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TRAVELS

THROUGH THAT PA

NORTH A MWMRT^J^

FORMERLY CABLED

L O U I S I A

AT'

By Mr. B O S S U, Captain in the
French Marines.

Translated from the FRENCH
By JOHN REINKOLD FORSTER, F.A.S,

Illustrated with NOTES relative chiefly t«
NATURAL HISTORY.

TO WHICH IS ADDED BT THE TRANSLATOR.

A SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE of all the

known Plants of English North-America,

O R, A
FLORA AMEflC^ SEPTENTRION ALIS.

TOGETHER WITH

An ABSTRACT of the most useful and

, NECESSARY ARTICLES CONTAINED IN

PETER LOEFLING's TRAVELS

through Spain and Cumana in South America.
Referred to the Pages of the original Swedifli Edition.

VOL.

L

Ornari res ipfa negat, contenta doceri. Marat,

LONDON

Printed for T. DA VIES in RuiH-Street, Covent-Garden.

MDCCLXXI.

jg

T O

WILLIAM CONSTABLE, E%

of Burton-Con st ABLE-

i

SIR,

HE zeal with which you promote the
great caufe of learning, and efpeci-
ally that of Natural Hiftory, the Polite
Arts and Antiquities, intitle you to the
regard and homage of every one who is
convetfant with Arts and Sciences : but
the favour you were fo kind to beftow up^
on me, before you proceeded on the tour
through the different parts of Europe, en-
courages me to take this early opportunity
to congratulate you on your return to your
philofophic retirement, and publicly to ac-
knowledge the gratitude and attachment
which will ever prompt me to think my-
felf happy in my weak endeavours to ap-
prove my conduct and fentiments to my
friends and benefactors,.

May

VI

D E D I C A T I O N.

-

May you always enjoy perfect health,
and all the rational and moral bleffings of
this life ; and, after a long feries of years,
diflinguiihed by aftions of benevolence,
friendfhip, and virtue, exchange thefe
tranfitory enjoyments for everlafting feli-
city. Thefe are the fincere and invariable
wifhes of him who fubfcribes himfelf,
with the trueft regard,

SIR,

Yoiir molt obliged
London, Oft. J.

obedient humble fervant,

.

,

JOHN REINHOLD FGRSTE &,

'

-

-

-

'

-

P R E F A C

-

xL»»

\UE prefent publication appears with a view
to fuppiy the Englifh reader with a good
account of a country, which now enjoys the hap-
pinefs to be under the mild influence and fway of
the Britifh fceptre ; and, if properly adminiftered
and peopled, might in time become one of the
great fupports of that power, which makes Great
Britain refpecled over ail the globe. The coun-
try here defcribed is fufceptible of great | improve-
ments, capable to fuppiy the mother-country with
immenfe ftores of raw materials for her manufac-
tures, and to take in return the produ&s of our
induftry ; a commerce which, connected with re-
ligious'and civil liberty, is the only bafis on which
the grandeur of this nation can be laftingly found-
ed with any degree of probability.

The Catalogue of North American plants is a
mere attempt, to make the curious more atten,
tive to the American Spontaneous products, and
which will give a higher degree of certainty of fuc-
cefs to the plantations of fuch plants as were re-
commended to the public, by the ingenious and
great promoter of Natural Hiftory and Plantations
John Ellis, E% ma Catalogue of fuch foreign plants
as are zvort7iy of being encouraged in cur American
colonies for the pir-pofes of medicine, agriculture, and

commerce»

The

viii PREFACE.

The Englifh names affixed to the greater part
of the plants, will make it more eafy to the com-
mon people to know and to ufe them, bring the
fcience more down even to the ioweff. capacities,
fix the hitherto vague and multifarious denomina-
tions of plants in various parts of America, and
obviate that confufion and drynefs already too com-
mon in the fludy of that ufeful branch of know-
ledge.

Loefiings descriptions of the Spariifli and South-
American plants are the only things in his journal
which deferve the attention of a curious reader ; the
letters publifhed along with them in the Swedifn,
are compliments of a grateful pupil to his tutor,
and queries and dubia relative to botany* and there*
fore not worth a tranflation. The Englifh public
has now all the voyages and publications of the
linnaean fchool \ Hoffelquifi^ OJbecky Toreen, Kalm>
and Lcefllng make the whole of them»

The French word outarde Cgnifies commonly .a
htftardy but in North America they give that name
to a kind of geefe, which I therefore beg to cor-
rect, vol. i. p. 96. •, having but lately got an in-
formation about it, from a gentleman who is juii
returned from North America.

The Sardines mentioned vol. i. p. 2» are not, as
1 have fufpecled in the note, the pilchards, fo com-
mon on cur wcftern coafts ; but a kind of herring,
not yet defcribed, peculiar to the neighbourhood
of Bclle-TJIc, and the coaft of French Bretany.

J^^b#^^^^^#^^%^^

0

fr.

> i

f

v I

T R A V E, L S

THROUGH

LOUISIANA.

L E T T E R I.

To the Map.quis de PEst£ade.

the Author's Departure for America •, Defcription
t)f the fown s/Cape Francois \ Cruelties of the
Spaniards towards the Natives of the IJle of St.
Domingo ; working of the Mines y true Origin of
the Mai de Naples.

^fe^HEN I had the honour of tak-
%K '^hm ing- my leave of yon, I was or-
JSy, -y% dered to communicate to you
^^%%ji every particular that fhould ap-
pear remarkable to me in this new world ;
you farther defired of me an account of all
interefting fubje&s which might happen on
Vol. I, B the

a TRAVELS through

the paflage. I am glad that my ftay at
Cape Francois affords me an opportunity of
fulfilling an engagement which is dear to
me, becawfe its execution may prove agree-
able to you.

I was at Belle-IJle in 1750, M. Le Cheva-
lier de Grojfoles commanded at that place ; he
gave me a letter from the Count d'Argenfon,
from which I learnt, that his Majefty had made
me Lieutenant in the Marines -y this Minifler
gave me orders to fet out immediately for
Rochefort ; accordingly I went on board the
firft fifhing fmack deftin'ed to carry the An-
chovies * (Sardines) to Rochelle^ which are
caught on the Coaft of Bret any x and which
are the chief fupport of the inhabitants of
Belle-JJle.

