had the city of Paris. He likewise sent him a gold-headed cane; and the Indian Chief was not a little proud of wearing those honourable distinctions, which were certainly well bestowed. This nation speaks a language so far different from that of their neighbours, in that they pronounce the letter R, which the others have not. They have likewise different customs.

The Natchez in former times appear to have been one of the most respectable nations in the colony, not only from their own tradition, but from that of the other nations, in whom their greatness and civilized customs raised no less jealousy than admiration. I could fill a volume with what relates to this people alone; but as I am now giving a concise account of the people of Louisiana, I shall speak of them as of the rest, only enlarging a little upon some important transactions concerning them.

When I arrived in 1720 among the Natchez, that nation was situated upon a small river of the same name; the chief village where the Great Sun resided was built along the banks of the river, and the other villages were planted round it. They were two leagues above the confluence of the river, which joins the Missisippi at the foot of the great precipices of the Natchez. From thence are four leagues to its source, and as many to Rosalie, and they were situated within a league of the fort.

Two small nations lived as refugees among the Natchez. The most ancient of these adopted nations were the Grigras, who seem to have received that name from the French, because when talking with one another they often pronounce those two syllables, which makes them be remarked as strangers among the Natchez, who, as well as the Chicasaws, and all the nations {299} that speak the Chicasaw language, cannot pronounce the letter R.

The other small nation adopted by the Natchez, are the Thioux, who have also the letter R in their language. These were the weak remains of the Thioux nation, formerly one of the strongest in the country. However, according to the account of the other nations, being of a turbulent disposition, they drew upon themselves the resentment of the Chicasaws, which was the occasion of their ruin; for by their many engagements they were at length so weakened that they durst not face their enemy, and consequently were obliged to take refuge among the Natchez.

The Natchez, the Grigras, and the Thioux, may together raise about twelve hundred warriors; which is but a small force in comparison of what the Natchez could formerly have raised alone; for according to their traditions they were the most powerful nation of all North America, and were looked upon by the other nations as their superiors, and on that account respected by them. To give an idea of their power, I shall only mention, that formerly they extended from the river Manchac, or Iberville, which is about fifty leagues from the sea, to the river Wabash, which is distant from the sea about four hundred and sixty leagues; and that they had about five hundred Suns or princes. From these facts we may judge how populous this nation formerly has been; but the pride of their Great Suns, or sovereigns, and likewise of their inferior Suns, joined to the prejudices of the people, has made greater havock among them, and contributed more to their destruction, than long and bloody wars would have done.

As their sovereigns were despotic, they had for a long time past established the following inhuman and impolitic custom, that when any of them died, a great number of their subjects, both men and women, should likewise be put to death. A proportionable number of subjects were likewise killed upon the death of any of the inferior Suns; and the people on the other hand had imbibed a belief that all those who followed their princes into the other world, to serve them there, would be eternally happy. It is easy to conceive how ruinous such an {300} inhuman custom would be among a nation who had so many princes as the Natchez.

It would seem that some of the Suns, more humane than the rest, had disapproved of this barbarous custom, and had therefore retired to places at a remote distance from the centre of their nation. For we have two branches of this great nation settled in other parts of the colony, who have preserved the greatest part of the customs of the Natchez. One of these branches is the nation of the Taensas on the banks of the Mobile, who preserve the eternal fire, and several other usages of the nation from whom they are descended. The other branch is the nation of the Chitimachas, whom the Natchez have always looked upon as their brethren.

Forty leagues north from the Natchez is the river Yasous, which runs into the Missisippi, and is so called from a nation of the same name who had about a hundred huts on its banks.

Near the Yazous, on the same river, lived the Coroas, a nation consisting of about forty huts. These two nations pronounce the letter R.

Upon the same river likewise lived the Chacchi-Oumas, a name which signifies red Cray-fish. These people had not above fifty huts.

Near the same river dwelt the Ouse-Ogoulas, or the Nation of the Dog, which might have about sixty huts.

The Tapoussas likewise inhabited upon the banks of this river, and had not above twenty-five huts. These three last nations do not pronounce the letter R, and seem to be branches of the Chicasaws, especially as they speak their language. Since the massacre of the French settlers at the Natchez, these five small nations, who had joined in the conspiracy against us, have all retired among the Chicasaws, and make now but one nation with them.

To the north of the Ohio, not far from the banks of the Missisippi, inhabit the Illinois, who have given their name to the river on the banks of which they have settled. They are divided into several villages, such as the Tamaroas, the Caskaquias, {301} the Caouquias, the Pimiteouis, and some others. Near the village of the Tamaroas is a French post, where several French Canadians have settled.

This is one of the most considerable posts in all Louisiana, which will appear not at all surprising, when we consider that the Illinois were one of the first nations whom we discovered in the colony, and that they have always remained most faithful allies of the French; an advantage which is in a great measure owing to the proper manner of living with the natives of America, which the Canadians have always observed. It is not their want of courage that renders them so peaceable, for their valour is well known. The letter R is pronounced by the Illinois.

Proceeding further northwards we meet with a pretty large nation, known by the name of the Foxes, with whom we have been at war near these forty years past, yet I have not heard that we have had any blows with them for a long time.

From the Foxes to the fall of St. Anthony, we meet with no nation, nor any above the Fall for near an hundred leagues. About that distance north of the Fall, the Sioux are settled, and are said to inhabit several scattered villages both on the east and west of the Missisippi.



SECTION II.

Of the Nations inhabiting on the West of the Missisippi.

Having described as exactly as possible all the nations on the east of the Missisippi, as well those who are included within the bounds of the colony, as those who are adjoining to it, and have some connection with the others; I shall now proceed to give an account of those who inhabit on the west of the river, from the sea northwards.

Between the river Missisippi, and those lakes which are filled by its waters upon their overflowing, is a small nation named Chaouchas, or Ouachas, who inhabit some little villages, but are of so little consequences that they are no otherwise known to our colonists but by their name.

{302} In the neighbourhood of the lakes abovementioned live the Chitimachas. These are the remains of a nation which was formerly pretty considerable; but we have destroyed part of them by exciting our allies to attack them. I have already observed that they were a branch of the Natchez, and upon my first settling among these, I found several Chitimachas, who had taken refuge among them to avoid the calamities of the war which had been made upon them near the lakes.