In

* The true Anchovies are caught in the Mediterranean ;
and thofe few that now and then appear in the feas
near England or France, are rather rare examples ; they
are certainly not fo numerous that a profitable iifhery of
them could be inftituted. The Sardine of our Author,
therefore, feems to be the Pilchard, a fifh that is very
copioufly caught on the coafts of Cornwall and French
Bret any i Linmeus has no peculiar fpecific name for this
fifh, though the great Englifh natural hiftorian, Ray, in
his Syn. pifc. 104, had pointed out the characters of
this fpecies ; which now is done more fully by Mr. Pew
nanty in his Britifh Zoology, III. p. 291. F.

h o u i s i a H a; 3

In November we weighed anchor before the
Palace*, (which is the name of the town on this
ifland) ; and the very ftrft night of our voyage
we had fuch a violent ftorm on the coaft of Poi-
toUj that our little veiTel being beat about and
furrounded by the waves* we expected every
moment to go to the bottom : The crew confid-
ed of a pilot* and three failors from Lower Bre-
tany, who are commonly called Sea-wolves *f- \
and are fo well accuflomed to this element, that
they brave the hardeft weather. The wind hav-
ing increafed, our captain was obliged to put in
at the IJle de Dieu, fituated between Poitou and
the county d'Aunis. We ftaid there eight days \
at the expiration of which, thefea being calmed,
we fet fail again, and continued our voyage to
the Ifle of Rhi% from whence I crofTed a chan-
nel of the fea about three leagues broad, that
feparates the ifle from the continent, and ar-
rived at Rochelle, and the day after 1 came to
Rochefcrt. I was directed to addrefs myfelf to
the intendant of the department of the marine,
who is M. k Normant de Me/i, a man of real
merit, and deferving of the place he occupies,
by. his talents and the goodnefs of his heart : he
told me, that, as foon as I mould have equipped
myfelf for my voyage, I was to go to Rochelle,

B 2 and

* Le Palais.

f Loups ds mer<

4 TRAVELS through

i

and embark in the fhip called the Pont char train^
of 400 tuns. M le Normant had freighted this
fhip for the King's account, in order to trans-
port four companies of the marines, whom we
took in at the citadel on the ifle of Rke : they
v/ere deftined to reinforce the garrifon of New
Orleans,

We fet fail from Rochelle the 26th of Decem-
ber, and had contrary winds for above a fort-
night on the coaft of Spain. We were already
willing to put in at Corunna^ in order to be fhel-
tered from the violence of the winds; when
happily the wind fhifted ; and, towards the end
of January, we were in fight of Madeira^ an
ifle belonging to Portugal * y it is called the
queen of iflands, on account of its fertility and
the excellence of its foil ; it has near twenty
leagues in circumference, produces good wines,
and very fine fruits.

On the 15th of February wepafied the tropic
of Cancer, The next day the failors fpent in

fome

* It is an African ifland in the Atlantic ocean, and fitu-
ated to the north of the Canary iflands ; which latter were
difcovered in 141 7, by a Norman gentleman called Jean
Bethencourt, who bore the title of King of the Canaries,
and made the conquefl of them to the Spaniards, who polled
them now. « '

■

LOUISIANA. 5

fome ridiculous ceremonies, which they oblige
thofe to undergo who never paiTed the line be-
fore : they are baptifed with fea-water -, but may
avoid this too abundant afperfion by making a
fmall prefent to the boatfwain.

Two months after leaving Rochelle we arrived
at Cape Fmngois, in the ifle of St. Domingo •,
which is that part of America where the Spaniards
have firft built towns and forts.

The town lies, at the bottom of a promontory :
it is defended by a fort cut in the rock, at the
entrance of the port. This fortrefs, which has
a good ilore of artillery, projects into the fea;
and by that means forms a cape, from whence
the town takes its name. Its inhabitants are
European merchants, Creoles, and negroes; the
laft being employed to cultivate fugar-canes,
coffee, indigo, cacao, cotton, caffia, tobacco,
and various other products.

The French and Spaniards have divided the
Uland between them •, the latter poffefs the weft-
ern part of it*. San Domingo is the capital of

B % the

* Since that time the Spaniards have given their ihare, of
this ifland to the French. F,

6 TRAVELS

THROUGH

the ifland ; it is the feat of a bifhop, whom thf
King of Spain appoints.

This ifland is celebrated by the origin of the
mat de Naples^ or venereal difeafe. Authors dife
agree fo much on this fubject, and have told
the ftory in fo many different ways, that I think
I mall not do amifs to reprefent it in its true
light.

Nicolas de Obando was governor of this ifle, to-
wards the end of the fifteenth century, during
the reign of King Ferdinand of Arragon and Ifa-
bella of Caftile: he had ftricl: orders to work at
the converfion of the fubdued Indians ; he diftri-
buted them among the Spaniards, giving a hun-
dred of them to one man, fifty to another •, and
calling this proceeding a repartimiento^ (a divi-
fion). I believe you will agree with me, Sir,
that this is a very lingular method of making
converts in America ; fuch maxims are quite
contrary to the true fpirit of the Chriftian reli-

gion *,

Thefe

" The King Don Ferdinand ■> being informed of thcfe
c< diforders, had turned all his attention towards remedying
* them ; and his care chiefly regarded the Indians, whom
" he wifhed to protect and convert, as it has always been the
?' maxim of the Catholic kings. He gave feveral orders,

" and

LOUISIANA. 7

Thefe Spaniards, greedy of gold, forced the
wretched Indians to work in the mines, and kept
them almoft buried in the earth for eight or nine
months together. This hard labour, the ful-
phureous vapours which continually rofe from
the mines, and the famine to which they were
reduced by the impoffibility of cultivating their
grounds, fo corrupted the mafs of their blood,
that their faces became tinged with a faffron co-
lour 5 a kind of puftules came out on every part
of their body, and caufed them infupportable
pains. Theyfoon communicated this ficknefs
to their wives, and fo of courfe to their ene-
mies ; and they all perilhed for want of a re-
medy.