Since the peace that was concluded with them in 1719, they have not only remained quiet, but kept themselves so prudently retired, that, rather than have any intercourse with the French, or traffic with them for what they look upon as superfluities, they choose to live in the manner they did an hundred years ago.

Along the west coast, not far from the sea, inhabit the nation named Atacapas, that is, Man-eaters, being so called by the other nations on account of their detestable custom of eating their enemies, or such as they believe to be their enemies. In this vast country there are no other cannibals to be met with besides the Atacapas; and since the French have gone among them, they have raised in them so great an horror of that abominable practice of devouring creatures of their own species, that they have promised to leave it off; and accordingly for a long time past we have heard of no such barbarity among them.

The Bayouc-Ogoulas were formerly situated in the country that still bears their name. This nation is now confounded with the others to whom it is joined.

The Oque-Loussas are a small nation situated north-west from the Cut Point. They live on the banks of two small lakes, the waters of which appear black by reason of the great number of leaves which cover the bottom of them, and have given name to the nation, Oque-Loussas in their language signifying Black Water.

From the Oque-Loussas to the Red River, we meet with no other nation; but upon the banks of this river, a little above the Rapid, is seated the small nation of the Avoyels. These are the people who bring to our settlers horses, oxen, and cows. {303} I know not in what fair they buy them, nor with what money they pay for them; but the truth is, they sell them to us for about seventeen shillings a-piece. The Spaniards of New-Spain have such numbers of them that they do not know what to do with them, and are obliged to those who will take them off their hands. At present the French have a greater number of them than they want, especially of horses.

About fifty leagues higher up the Red River, live the Nachitoches, near a French post of the same name. They are a pretty considerable nation, having about two hundred huts. They have always been greatly attached to the French; but never were friends to the Spaniards. There are some branches of this nation situated further westward; but the huts are not numerous.

Three hundred miles west from the Missisippi, upon the Red River, we find the great nation of the Cadodaquioux. It is divided into several branches which extend very widely. This people, as well as the Nachitoches, have a peculiar language; however, there is not a village in either of the nations, nor indeed in any nation of Louisiana, where there are not some who can speak the Chicasaw language, which is called the vulgar tongue, and is the same here as the Lingua Franca is in the Levant.

Between the Red River and the Arkansas there is at present no nation. Formerly the Ouachites lived upon the Black River, and gave their name to it; but at this time there are no remains of that nation; the Chicasaws having destroyed great part of them, and the rest took refuge among the Cadodaquioux, where their enemies durst not molest them. The Taensas lived formerly in this neighbourhood upon a river of their name; but they took refuge on the banks of the Mobile near the allies of the Chicasaws, who leave them undisturbed.

The nation of the Arkansas have given their name to the river on which they are situated, about four leagues from its confluence with the Missisippi. This nation is pretty considerable, and its men are no less distinguished for being good hunters than stout warriors. The Chicasaws, who are of a {304} restless disposition, have more than once wanted to make trial of the bravery of the Arkansas; but they were opposed with such firmness, that they have now laid aside all thoughts of attacking them, especially since they have been joined by the Kappas, the Michigamias, and a part of the Illinois, who have settled among them. Accordingly there is no longer any mention either of the Kappas or Michigamias, who are now all adopted by the Arkansas.

The reader may have already observed in this account of the natives of Louisiana, that several nations of those people had joined themselves to others, either because they could no longer resist their enemies, or because they hoped to improve their condition by intermixing with another nation. I am glad to have this occasion of observing that those people respect the rights of hospitality, and that those rights always prevail, notwithstanding any superiority that one nation may have over another with whom they are at war, or even over those people among whom their enemies take refuge. For example, a nation of two thousand warriors makes war upon, and violently pursues another nation of five hundred warriors, who retire among a nation in alliance with their enemies. If this last nation adopt the five hundred, the first nation, though two thousand in number, immediately lay down their arms, and instead of continuing hostilities, reckon the adopted nation among the number of their allies.

Besides the Arkansas, some authors place other nations upon their river. I cannot take upon me to say that there never were any; but I can positively affirm, from my own observation upon the spot, that no other nation is to be met with at present on this river, or even as far as the Missouri.

Not far from the river Missouri is situated the nation of the Osages, upon a small river of the same name. This nation is said to have been pretty considerable formerly, but at present they can neither be said to be great nor small.

The nation of the Missouris is very considerable, and has given its name to the large river that empties itself into the Missisippi. It is the first nation we meet with from the confluence {305} of the two rivers, and yet it is situated above forty leagues up the Missouri. The French had a settlement pretty near this nation, at the time when M. de Bourgmont was commandant in those parts; but soon after he left them, the inhabitants massacred the French garrison.

The Spaniards, as well as our other neighbours, being continually jealous of our superiority over them, formed a design of establishing themselves among the Missouris, about forty leagues from the Illinois, in order to limit our boundaries westward. They judged it necessary, for the security of their colony, entirely to cut off the Missouris, and for that purpose they courted the friendship of the Osages, whose assistance they thought would be of service to them in their enterprize, and who were generally at enmity with the Missouris. A company of Spaniards, men, women, and soldiers, accordingly set out from Santa Fe, having a Dominican for their chaplain, and an engineer for their guide and commander. The caravan was furnished with horses, and all other kinds of beasts necessary; for it is one of their prudent maxims, to send off all those things together. By a fatal mistake the Spaniards arrived first among the Missouris, whom they mistook for the Osages, and imprudently discovering their hostile intentions, they were themselves surprised and cut off by those whom they intended for destruction. The Missouris some time afterwards dressed themselves with the ornaments of the chapel; and carried them in a kind of triumphant procession to the French commandant among the Illinois. Along with the ornaments they brought a Spanish map, which seemed to me to be a better draught of the west part of our colony, towards them, than of the countries we are most concerned with. From this map it appears, that we ought to bend the Red River, and that of the Arkansas, somewhat more, and place the source of the Missisippi more westerly than our geographers do.