The afflided Spaniards hoped, that this kind
of peft would not follow them to Europe, whi-
ther they went for the change of air ; but they
were deceived ; and, on their return, they gave
the Europeans the diftemper they got from the
Americans. £ ^ How^

« and published laws, that they fhould be inilruded with
" mildnefs, difiutereftednefs, and by example : but as an
.< arrow falls without foreeat the bottom of the aim, when
«< it is beyond the reach of the arm that (hot it; fo, all the
«< methods which he made ufe of to make his defigns fuc-
<> ceed, loft their force as they got to a greater diftance.
J)on Antmlo A Sells.

s

TRAVELS through

However, Providence pitied thefe wretched
iflanders : an Indian woman, the wife of a Spa-
niard, difcovered, forne time after, that a kind
of wood called guayacan, was a fufficiciit cure
for their diftemper*.

It is but too true, Sir, that evil produces evil.
The Spaniards have facrificed ■millions of men in
the new world; they have laid wafte countries
of vaft extent, in order to ufurp the gold of the

Indians. .

Gold and filver give as much trouble and fa-
tigue to thofe who work them out of the mines,
as they afford contentment and eafe to their pof-
fefTors. A Spanifh engineer told me, that twen-
ty-nine years were fpent in fearching, in the
mountains of Potofi, for the famous vein oxCru-
fero, which is two hundred and fifty yards deep.'
Such is the hard and fupernatural labour which
power and defire of riches exafts, and which is

executed

* Notwithftanding what our author fays concerning the
origin of this difeafe, it is well known, that the inhabitants
of South and North America had the difeafe when the Eu-
ropeans came to them ; but they well knew how to cure it,
though they carefully kept this knowledge from their Euro-
pean enemies ; and it has but lately been difcovered, that
in the fouth the Guayacum, and in the north the S tilling! a

fyl-vatka, together with other plants, are the Indian fpe-

dues. F.

LOUISIANA, 9

executed by neceffity and fervitude, in order to
extrad gold from the bowels of the earth. The
wretched workmen who are employed there, en-
joy neither the air of our atmofphere, nor the
lio-ht of the fun, and bury themfelves in infec-
tious and cold abyffes > of which the exhalations
are fo unwholefome, that they caufe fwoons and
giddinefs to the workmen as foon as they offer
to go in. They make ufe of candles to light
them in thefe dark fubterraneous places : the
metal is generally hard in them ; they break it
in pieces with hammers, load it on their mould-
ers, and mount upwards on ladders made of
twifted hides of oxen, with wooden ileps, contri-
ved in fuch a manner, that whilft one goes up
on one fide, another may defcend on the other :
thefe ladders are divided into ten fets. A man
generally carries two arobas of metal on his
back *, wrapped up in a piece of cloth : he that
o-oes firfl has a candle fattened to his thumb ;
and they all hold themfelves with both hands on
the ladder, in order to be able to go upwards
for the fpace of 250 feet.

The general hiftory of America tells us, that
the nations of Florida took the facks with filver,
and threw them far from themfelves as ufelefs.
The Mexicans* on the contrary, were fond of

* An Aroba is 25 pounds, folds de Marc*

to TRAVELS THROUGH

gold-, though, as Jofeph d'Acofia fays, in his
univerfal hiftory of the Indies, " it is true that
" their avarice was not arrived to that pitch
" where ours is •, and that, notwithstanding
u their being idolaters, they never have worfhip-
" ped gold and filver fo much as fome bad
*c Chriftians have done, who have committed
cc the moil atrocious crimes for the fake of that
" metal "

The fame author relates the following anec-
dote, which perfectly characterizes man's ftupid
defire after riches. " A Spanifh monk, confi-
" dering the height of the famous volcano of
" Guatemala, took it into his head, that that
" which he faw inflamed muft needs be a mafs of
cc gold, fmce it had burnt for many ages toge-
" ther without being confumed. Mifled by this
" falfe principle, he invented fome kettles,
" chains, and other inftruments, with which
" he intended to draw the liquid gold from this
" kind of well : but the fire difappointed him •,
" for the chain and kettle were fcarce entered
" into this infernal orifice, but they immediate-
" ly melted down. However," fays our author,
" this man perfifted in inventing new methods
" for fetching up the gold after which he thirfled
" fo much -, but one day happening to come too
" near the mouth of the volcano, the exhalations

!c frorr»

LOUISIANA. ii

*c from it killed him, when he expecled to have
■" fucceeded in his whimfical defign. Thus
" blind mortals haften their death by too great a
" purfuit after the luxuries of this life."

But to return to the Indians of Saint Domingo,
The hiftory of that ifle informs us, that a Ca-
cique # called P oner a, being haraffed by the Spa-
niards, refolved to flee from his village, which
the enemies found abandoned, and where they
took three thoufand marks of gold, which had
been left there. Vafco Nunez de Balboa, the
fuccelTor of Nicolas de Obando, fent his people
to the Cacique, with orders to allure him, that he
fhould not fear to return, becaufe he mould be his
friend; but that if he did not come back, he
ihould go and hunt for him, and caufe him to
be devoured by his dogs -j%

Poncra

i A cacique is a petty prince or king of the Indians,

f The Spaniards had brought over with them from Europe
fome mafiiffs, which they had taught to hunt the Indians ;
as foon as they were let loofe upon thefe wretches, they tore
out their bowels, and devoured them. One of thefe dogs
.called- Baremel was very much dreaded all over the ifland ;
and though he was guarded by a fhield againil the arrows of
the Indians, they, it is faid, at laft killed him, by piercing
his eyes with darts, which was a kind of triumph for them.