The principal nations who inhabit upon the banks, or in the neighbourhood of the Missouri, are, besides those already mentioned, the Canzas, the Othoues, the White Panis, the Black Panis, the Panimachas, the Aiouez, and the Padoucas. The most numerous of all those nations are the Padoucas, the smallest {306} are the Aiouez, the Othoues, and the Osages; the others are pretty considerable.

To the north of all those nations, and near the river Missisippi, it is pretended that a part of the nation of the Sioux have their residence. Some affirm that they inhabit now on one side of the river, now on another. From what I could learn from travellers, I am inclined to think, that they occupy at the same time both sides of the Missisippi, and their settlements, as I have elsewhere observed, are more than an hundred leagues above the Fall of St. Anthony. But we need not yet disquiet ourselves about the advantages which might result to us from those very remote countries. Many ages must pass before we can penetrate into the northern parts of Louisiana.



CHAPTER III.

A Description of the natives of Louisiana; of their manners and customs, particularly those of the Natchez: of their language, their religion, ceremonies, Rulers or Suns, feasts, marriages, &c.



SECTION I.

A description of the natives; the different employments of the two sexes; and their manner of bringing up their children.

In the concise history which I have given of the people of Louisiana, and in several other places where I have happened to mention them, the reader may have observed that these nations have not all the same character, altho' they live adjoining to each other. He therefore ought not to expect a perfect uniformity in their manners, or that I should describe all the different usages that prevail in different parts, which would create a disagreeable medley, and tend only to confound his ideas which cannot be too clear. My design is only to shew in general, from the character of those people, what course we ought to observe, in order to draw advantage from our intercourse with them. I shall however be more full in speaking of the Natchez, a populous nation, among whom I lived the space of eight years, and whose sovereign, the chief of war, and the chief of the keepers of the temple, were among my most intimate {307} friends. Besides, their manners were more civilized, their manner of thinking more just and fuller of sentiment, their customs more reasonable, and their ceremonies more natural and serious; on all which accounts they were eminently distinguished above the other nations.

All the natives of America in general are extremely well made; very few of them are to be seen under five feet and a half, and very many of them above that; their leg seems as if it was fashioned in a mould; it is nervous, and the calf is firm; they are long waisted; their head is upright and somewhat flat in the upper part, and their features are regular; they have black eyes, and thick black hair without curls. If we see none that are extremely fat and pursy, neither do we meet with any that are so lean as if they were in a consumption. The men in general are better made than the women; they are more nervous, and the women more plump and fleshy; the men are almost all large, and the women of a middle size. I have always been inclined to think, that the care they take of their children in their infancy contributes greatly to their fine shapes, tho' the climate has also its share in that, for the French born in Louisiana are all large, well shaped, and of good flesh and blood.

When any of the women of the natives is delivered, she goes immediately to the water and washes herself and the infant; she then comes home and lies down, after having disposed her infant in the cradle, which is about two feet and a half long, nine inches broad, and half a foot deep, being formed of straight pieces of cane bent up at one end, to serve for a foot or stay. Betwixt the canes and the infant is a kind of matrass of the tufted herb called Spanish Beard, and under its head is a little skin cushion, stuffed with the same herb. The infant is laid on its back in the cradle, and fastened to it by the shoulders, the arms, the legs, the thighs, and the hips; and over its forehead are laid two bands of deer-skin which keeps its head to the cushion, and renders that part flat. As the cradle does not weigh much above two pounds, it generally lies on the mother's bed, who suckles the infant occasionally. The infant is rocked not side-ways but end-ways, and when it is a {308} month old they put under its knees garters made of buffalo's wool which is very soft, and above the ankle bones they bind the legs with threads of the same wool for the breadth of three or four inches. And these ligatures the child wears till it be four or five years old.

The infants of the natives are white when they are born, but they soon turn brown, as they are rubbed with bear's oil and exposed to the sun. They rub them with oil, both to render their nerves more flexible, and also to prevent the flies from stinging them, as they suffer them to roll about naked upon all fours, before they are able to walk upright. They never put them upon their legs till they are a year old, and they suffer them to suck as long as they please, unless the mother prove with child, in which case she ceases to suckle.

When the boys are about twelve years of age, they give them a bow and arrows proportioned to their strength, and in order to exercise them they tie some hay, about twice as large as the fist, to the end of a pole about ten feet high. He who brings down the hay receives the prize from an old man who is always present: the best shooter is called the young warrior, the next best is called the apprentice warrior, and so on of the others, who are prompted to excel more by sentiments of honour than by blows.

As they are threatened from their most tender infancy with the resentment of the old man, if they are any ways refractory or do any mischievous tricks, which is very rare, they fear and respect him above every one else. This old man is frequently the great-grandfather, or the great-great-grand-father of the family, for those natives live to a very great age. I have seen some of them not able to walk, without having any other distemper or infirmity than old age, so that when the necessities of nature required it, or they wanted to take the air, they were obliged to be carried out of their hut, an assistance which is always readily offered to the old men. The respect paid to them by their family is so great, that they are looked upon as the judges of all differences, and their counsels are decrees. An old man who is the head of a family is called father, even by his grand-children, and great-grand-children, {309} who to distinguish their immediate father call him their true father.

If any of their young people happen to fight, which I never saw nor heard of during the whole time I resided in their neighbourhood, they threaten to put them in a hut at a great distance from their nation, as persons unworthy to live among others; and this is repeated to them so often, that if they happen to have had a battle, they take care never to have another. I have already observed that I studied them a considerable number of years; and I never could learn that there ever were any disputes or boxing matches among either their boys or men.

As the children grow up, the fathers and mothers take care each to accustom those of their own sex to the labours and exercises suited to them, and they have no great trouble to keep them employed; but it must be confessed that the girls and the women work more than the men and the boys. These last go a hunting and fishing, cut the wood, the smallest bits of which are carried home by the women; they clear the fields for corn, and hoe it; and on days when they cannot go abroad they amuse themselves with making, after their fashion, pickaxes, oars, paddles, and other instruments, which once made last a long while. The women on the other hand have their children to bring up, have to pound the maiz for the subsistence of the family, have to keep up the fire, and to make a great many utensils, which require a good deal of work, and last but a short time, such as their earthen ware, their matts, their clothes, and a thousand other things of that kind.

When the children are about ten or twelve years of age they accustom them by degrees to carry small loads, which they increase with their years. The boys are from time to time exercised in running; but they never suffer them to exhaust themselves by the length of the race, lest they should overheat themselves. The more nimble at that exercise sometimes sportfully challenges those who are more slow and heavy; but the old man who presides hinders the raillery from being carried to any excess, carefully avoiding all subjects of quarrel and dispute, on which account doubtless it is that they will never suffer them to wrestle.

{310} Both boys and girls are early accustomed to bathe every morning, in order to strengthen the nerves, and harden them against cold and fatigue, and likewise to teach them to swim, that they may avoid or pursue an enemy, even across a river. The boys and girls, from the time they are three years of age, are called out every morning by an old man, to go to the river; and here is some more employment for the mothers who accompany them thither to teach them to swim. Those who can swim tolerably well, make a great noise in winter by beating the water in order to frighten away the crocodiles, and keep themselves warm.

The reader will have observed that most of the labour and fatigue falls to the share of the women; but I can declare that I never heard them complain of their fatigues, unless of the trouble their children gave them, which complaint arose as much from maternal affection, as from any attention that the children required. The girls from their infancy have it instilled into them, that if they are sluttish or unhandy they will have none but a dull aukward fellow for their husband; I observed in all the nations I visited, that this threatening was never lost upon the young girls.

I would not have it thought however, that the young men are altogether idle. Their occupations indeed are not of such a long continuance; but they are much more laborious. As the men have occasion for more strength, reason requires that they should not exhaust themselves in their youth; but at the same time they are not exempted from those exercises that fit them for war and hunting. The children are educated without blows; and the body is left at full liberty to grow, and to form and strengthen itself with their years. The youths accompany the men in hunting, in order to learn the wiles and tricks necessary to be practised in the field, and accustom themselves to suffering and patience. When they are full grown men, they dress the field or waste land, and prepare it to receive the seed; they go to war or hunting, dress the skins, cut the wood, make their bows and arrows, and assist each other in building their huts.

They have still I allow a great deal of more spare time than the women; but this is not all thrown away. As these {311} people have not the assistance of writing, they are obliged to have recourse to tradition, in order to preserve the remembrance of any remarkable transactions; and this tradition cannot be learned but by frequent repetitions, consequently many of the youths are often employed in hearing the old men narrate the history of their ancestors, which is thus transmitted from generation to generation. In order to preserve their traditions pure and uncorrupt, they are careful not to deliver them indifferently to all their young people, but teach them only to those young men of whom they have the best opinion.



SECTION II.

Of the language, government, religion, ceremonies, and feasts of the natives.

During my residence among the Natchez I contracted an intimate friendship, not only with the chiefs or guardians of the temple, but with the Great Sun, or the sovereign of the nation, and his brother the Stung Serpent, the chief of the warriors; and by my great intimacy with them, and the respect I acquired among the people, I easily learned the peculiar language of the nation.

This language is easy in the pronunciation, and expressive in the terms. The natives, like the Orientals, speak much in a figurative stile, the Natchez in particular more than any other people of Louisiana. They have two languages, that of the nobles and that of the people, and both are very copious. I will give two or three examples to shew the difference of these two languages. When I call one of the common people, I say to him aquenan, that is, hark ye: if, on the other hand, I want to speak to a Sun, or one of their nobles, I say to him, magani, which signifies, hark ye. If one of the common people call at my house, I say to him, tachte-cabanacte, are you there, or I am glad to see you, which is equivalent to our goodmorrow. I express the same thing to a Sun by the word apapegouaiche. Again, according to their custom, I say to one of the common people, petchi, sit you down; but to a Sun, when I desire him to sit down, I say, caham. The two languages are {312} nearly the same in all other respects; for the difference of expression seems only to take place in matters relating to the persons of the Suns and nobles, in distinction from those of the people.

Tho' the women speak the same language with the men, yet, in their manner of pronunciation, they soften and smooth the words, whereas the speech of the men is more grave and serious. The French, by chiefly frequenting the women, contracted their manner of speaking, which was ridiculed as an effeminacy by the women, as well as the men, among the natives.

From my conversations with the chief of the guardians of the temple, I discovered that they acknowledged a supreme being, whom they called Coyococop-Chill, or Great Spirit. The Spirit infinitely great, or the Spirit by way of excellence. The word chill, in their language, signifies the most superlative degree of perfection, and is added by them to the word which signifies fire, when they want to mention the Sun; thus Oua is fire, and Oua-chill is the supreme fire, or the Sun; therefore, by the word Coyocop-Chill they mean a spirit that surpasses other spirits as much as the sun does common fire.

"God," according to the definition of the guardian of the temple, "was so great and powerful, that, in comparison with him, all other things were as nothing; he had made all that we see, all that we can see, and all that we cannot see; he was so good, that he could not do ill to any one, even if he had a mind to it. They believe that God had made all things by his will; that nevertheless the little spirits, who are his servants, might, by his orders, have made many excellent works in the universe, which we admire; but that God himself had formed man with his own hands."

The guardian added, that they named those little spirits, Coyocop-techou, that is, a free servant, but as submissive and as respectful as a slave; that those spirits were always present before God, ready to execute his pleasure with an extreme diligence; that the air was filled with other spirits, some good some wicked; and that the latter had a chief, who was more {313} wicked than them all; that God had found him so wicked, that he had bound him for ever, so that the other spirits of the air no longer did so much harm, especially when they were by prayers entreated not to do it; for it is one of the religious customs of those people to invoke the spirits of the air for rain or fine weather, according as each is needed. I have seen the Great Sun fast for nine days together, eating nothing but maiz-corn, without meat or fish, drinking nothing but water, and abstaining from the company of his wives during the whole time. He underwent this rigorous fast out of complaisance to some Frenchmen, who had been complaining that it had not rained for a long time. Those inconsiderate people had not remarked, that notwithstanding the want of rain, the fruits of the earth had not suffered, as the dew is so plentiful in summer as fully to supply that deficiency.