Antonio

12

TRAVELS THROUGH

Toncra was frightened by his threats, and did
not venture to difobey. He brought with him
three of his vaiTals. Nunez de Balboa employed
in vain all the cunning imaginable to bring him
to difcover the place where they got the gold,
w hich he had heard contained great quantities of
that metal : good ufage and punifhments were
equally inefficient to bring him to confefs what
perhaps he did not know. As to the three thou-
fand marks of gold which had been found, P on-
er a faid, that thofe who had amaiTed them died
in the times of his fathers, and that he had not
thought it worth while to fend people to fearch
for more, having no need-of it. This unhappy
Cacique was given up to the fury of the dogs,
that devoured him with his three companions.

Some time after, a Spaniard fell into the hands
of the fubjefts of the unhappy P oner a ; they re-
proached him with the exceflive third of his
countrymen after gold, and the injuflices it led

them

Antonio de Herrera, in his firft Decas, relates, that this
fierce creature, whofe inftincl: was fmgular, guarded a nar-
row pafs in the ifle o^St. Domingo; and that one day an
Indian woman, being defirous of pairing by him, addrefled
him in thefe words : Signer Dog, do not hurt me ; / carry this
letter to the Chrijiians : he adds, that the dog immediately

fmelled at her, pijfed at her, (thofe are his very words) and

J'tiff'ered her to pafs without doing her any harm,

LOUISIANA.

*3

them to commit -, that this avidity alone forced
them from their country, and brought them
acrofs numberlefs perils to that ifland, to difturb
its inhabitants, who lived peaceably before in
their huts, under the protection of the Great
Spirit *,

After this fhort harangue, they melted fome
gold, and poured it into his mouth and ears,
faying, "Thou dog, fince thou art fi willing to pof*
fefs it, glut thyjelf.

It muft, however, be owned, Sir, that, it
the Mexican hiftory mews us nothing but horror?
that of St. Domingo, on the other hand, furniihes
us with inftances of generofity.

Don Pedro de Magaratit, formerly a comman-
dant here for the King of Spain, was offered a
couple of living turtle - doves, by an Indian
in a great famine. The general took them,
paid the Indian handfomely for them, and beg-
ged part of the garrifon to go with him to the
higheil part of the town •, where5 being arrived,
he faid to them, holding the little creatures in
his hand, " Gentlemen, I am forry that people

"have

Thus the Indians call the Supreme Being.

TRAVELS THROUGH

" have not brought me provifions fuiricient t$
" treat you all ; I cannot refolve to fatisfy my ap-
44 petite, whilft you are ftarving :" and as he
had fpoke thefe words, he let the birds fly
away.

An infinite number of other inftances may be
added to this, which do no lefs honour to the
inhabitants of this ifle. There are feveral that
deferve to be recorded in hiftory •, and among
thofe that I have been told, I cannot help think-
ing the following ftory worth your notice. An
old inhabitant of St. Domingo had acquired a
considerable fortune there by his labour, indu-
ftry, and trade. His conduct and manners re-
mained unaltered by profperity •, and he only
valued his riches, becaufe they enabled him to
ferve others.

"Whenever a (hip arrived from France, he ran
to the coaft to fee the paffengers land, and gene-
rally conducted them to his home. One day he
faw feveral young people, who expected to make
their fortune as foon as they arrived -, they had
letters of recommendation, on which they de-
pended fo much, that they took little notice of
the good planter, who accofted them ; he left
them, wilhing them all kind of profperity:

fome

LOUISIANA.

i*

fome time after he met them again looking very
fad and difcontented with the reception they had
found. Gentlemen, fays he to them, you are
not recommended to me, and you did not rely
on me. I am your fellow-creature, and you want
affiftance; come to my houfe, you will there find
a table and a lodging at your fervice ; and during
that time perhaps fomething may offer, that will
fuit your inclinations. The young people were
enraptured, and accepted his offers ; they fol-
lowed him to his houfe, where they found a
table fpread for twenty perfons, and ferved by
as many Negro fefvants. One of the new co-
mers afked whether they were at a wedding,
and was furprifed to hear that this was nothing
extraordinary. The m after of the houfe kept
them in his houfe for fome time ; his advices,
and the pains he took about them, foon procu-
red them very advantageous fituations.

You will eafily believe, Sir, that fo good a
matter was loved and refpedted by all his flavcs,
who looked upon him as upon their father.
This man was very far from being animated by
the brutal avidity of fome planters, that force
their wretched flaves to fuch hard labour, that
they refufe to marry, in order to avoid genera-
ting Have? to fuch mafters, who treat them,

when

iS

TRAVELS THROUGH

when old and infirm, worfe than their dogs and

horfes *,

As to the inhabitants of the French iflands in
the Weil Indies, I can allure you they are very
generous towards ilrangers : a perfon may evert
travel in the interior parts of the country, with-
out the leaft expence to himfelf ; if his counte-
nance be free and open, and his behaviour de-
cent, he is fufrkieritly qualified for a favourable
reception in every habitation»

It is with great juftice that we reckon the
Creoles noble in France : their fentiments are fo
noble and delicate in every ftation of life, that
they perfectly deferve that appellation.

Man is every where the fame -, he is equally
fufceptible of good and evil -, education corrects
his vices, but does not give him virtue -9 the

fame

* I have feen a planter, whofe name was Chaperon, who»
forced one of his negroes to go into a heated oven, where
the poor wretch expired; and his jaws being fhrivelled up,
the barbarous Chaperon faid, I believe the fellow laughs,
and took a poker to ftir him up. Since that time he is
grown the fcare-crow of all the Haves ; who, when they
have done fomething amifs, are threatened by their mailers
with, / will fell thee to Chaperon*

L O U I S I A N :A. 17

fame Being has created the civilized man and
the favage, and has endowed them with the
fame qualities, as you will find in the fequel of
my correfpondence. If I cannot amufe you
with my ftile, at lead I mall make my narrative
interefting, through the firigularity of the fads
I intend to relate.

I am, S I R, 'tie.

Cape Franfois, the i$th
of February 1751.

Vol. I,

LET-

IS IRAV EL S THROUGH

"U5r^

L E T T E R II.