The guardian of the temple having told me that God had made man with his own hands, I asked him if he knew how that was done. He answered, "that God had kneaded some clay, such as that which potters use, and had made it into a little man; and that after examining it, and finding it well formed, he blew up his work, and forthwith that little man had life, grew, acted, walked, and found himself a man perfectly well shaped." As he made no mention of the woman, I asked him how he believed she was made; he told me, "that probably in the same manner as the man; that their antient speech made no mention of any difference, only told them that the man was made first, and was the strongest and most courageous, because he was to be the head and support of the woman, who was made to be his companion."

Here I did not omit to rectify his notions on the subjects we had been talking about, and to give him those just ideas which religion teaches us, and the sacred writings have transmitted to us. He hearkened to me with great attention, and promised to repeat all that I had told him to the old men of his nation, who certainly would not forget it; adding, that we were very happy in being able to retain the knowledge of such fine things by means of the speaking cloth, so they name books and manuscripts.

{314} I next proceeded to ask him, who had taught them to build a temple; whence had they their eternal fire, which they preserved with so much care; and who was the person that first instituted their feasts? He replied, "The charge I am entrusted with obliges me to know all these things you ask of me; I will therefore satisfy you: hearken to me. A great number of years ago there appeared among us a man and his wife, who came down from the sun. Not that we believe that the sun had a wife who bore him children, or that these were the descendants of the sun; but when they first appeared among us they were so bright and luminous that we had no difficulty to believe that they came down from the sun. This man told us, that having seen from on high that we did not govern ourselves well; that we had no master; that each of us had presumption enough to think himself capable of governing others, while he could not even conduct himself; he had thought fit to come down among us to teach us to live better.

"He moreover told us, that in order to live in peace among ourselves, and to please the supreme Spirit, we must indispensably observe the following points; we must never kill any one but in defence of our own lives; we must never know any other woman besides our own; we must never take any thing that belongs to another; we must never lye nor get drunk; we must not be avaricious, but must give liberally, and with joy, part of what we have to others who are in want, and generously share our subsistence with those who are in need of it."

"The words of this man deeply affected us, for he spoke them with authority, and he procured the respect even of the old men themselves, tho' he reprehended them as freely as the rest. Next day we offered to acknowledge him as our sovereign. He at first refused, saying that he should not be obeyed, and that the disobedient would infallibly die; but at length he accepted the offer that was made him on the following condition:

"That we would go and inhabit another country, better than that in which we were, which he would shew us; that we would afterwards live conformable to the instructions he had given us; that we would promise never to acknowledge any {315} other sovereigns but him and his descendants; that the nobility should be perpetuated by the women after this manner; if I, said he, have male and female children, they being brothers and sisters cannot marry together; the eldest boy may chuse a wife from among the people, but his sons shall be only nobles; the children of the eldest girl, on the other hand, shall be princes and princesses, and her eldest son be sovereign; but her eldest daughter be the mother of the next sovereign, even tho' she should marry one of the common people; and, in defect of the eldest daughter, the next female relation to the person reigning shall be the mother of the future sovereign; the sons of the sovereign and princes shall lose their rank, but the daughters shall preserve theirs."

"He then told us, that in order to preserve the excellent precepts he had given us, it was necessary to build a temple, into which it should be lawful for none but the princes and princesses to enter, to speak to the Spirit. That in the temple they should eternally preserve a fire, which he would bring down from the sun, from whence he himself had descended, that the wood with which the fire was supplied should be pure wood without bark; that eight wise men of the nation should be chosen for guarding the fire night and day; that those eight men should have a chief, who should see them do their duty, and that if any of them failed in it he should be put to death. He likewise ordered another temple to be built in a distant part of our nation, which was then very populous, and the eternal fire to be kept there also, that in case it should be extinguished in the one it might be brought from the other; in which case, till it was again lighted, the nation would be afflicted with a great mortality."

"Our nation having consented to these conditions, he agreed to be our sovereign; and in presence of all the people he brought down the fire from the sun, upon some wood of the walnut-tree which he had prepared, which fire was deposited in both the temples. He lived a long time, and saw his children's children. To conclude, he instituted our feasts such as you see them."

The Natchez have neither sacrifices, libations, nor offerings: their whole worship consists in preserving the eternal {316} fire, and this the Great Sun watches over with a peculiar attention. The Sun, who reigned when I was in the country, was extremely solicitous about it, and visited the temple every day. His vigilance had been awakened by a terrible hurricane which some years before had happened in the country, and was looked upon as an extraordinary event, the air being generally clear and serene in that climate. If to that calamity should be joined the extinction of the eternal fire, he was apprehensive their whole nation would be destroyed.

One day, when the Great Sun called upon me, he gave me an account of a dreadful calamity that had formerly befallen the nation of the Natchez, in consequence, as he believed, of the extinction of the eternal fire. He introduced his account in the following manner: "Our nation was formerly very numerous and very powerful; it extended more than twelve days journey from east to west, and more than fifteen from south to north. We reckoned then 500 Suns, and you may judge by that what was the number of the nobles, of the people of rank, and the common people. Now in times past it happened, that one of the two guardians, who were upon duty in the temple, left it on some business, and the other fell asleep, and suffered the fire to go out. When he awaked and saw that he had incurred the penalty of death, he went and got some profane fire, as tho' he had been going to light his pipe, and with that he renewed the eternal fire. His transgression was by that means concealed; but a dreadful mortality immediately ensued, and raged for four years, during which many Suns and an infinite number of the people died.

"The guardian at length sickened, and found himself dying, upon which he sent for the Great Sun, and confessed the heinous crime he had been guilty of. The old men were immediately assembled, and, by their advice, fire being snatched from the other temple, and brought into this, the mortality quickly ceased." Upon my asking him what he meant by "snatching the fire," he replied, "that it must always be brought away by violence, and that some blood must be shed, unless some tree on the road was set on fire by lightning, and {317} then the fire might be brought from thence; but that the fire of the sun was always preferable."

It is impossible to express his astonishment when I told him, that it was a trifling matter to bring down fire from the sun, and that I had it in my power to do it whenever I pleased. As he was extremely desirous to see me perform that seeming miracle, I took the smallest of two burning glasses which I had brought from France, and placing some dry punk (or agaric) upon a chip of wood, I drew the focus of the glass upon it, and with a tone of authority pronounced the word Caheuch, that is, come, as tho' I had been commanding the fire to come down. The punk immediately smoking, I blew a little and made it flame to the utter astonishment of the Great Sun and his whole retinue, some of whom stood trembling with amazement and religious awe. The prince himself could not help exclaiming, "Ah, what an extraordinary thing is here!" I confirmed him in his idea, by telling him, that I greatly loved and esteemed that useful instrument, as it was most valuable, and was given to me by my grandfather, who was a very learned man.

Upon his asking me, if another man could do the same thing with that instrument that he had seen me do, I told him that every man might do it, and I encouraged him to make the experiment himself. I accordingly put the glass in his hand, and leading it with mine over another piece of agaric, I desired him to pronounce the word Caheuch, which he did, but with a very faint and diffident tone; nevertheless, to his great amazement, he saw the agaric begin to smoke, which so confounded him that he dropt both the chip on which it was laid and the glass out of his hands, crying out, "Ah, what a miracle!"

Their curiosity being now fully raised, they held a consultation in my yard, and resolved to purchase at any rate my wonderful glass, which would prevent any future mortality in their nation, in consequence of the extinction of the eternal fire. I, in the mean time, had gone out to my field, as if about some business; but in reality to have a hearty laugh at the comical scene which I had just occasioned. Upon my return the Great Sun entered my apartment with me, and laying his hand upon mine, told me, that tho' he loved all the French, he {318} was more my friend than of any of the rest, because most of the French carried all their understanding upon their tongue, but that I carried mine in my whole head and my whole body. After this preamble he offered to bargain for my glass, and desired me to set what value I pleased upon it, adding that he would not only cause the price to be paid by all the families of the nation, but would declare to them that they lay under an obligation to me for giving up to them a thing which saved them from a general mortality. I replied, that tho' I bore his whole nation in my heart, yet nothing made me part with my glass, but my affection for him and his brother; that, besides, I asked nothing in return but things necessary for my subsistence, such as corn, fowls, game, and fish, when they brought him any of these. He offered me twenty barrels of maiz, of 150 pounds each, twenty fowls, twenty turkies, and told me that he would send me game and fish every time his warriors brought him any, and his promise was punctually fulfilled. He engaged likewise not to speak any thing about it to the Frenchmen, lest they should be angry with me for parting with an instrument of so great a value. Next day the glass was tried before a general assembly of all the Suns, both men and women, the nobles, and the men of rank, who all met together at the temple; and the same effect being produced as the day before, the bargain was ratified; but it was resolved not to mention the affair to the common people, who, from their curiosity to know the secrets of their court, were assembled in great numbers not far from the temple, but only to tell them, that the whole nation of the Natchez were under great obligations to me.

The Natchez are brought up in a most perfect submission to their sovereign; the authority which their princes exercise over them is absolutely despotic, and can be compared to nothing but that of the first Ottoman emperors. Like these, the Great Sun is absolute master of the lives and estates of his subjects, which he disposes of at his pleasure, his will being the only law; but he has this singular advantage over the Ottoman princes, that he has no occasion to fear any seditious tumults, or any conspiracy against his person. If he orders a man guilty of a capital crime to be put to death, the criminal {319} neither supplicates, nor procures intercession to be made for his life, nor attempts to run away. The order of the sovereign is executed on the spot, and nobody murmurs. But however absolute the authority of the Great Sun may be, and although a number of warriors and others attach themselves to him, to serve him, to follow him wherever he goes, and to hunt for him, yet he raises no stated impositions; and what he receives from those people appears given, not so much as a right due, as a voluntary homage, and a testimony of their love and gratitude.

The Natchez begin their year in the month of March, as was the practice a long time in Europe, and divide it into thirteen moons. At every new moon they celebrate a feast, which takes its name from the principal fruits reaped in the preceding moon, or from animals that are then usually hunted. I shall give an account of one or two of these feasts as concisely as I can.

The first moon is called that of the Deer, and begins their new year, which is celebrated by them with universal joy, and is at the same time an anniversary memorial of one of the most interesting events in their history. In former times a Great Sun, upon hearing a sudden tumult in his village, had left his hut in a great hurry, in order to appease it, and fell into the hands of his enemies; but was quickly after rescued by his warriors, who repulsed the invaders, and put them to flight.

In order to preserve the remembrance of this honourable exploit, the warriors divide themselves into two bodies, distinguished from each other by the colour of their feathers. One of these bodies represents the invaders, and after raising loud shouts and cries, seize the Great Sun, who comes out of his hut undressed, and rubbing his eyes, as though he were just awake. The Great Sun defends himself intrepidly with a wooden tomahawk, and lays a great many of his enemies upon the ground, without however giving them a single blow, for he only seems to touch them with his weapon. In the mean time the other party come out of their ambuscade, attack the invaders, and, after fighting with them for some time, rescue their prince, and drive them into a wood, which is represented by an arbour {320} made of canes. During the whole time of the skirmish, the parties keep up the war-cry, or the cry of terror, as each of them seem to be victors or vanquished. The Great Sun is brought back to his hut in a triumphant manner; and the old men, women, and children, who were spectators of the engagement, rend the sky with their joyful acclamations. The Great Sun continues in his hut about half an hour, to repose himself after his great fatigues, which are such that an actor of thirty years of age would with difficulty have supported them, and he however, when I saw this feast, was above ninety. He then makes his appearance again to the people, who salute him with loud acclamations, which cease upon his proceeding towards the temple. When he is arrived in the middle of the court before the temple, he makes several gesticulations, then stretches out his arms horizontally, and remains in that posture motionless as a statute for half an hour. He is then relieved by the master of the ceremonies, who places himself in the same attitude, and half an hour after is relieved by the great chief of war, who remains as long in the same posture. When this ceremony is over, the Great Sun, who, when he was relieved, had returned to his hut, appears again before the people in the ornaments of his dignity, is placed upon his throne, which is a large stool with four feet cut out of one piece of wood, has a fine buffalo's skin thrown over his shoulders, and several furs laid upon his feet, and receives various presents from the women, who all the while continue to express their joy by their shouts and acclamations. Strangers are then invited to dine with the Great Sun, and in the evening there is a dance in his hut, which is about thirty feet square, and twenty feet high, and like the temple is built upon a mount of earth, about eight feet high, and sixty feet over on the surface.