To the fame,

The Author's Departure from Cape Francois for
Louifiana. Short Defcription of the Harbour of
the Havannah. Of the famous Gutyh of Mexi-
co ; and of New Orleans.

S I R,

FO^S^E weighed anchor the 8th of March

<Jl W m *a^ ' anc* on t^ie l£^k we were *n
Sjt5?^Ti§ %nt °f Cuba9 which is the moll tem-
perate of all the Antilles. The Havannah is the
ftore of all the riches of America, [on account of
its fituation, and the extent and convenience of
its harbour, which can contain upwards of a
thoufand mips. It is the common rendez-vous
of the Spanifh fleets returning to Europe •, and
it is defended by three forts. Cuba is two hun-
dred leagues long, and between twenty-five and
thirty broad ; fixteen years have been fpent in
difcoveries to afcertain whether it was an ifle or

continent :

LOUISIANA. *9

Continent : it lies under the tropic of Cancer,
that is, in twenty-three degrees and a half north
latitude. Near the middle of the ifland, to the
Southward, are a number of little ifles very
clofe to each other, which are called the Garden
of the Queen *,

During the equinox we fuffered a very vio-
lent ftorm between Cape Catoche and Cape An*
tonic the latter, which we doubled on the
twenty-third, is at the weftern point ©f the ifle
of Cuba. I was very fea-fick, having never been
at fea on fo long a voyage •, but the defire of
ferving my country in a new land, fufficiently
compenfated all the hardfhips I underwent on
mypaflage. The winds changed, the fea be-
came fmooth, and, a few days after, we enter-
ed into the famous gulph of Mexico, where we
met with a prodigious quantity of floating titfK
ber, coming from Louifiana down the river Miffi-
fippi: thefe logs of wood are feen for above two
hundred leagues at fea, and ferve as guides to
the entrance of the river in hazy and foggy wea-
ther ; it being very difficult to get into it, on ac-
count of the rocks and fhoals in the neighbour-
hood of its entrance.

C i

la

Jardin de if Reyna*

to T RAVELS through

In the firft days of April we perceived the
fort Balife at the mouth of the MiJJifippi. Mr.
k Moine d 'Iberville, 2, Canada gentleman, difco-
vered, in 1698 *, this mouth of the river,
which M. de la Salle miffed in 1684. Our vef-
fel ftruck upon the bar ; we fired a gun to call
the pilot, and at the fame time the captain dif-
embarked the artillery of the fhip, and the two
hundred regular troops which were on board for
the fervice of the colony of Louifima ^ which
made the vefFel fo much lighter, that me came
afloat again.

On the 4th of April, we fet on fhore eighteen
officers at Fort Balife f , where M. de Santilly
Commanded : this officer treated us to the bell
of his power, while we flayed at his poll, which
is entirely furrounded with marihes full of fer-
pents and crocodiles.

The Marquis de VaudreuiU governor of Loui-
fiam^ being informed of our arrival, fent feveral

boats

* Mr. dy Iberville $ governor of Louijlaria, conducted the
firil colony thither in 1699 : after his death the country had
no governor for a long while : the fecond was M. de la Motte
Cadillac ; and the third, M. de Bienville, youngeft brother
of the firfl.

f They reckon thirty leagues from this place to New Or-
leans, on account of the bendings in the riven

LOUISIANA.

21

boats to fetch us, and to bring us refrefhments ;
we diftributed our foldiers on board them, and,
by failing and rowing, we got to New Orleans
on Eafter-day. The Marquis de Vaudreuil is to
receive twenty-four companies of marines, to
augment the forces in Louifiana-, thefe troops
come on board of merchant- mips, freighted for
the King's account •, there are likewife fome fe-
male recruits enlifted in France, who come to
people thefe climates. Iriduftrious foldiers, who
chufe to marry thefe girls, get their difmiffion,
and a certain number of acres of ground to cul-
tivate : they get victuals from the King for three
years together, and he makes them a prefent of
half a pound of gun-powder, and two pounds of
fhot every month; of a gun, a hatchet, a pick*
axe, and corn to fow their fields •, with a cow, a
calf, cocks and hens, &c.

The- Marquis de Vaudreuil has diftributed the
twenty-four new companies in the different parts
of the colony, without any regard to perfons ; fo
that every one may equally fhare the advantages
and the difadvantages. As to the detachment
near the Illinois, a poll five hundred leagues di-
ftant from New Orleans, it has fallen to the fhare
of the company to which I belong. I have the
honour of being among the officers which M.
Rouilli, the fecretary of ftate for the marine,

C 3 has

1

22 TRAVELS through

has recommended to the Marquis de Vaudreuil\
and I am made perfectly fenfible of the defe-
rence fhewn to fuch a recommendation. I can
affure you, Sir, that the General's table is of
great ufe to me, and to all thofe that are lately
arrived, and have not had time to take any
fixed lodgings. The affluence . is very great ;
but the governor does the honours of his table in
fo noble and generous a manner, that he acquires
the efreem and friendfhip of all the officers, who
juftly ftile him the father of the colony. M.
Michel de la Rouvilliere, who fuperintends the
markets *, likewife contributes to render life
agreeable to us, by the juft prices he fixes up-
on the victuals of the country, and by every
. thing relative to his office.

We expect to fet out for the Illinois the 20th
of Auguft next ; Mr. de Macarty^ who is to go
with us, has been appointed commandant of the
detachment by the court. The different nations
which I ihall be obliged to vifit during this long
voyage, will furnilh me amply with materials
for a defcription of the fine river MiJJifippiy and
the people on its banks.

In the mean while, I intend to give you a de-
fcription of Louijiana in general ; but I believe

I do

mi mi » 11 mi»,

.L'ordormatcur.