The second moon, which answers to our April, is called the Strawberry moon, as that fruit abounds then in great quantities.

The third moon is that of the Small Corn. This moon is often impatiently looked for, their crop of large corn never sufficing to nourish them from one harvest to another.

{321} The fourth is that of Water-melons, and answers to our June.

The fifth moon is that of the Fishes: in this month also they gather grapes, if the birds have suffered them to ripen.

The sixth, which answers to our August, is that of the Mulberries. At this feast they likewise carry fowls to the Great Sun.

The seventh, which is that of Maiz, or Great Corn. This feast is beyond dispute the most solemn of all. It principally consists in eating in common, and in a religious manner, of new corn, which had been sown expressly with that design, with suitable ceremonies. This corn is sown upon a spot of ground never before cultivated; which ground is dressed and prepared by the warriors alone, who also are the only persons that sow the corn, weed it, reap it, and gather it. When this corn is near ripe, the warriors fix on a place proper for the general feast, and close adjoining to that they form a round granary, the bottom and sides of which are of cane; this they fill, with the corn, and when they have finished the harvest, and covered the granary, they acquaint the Great Sun, who appoints the day for the general feast. Some days before the feast, they build huts for the Great Sun, and for all the other families, round the granary, that of the Great Sun being raised upon a mount of earth about two feet high. On the feast-day the whole nation set out from their village at sun-rising, leaving behind only the aged and infirm that are not able to travel, and a few warriors, who are to carry the Great Sun on a litter upon their shoulders. The seat of this litter is covered with several deer skins, and to its four sides are fastened four bars which cross each other, and are supported by eight men, who at every hundred paces transfer their burden to eight other men, and thus successively transport it to the place where the feast is celebrated, which may be near two miles from the village. About nine o'clock the Great Sun comes out of his hut dressed in the ornaments of his dignity, and being placed in his litter, which has a canopy at the head formed of flowers, he is carried in a few minutes to the sacred granary, shouts of {322} joy re-echoing on all sides. Before he alights he makes the tour of the whole place deliberately, and when he comes before the corn, he salutes it thrice with the words, hoo, hoo, hoo, lengthened and pronounced respectfully. The salutation is repeated by the whole nation, who pronounce the word hoo nine times distinctly, and at the ninth time he alights and places himself on his throne.

Immediately after they light a fire by rubbing two pieces of wood violently against each other, and when every thing is prepared for dressing the corn, the chief of war, accompanied by the warriors belonging to each family, presents himself before the throne, and addresses the Sun in these words, "speak, for I hear thee." The sovereign then rises up, bows towards the four quarters of the world, and advancing to the granary, lifts his eyes and hands to heaven, and says, "Give us corn:" upon which the great chief of war, the princes and princesses, and all the men, thank him separately, by pronouncing the word hoo. The corn is then distributed, first to the female Suns, and then to all the women, who run with it to their huts, and dress it with the utmost dispatch. When the corn is dressed in all the huts, a plate of it is put into the hands of the Great Sun, who presents it to the four quarters of the world, and then says to the chief of war, eat; upon this signal the warriors begin to eat in all the huts; after them the boys of whatever age, excepting those who are on the breast; and last of all the women. When the warriors have finished their repast, they form themselves into two choirs before the huts, and sing war songs for half an hour; after which the chief of war, and all the warriors in succession, recount their brave exploits, and mention, in a boasting manner, the number of enemies they have slain. The youths are next allowed to harangue, and each tells in the best manner he can, not what he has done, but what he intends to do; and if his discourse merits approbation, he is answered by a general hoo; if not, the warriors hang down their heads and are silent.

This great solemnity is concluded with a general dance by torch-light. Upwards of two hundred torches of dried canes, each of the thickness of a child, are lighted round the place, {323} where the men and women often continue dancing till day-light; and the following is the disposition of their dance. A man places himself on the ground with a pot covered with a deer-skin, in the manner of a drum, to beat time to the dances; round him the women form themselves into a circle, not joining hands, but at some distance from each other; and they are inclosed by the men in another circle, who have in each hand a chichicois, or calabash, with a stick thrust through it to serve for a handle. When the dance begins, the women move round {324} the men in the centre, from left to right, and the men contrariwise from right to left, and they sometimes narrow and sometimes widen their circles. In this manner the dance continues without intermission the whole night, new performers successively taking the place of those who are wearied and fatigued.



Next morning no person is seen abroad before the Great Sun comes out of his hut, which is generally about nine o'clock, and then upon signal made by the drum, the warriors make their appearance distinguished into two troops, by the feathers which they wear on their heads. One of these troops is headed by the Great Sun, and the other by the chief of war, who begin a new diversion by tossing a ball of deer-skin stuffed with Spanish beard from the one to the other. The warriors quickly take part in the sport, and a violent contest ensues which of the two parties shall drive the ball to the hut of the opposite chief. The diversion generally lasts two hours, and the victors are allowed to wear the feathers of superiority till the following year, or till the next time they play at the ball. After this the warriors perform the war dance; and last of all they go and bathe; an exercise which they are very fond of when they are heated or fatigued.

The rest of that day is employed as the preceding; for the feasts holds as long as any of the corn remains. When it is all eat up, the Great Sun is carried back in his litter, and they all return to the village, after which he sends the warriors to hunt both for themselves and him.

The eighth moon is that of Turkies, and answers to our October.

The ninth moon is that of the Buffalo; and it is then they go to hunt that animal. Having discovered whereabouts the herd feeds, they go out in a body to hunt them. Young and old, girls and married women, except those who are with child, are all of the party, for there is generally work for them all. Some nations are a little later in going out to this hunting, that they may find the cows fatter, and the herds more numerous.

The tenth moon is that of Bears; at this time of hunting the feasts are not so grand and solemn, because great part of the nations are accompanying the hunters in their expeditions.

{325} The eleventh answers to our January, and is named as Cold-meal Moon. The twelfth is that of Chesnuts. That fruit has been gathered long before, nevertheless it gives its name to this moon.

Lastly, the thirteenth is that of Walnuts, and it is added to compleat the year. It is then they break the nuts to make bread of them by mixing with them the flour of Maiz.

The feasts which I saw celebrated in the chief village of the Natchez, which is the residence of the Great Sun, are celebrated in the same manner in all the villages of the nation, which are each governed by a Sun, who is subordinate to the Great Sun, and acknowledge his absolute authority.

It is not to be conceived how exact these people are in assigning the pre-eminence to the men. In every assembly, whether of the whole nation in general, or of several families together, or of one family, the youngest boys have the preference to the women of the most advanced age; and at their meals, when their food is distributed, none is presented to the women, till all the males have received their share, so that a boy of two years old is served before his mother.

The women being always employed, without ever being diverted from their duty, or seduced by the gallantries of lovers, never think of objecting to the propriety of a custom, in which they have been constantly brought up. Never having seen any example that contradicted it, they have not the least idea of varying from it. Thus being submissive from the habit, as well as from reason, they, by their docility, maintain that peace in their families, which they find established upon entering them.

{326}



SECTION III.

Of their Marriages, and Distinction of Ranks.

Paternal authority, as I have elsewhere observed, is not less sacred and inviolable than the pre-eminence of the men. It still subsists among the Natchez, such as it was in the first ages of the world. The children belong to the father, and while he lives they are under his power. They live with him, they, their wives, and their children; the same hut contains the whole family. The old man alone commands there, and nothing but death puts an end to his empire. As these people have seldom or rather never any differences among them, the paternal authority appears in nothing more conspicuous than in the marriages.

When the boys and girls arrive at the perfect age of puberty, they visit each other familiarly, and are suffered so to do. The girls, sensible that they will be no longer mistresses of their heart, when once they are married, know how to dispose of it to advantage, and form their wardrobe by the sale of their favours; for there, as well as in other countries, nothing for nothing. The lover, far from having any thing to object to this, on the contrary, rates the merit of his future spouse, in proportion to the fruits she has produced. But when they are married they have no longer any intrigues, neither the husband nor the wife, because their heart is no longer their own. They may divorce their wives; it is, however, so rare to see the man and wife part, that during the eight years I lived in their neighbourhood, I knew but one example of it, and then each took with them the children of their own sex.

If a young man has obtained a girl's consent, and they desire to marry, it is not their fathers, and much less their mothers, or male or female relations who take upon them to, conclude the match; it is the heads of the two families alone, who are usually great-grandfathers, and sometimes more. These two old men have an interview, in which, after the young man has formally made a demand of the girl, they examine if there be any relation between the two parties, and if any, what degree {327} it is; for they do not marry within the third degree. Notwithstanding this interview, and the two parties be found not within the prohibited degrees, yet if the proposed wife be disagreeable to the father, grandfather, &c. of the husband, the match is never concluded. On the other hand, ambition, avarice, and the other passions, so common with us, never stifle in the breasts of the fathers those dictates of nature, which make us desire to see ourselves perpetuated in our offspring, nor influence them to thwart their children, improperly, and much less to force their inclinations. By an admirable harmony, very worthy of our imitation, they only marry those who love one another, and those who love one another, are only married when their parents agree to it. It is rare for young men to marry before they be five-and-twenty. Till they arrive at that age they are looked upon as too weak, without understanding and experience.

When the marriage-day is once fixed, preparations are made for it both by the men and women; the men go a hunting, and the women prepare the maiz, and deck out the young man's cabin to the best of their power. On the wedding-day the old man on the part of the girl leaves his hut, and conducts the bride to the hut of the bridegroom; his whole family follow him in order and silence; those who are inclined to laugh or be merry, indulging themselves only in a smile.

He finds before the other hut all the relations of the bridegroom, who receive and salute him with their usual expression of congratulation, namely, hoo, hoo, repeated several times. When he enters the hut, the old man on the part of the bridegroom says to him in their language, are you there? to which he answers, yes. He is next desired to sit down, and then not a word passes for near ten minutes, it being one of their prudent customs to suffer a guest to rest himself a little after his arrival, before they begin a conversation; and besides, they look upon the time spent in compliments as thrown away.

After both the old men are fully rested, they rise, and the bridegroom and bride appearing before them, they ask them, if they love each other? and if they are willing to take one another for man and wife? observing to them at the same time, {328} that they ought not to marry unless they propose to live amicably together; that nobody forces them, and that as they are each other's free choice, they will be thrust out of the family if they do not live in peace. After this remonstrance the father of the bridegroom delivers the present which his son is to make into his hands, the bride's father at the same time placing himself by her side. The bridegroom then addresses the bride; "Will you have me for your husband?" she answers, "Most willingly, and it gives me joy; love me, as well as I love you; for I love, and ever will love none but you." At these words the bridegroom covers the head of the bride with the present which he received from his father, and says to her, "I love you, and have therefore taken you for my wife, and this I give to your parents, to purchase you." He then gives the present to the bride's father.

The husband wears a tuft of feathers fastened to his hair, which is in the form of a cue, and hangs over his left ear, to which is fastened a sprig of oak with the leaves on, and in his left hand he bears a bow and arrows. The young wife bears in her left hand a small branch of laurel, and in her right a stalk of maiz, which was delivered to her by her mother at the time she received the present from her husband. This stalk she presents to her husband, who takes it from her with his right hand, and says, "I am your husband;" she answers, and "I am your wife." They then shake hands reciprocally with each other's relations; after which he leads her towards the bed, and says, "There is our bed, keep it tight;" which is as much as to say, do not defile the nuptial bed.

The marriage ceremony being thus concluded, the bridegroom and the bride, with their friends, sit down to a repast, and in the evening they begin their dances, which continue often till day-light.