L 0 U I S I A N A: 23

i do not need to be very prolix on this fubjecl:,
as you probably know moft of the plans and ac-
counts that have been publilhedof it. Let me
only obferve to you, that New Orleans, the
ftreets of which run all in ftreight lines, is now
much greater and more populous than former»
ly. There are inhabitants of four forts, viz.
Europeans, Americans, Africans or negroes,
and Mejlizos*. The latter are thofe born of
Europeans and the natives of this country, whom
we call favages. The Creoles are thofe that are
born here of a French man and French woman,

or of European parents.
- - ♦

The Creoles in~general are very brave, tall,
and well made ♦, they are well difpofed for culti-
vating the arts and fciences •, but as they can-
not make great progrefs therein for want of good
matters, the rich and well-meaning fathers fend
their children to France, as to the beft fchool in
the world, for all forts of acquirements.

As to the fair fex, whofe only art is that of
pleafing, they are already born with that advan-
tage here, and have no need to acquire it in Eu-
rope.

C 4

New

» Metifs»

24 TRAVELS through

New Orleans and Mobile are the only towns
where they fpeak the French pretty pure. The
negroes are brought thither from Africa, and
are employed in cultivating the grounds, which
are excellently adapted to the culture of indigo,
tobacco, rice, maize, or Indian corn, and fu-
gar-canes, of which they have already made
plantations that have fucceeded very well. Thus
the merchants, tradefmen, and ftrangers, who
live here, enjoy as it were an enchanted abode,
rendered delicious by the purity of its air, the
fertility of its foil, and the beauty of its fituation.
New Orleans lies on the banks of the Miffiftppi,
which is one of the greateft rivers in the world ;
becaufe, for 800 leagues together, it paffes
through known countries. Its pure and delicious
water * runs for the fpace of forty leagues be-
tween a number of habitations, which form an
elegant fight on both its mores ; where the plea-
fures of hunting and fifhing, and all other en-
joyments of life, are abundant.

The capuchins are the firft monks that went
over to New Orleans as mifllonaries in 1723.
Their fuperior was the vicar of the parifh 5 thefe

good

* M. le Normant de Mefi, being Intendant of the marine
at Rochefort, always drank this water at his table. It has
the quality of contributing to the fecundity of women.

LOU I S I . A N A.

*5

«rood friars only employ themfelves in affairs
relative to their ftation in life.

Two years after, the Jefuits fettled in Louifia-
na. Thefe cunning politicians have found
means to get the richeft fettlement in the whole
colony, which they have obtained through their
intrigues.

The Urfuline nuns were fent thither almoft at
the lame time. The occupation of thefe pious
girls, whofe zeal is truly laudable, is the educa-
tion of young ladies ; they likewife receive or-
phans into their community, for which the King
pays them fifty ecus a-head penfion. Thefe nuns
are likewife charged with the care of the military
hofpitaL

My flay .here has as yet been fo fhort, that I
have not been able to give you any account
of the nations which inhabit the banks of the
river ; however, I will endeavour to give you
an idea of the character and turn of the Chitima-
chas, who are fettled on a river or branch which
bears their name, to the weftward of New Or-
leans : I believe the anecdote will prove intereft-
ing to you, though this nation is very near ex-?
tincl:.

In

%6 TRAVELS through

In 1720, one of their nation, having hid himfclf
in a lonely place on the banks of the Miflifigpiy
had murdered the Abbe de St. Come, who was then
the miffionary of the colony. M. de Bienville, who
was then governor, made the whole nation an-
fwerable for it ; and, to fpare his own people,
he employed feveral nations of his allies to at*
tack them.

Thefe Indians were worfted ; the lofs of theif
beft warriors forced them to afk for peace : the
governor having granted it them, on condition
that they would bring the head of the murderer,
they punctually executed- that condition 5 and
afterwards prefented the calumet or pipe of
peace * to M. de Bienville»

The following is a relation of what I have
heard concerning the ceremonies of this folemn
embafiy.

They arrived at New Orleans, finging the fcng
of the calumet, which they difplayed to the

wind,

* The calumet is a long pipe, with a head of red, black,
or white marble, and a pipe of a reed two and a half or three
feet long. The Indians fend it by deputies to thofe cations
with whom they will renew or treat of peace. It is adorned
with the feathers of the white eagle ; it is a fyinbol of peace
and plenty amongft them; and one may go everywhere
without fear, with the calumet in hand, becaufc nothing is
held more facrcd,

LOUISIANA; 2^

wind, and in a certain cadence, to announce their
embaffyj and they were dreflfed out with their
beft ornaments, as is always ufual amongft them
on fuch occafions. The chief of the deputation
faid to the governor : How happy am I to find my*
felfinthyprefence; thou haft long hen angry with
cur nation \ we have been informed of what thy heart
has told thee, and we have heard with great joy,
, that it was willing to give us fine days. ^ They
then fat down on the ground, leaning their faces
on their hands, the fpeaker without doubt to
recover his breath, and the others to keep filent.
During this interval every body was ordered not
to talk, nor to laugh whilft the harangue lafted,
becaufe they would be affronted at it.

The fpeaker, fome moments after, arofe with
two others ; one of them filled the pipe of the
calumet with tobacco, the other brought fire ;
the firft then lighted the pipe •, the fpeaker fmo-
ked a while, and then prefented the pipe to M.
fa Bienville, that he might do the fame-, accor-
dingly the governor, and all the officers that
compofed his retinue, fmoked out of this calu-
met, each according to his rank : as foon as
this ceremony was over, the old orator took
back the calumet, and put it in M. de Bienville's

jha;ids, in order to be preferred by him. The

fpeakea?

a2

T RAVELS through

.fpeaker remained Handing, and the other am-
bailadors fat do wn near the prefent which they
had brought, and which confuted of roe-buck
and doe fkins, and in fome other furs, all dref-
fed white, as a fign of peace.

The fpeaker or chancellor was drefTed in a
robe of feveral marten-fkins fewed together ; it
was fattened to his right fhoulder, and paffed
under his left arm -, he wrapped himfelf up in
this robe, and began his fpeech with a majeftic
air, addreffing himfelf to the governor : " My
" heart laughs for joy on feeing myfelf before
" thee ; we have all of us heard the word of
" peace which thou haft fent us : the hearts of
€C our whole nation laugh for joy on that occa-
fion; the women, forgetting that inftant all
that paifed, have danced -> and the children
have leapt like young roe-bucks. Thy words
fhall never be forgotten, and our defcendants
«' will remember it as long as the ancient
" word * fhall laft : as the war has made us poor,
" we have been obliged to make a general hunt
" or chace, in order to bring thee fome furs :
" but we were afraid of going to any great di-
*c fiance, left the other nations fhould not yet
" have heard thy word •, nor are we come hither
" but trembling all the way, till we faw thy face.

" How

tc

<c

cc

££

Thus they call traditions.

t.

L O V I S I A

A. z$

<c How glad are my eyes and my heart to be-
** hold thee this day. Our, prefents are fmall,
*6 but our hearts are great to obey thy word ; at
" thy commands thou malt fee our legs run and*
" leap like thofe of the flags, to do as thou fhalt'
" pleafe."

•

Here the orator paufed a little -, then raifmg,
his voice* he gravely continued his difcourfe.

-

" How beautiful is the fun to-day, in com-
" parifon with what it was when thou were an-
•* gry with us ! How dangerous is one villain I
u Thou knoweft that a fingle man has killed
" the -chief, of the prayer ** whole death has caufed
" that of our bed warriors : we have only old
" men, and women with their children remain-?
r ing, who all ft retch out their arms towards
" thee as to a good father. The gall that for-
; merly filled thy heart, has given way to ho-
" ney ; the great fpirit is no longer irritated
" againft our nation ; thou haft required the
" head of a villain from our hands, and in order
" to obtain peace we have fent it thee.

cc

<c

cc

The fun was red before, all the roads were
16 full of thorns and briars -, the clouds were
" black, the water troubled and Rained with

" our

* So they call our miiHonaries,

jo TRAVELS through

our blood ; our women lamented without inter'-'
mifiion the lofs of their relations, and durft not
venture to go and fetch wood for preparing
our victuals •, at the leaft fhriek of the birds
of night all our warriors were on foot -, they
never flept without their arms ; our huts were
abandoned, and our fields lay fallow •, we had
all of us empty ftomachs, and our faces look-
ed long and meagre ; the game and wild-fowl
fled far from us *, the ferpents angrily hiffed
at us ; and the birds that perched near our
habitations feemed, by their doleful notes, tp
fing us fongs of death.

€C

cc
cc
cc
cc
cc
cc
«c
cc
cc
cc
cc
cc

cc

To-day the fun is bright, the fky is ferene,
" the clouds are vanifhed, the roads covered
"with flowers; our gardens and fields (hall
" henceforth be cultivated, and we will offer
" their firii-fruits to the great fpirit j the water
«c is fo clear that we fee ourfelves in it ; the fer-
pents fly from us ; the birds amufe us by the
fweetnefs and harmony of their fongs •, our
wives and children dance, and forget to eat and
" to drink ; the whole nation laughs for joy, to
" fee us walk on the fame road with thyfelf and
cc the French ; the fame fun fhall light us, we
<c fhall have but one and the fame fpeech, and
" our hearts fhall make but one \ we will kill
<c them that fhall kill the French ; our warriors

" fhall

cc

cc

cc

LOUISIANA; 0

*' fhall hunt to make them fubfift, and we will
" eat together : Will not that be good? what
<< doft thou fay to it, father ?"

To this difcourfe, which was fpoken with a
firm tone of voice, with grace and decency»
and even, if I may be allowed the exprefiion,
with the moll majeflic deportment, M. de Bien-
ville anfwered in a few words, in the common
language, which he fpoke pretty fluently *, that
he was very glad that their nation had recovered
their fenfes ; he gave them fomething to eat;
and, as a mark of friendfhip, he put his hand
into that of the fpeaker, and fo fent them home
fatisfied.— Since that time they have always been
inviolably attached to the French, and furnifk

New Orleans with game.

*. *

My third letter will prove more interefting £
however, I hope I have hitherto fulfilled my
promifes \ and am,

S IE, &CV

New Orleans^ the ifi
of July 17 5L

LET-

%i - TRAVELS ..through

.

i

LETTER III.

to the fame.

Defcription of the religious Cufioms and Ceremonies
of feme Nations which inhabit the Banks of the
great River Miffifippi. Conspiracy of the Natches
againft the French.

S I R,

FSfcsT^ AM now arrived at the. place where
% I y£ the great nation of the Natches for-"
iO^fjrf merty lived, of which the public
news have faid fp much. It is afferted, that this
formidable nation gave laws to others, on ac-
count of the fgreat extent of their country. ,
They inhabited all the fpace of land between
the river Menchak, which is about fifty leagues
from the fea, and the river Hoyo> which is near
460 leagues from the fea.

On

LOUISIANA.

33

On the 20th of Auguft we fet out from New
Orleans on our voyage to the Illinois, in fix boats,
on board of which V/ere the four companies
about which I wrote to you in my preceding
letter, commanded by M. de Macarty, We are
obliged to row up againfb the current of the
river Miffifippiy on account of the many wind-
ings of that river, which runs between two great
forefls, the trees of which appear to be as an-
cient as the world.

The firft places you come to on your voyage
are two villages peopled with Germans, being
the reft of a grant made* in 1720, by the
King to Mr. Law. This colony was to confift of
Germans and Provencals, to the amount of
i5oopeifons; the ground for it was laid out
hear a wild nation called the Akan$as \ it was
four leagues fqUare, and the colony was erected
into a dutchy. They had already tranfpbrted
thither the ammunition and {lores for a company
of dragoons, and merchandifes foY the value of
upwards a million of livres ; but Mr. Law fail-
ed, and the India company, which was at that
time eftablimed in Louifiana, took poflefiion of
all the good Si

The colonics feparated, and the Germans

fettled ten leagues above New Orleans : they are

Vol. I. D verr

34

TRAVELS THROUGH

very laborious, and are looked upon as the pro-
viders and victuallers of the town. The two
villages are under [the direction of a Swedifli
captain *.

Two leagues further you find a nation called
Cclla-p/ffks, who are diftinguiflied by their at-
tachment to the French ; they are now reduced
to a very fmall number ; their true name is Aque-
lon PiJfaS) that is, the nation who hear and fee.

Next you meet with the Oumas, who adore the
fun. This nation, with moft of the others in
America, believes, that the Supreme Being re-
fides in the fun, and that he defires to be re-
vered in that vivifying orb, as the author of na-
ture : they fay, there is nothing here that can
be compared to him, and that this wonder by
enlightening the earth, fpreads joy and abun-
dance on it Upon thefe principles they wor-
fhip him, as the vifible image of the greatnels
and goodnefs of a deity, that condefcends to
make himfelf known among men, by diftribut-
Ing his benefactions amongft them.

Fifteen

* It is Mf. Artjrjbcurg, who was at the battle of Pukava
in 1709, with Charles XII. This old officer is the head of
a numerous family eftablifhed in Louifiana.

LOUISIANA. 35

Fifteen leagues above the Oumas, in going up
the river, you arrive at the Cut pint. This
place is about forty leagues diftant from New
Orleans. The foil of it is very fertile, and co-
vered with fruit-trees; There are a number of
Frenchmen in this part of the country* who ap-
ply themfelves to the culture of tobacco, cotton,
rice, maize, and other corn j the colonifts like-
wife trade in building-timber, which they carry
down the river to New Or learn upon rafts.

Upon the left fhore of the river, a little above
the Cut-point, you fee the village of the Tonikas^
an Indian nation who have ever been attached
to the French, Their chiefs have always exert-
ed themfelves to be our allies in war; the laft
ofthem, who was very brave, received a dan-
gerous wound in an expedition againft the Nat-
dies : the King, on receiving an account of this
affair, honoured him with a commirlion^ as bri-
gadier of the armies of red men- and further
prefented him with a blue ribbon, f;6m which
hung a filver medal, with a reprefentation of
Paris : he likewife received a gold-headed cane.

After the mafiacre of the French by the
Natches, Whereof I intend to ^give you an ac-
count in its place, a part of that nation pretend»
fed to be defirous of making peace with the

D 2 grand

36 TRAVELS through

grand chief of the tonikas : the latter commu-
nicated this to the commander-general of the
French, to whom he was very much attached ;
the Notches prevented the anfwer, and afTaffinated
the Tomkas, beginning with their grand chief;
his enemies, who feared our advice and our
forces, made hafte to ruin and deftroy a great
number of his fubjeds. We mail always lament,
together with thefe good Indians, the lofs of a
man, whofe great qualities would do honour to
a civilized nation.

- - ' -

After eighty leagues navigation from the ca-
pital of Louiftana, we arrived at the poft of the
Notches^ which, about twenty years ago, was
very confiderable, but is very infignificant at
prefent.

The fort is fituated on an eminence, which
commands the river MiJJiftppi, from which it is
about the diftance of a cannon- mot. The
ground, which in this country is always rifing
higher, would be one of the moft fertile, if it
were cultivated; tobacco, cotton, and make
fucceed very well in it.

I have made fome flay at this poft, which is
commanded by the Chevalier d'Orgo^ a natural

fort

LOUISIANA, 57

fon of the Prince de Larnbefc, of the houfe of
Lorrain.

The Natches who lived here formerly were a
very confiderable nation. They formed feveral
villages, that were under fome peculiar chiefs ;
and thefe laft again, obeyed one grand chief o/
the whole nation. All thefe princes bore the
name of Suns -, there were five hundred of them,
all relations of the great Sun, their common fove^-
reign, who carried on his bread the image of
the fun, from which he pretended to trace his
origin, and which was adored under the name
oiWachil^ which fignifies the great fire or they#-
premefire.

The manner in which the Natches "rendered
divine fervice to the fun, has fomething folemn
in it. The high-prieft got up before fun-rifing,
and marched at the head of the people with a
grave pace, and the ealumet of peace in hand ;
he fmoked in honour of the fun, and blew the
firft mouthful of fmoke towards him. On the
appearance of that luminous body, all the by-
ftanders began to howl by turns after the high-
prieft, and contemplated it with their arms ex-
tended to heaven. Then they threw themfelves'
on the ground 5 and their women brought their

D 3 children,

a

TRAVELS THROUGH

children, and taught them to keep in a devout
attitude.

About their harveft-time, which happened - in
July, the Natches celebrated a great feaft. They
began with blacking their faces ; and did not
eat till three hours after noon, having previous-
ly purified themfelves in the baths -, the oldeft
man in the nation then offered to their deity the
firft -fruits of their crops.

They had a temple in which they kept up an
eternal, fire ; the priefts took great care to pre-
serve it, and for this purpofe they were only al-
lowed to make ufe of the wood of one kind of
tree # if unhappily the fire was extinguifhed, air
the people were in -the greater!: confirmation,
and the neglectful priefts were, punifhed with
death: but fuch an event happened very fel-
dom ; for the keepers of this celeftial fire could
eafily renew it, by fetching common fire under
pretext of lighting their calumets ; for they
were not allowed to employ the holy fire for that
ufe.

When their fovereign died, he was accompaT
nied in the grave by his wives, and by feveral
of his fubje&s. The lefTer Suns took care to
follow the fame cuftom : the law likewife con-

demned

LOUISIANA. 39

demned every Natchez to death, who had mar-
ried a girl of the blood of the Suns, as foon as
fhe was expired. On this occafion, I muft tell
you the hiftory of an Indian, who was no ways-
willing to fubmit to this law : his name was Et-
teatted; he contra&ed an alliance with the
Suns ; but the confequences which this honour
brought along with it, had like to have proved
very unfortunate to him. His wife fell fick -, as
foon as he faw her at the point of death, he fled,
embarked on a piragua on the Miffifippi, and
came to New Orleans. He put himfeif under
the prote&ion of M. de Bienville, the then go-
vernor, and offered to be his huntfman. The
Governor accepted his fervices, and interefted
himfeif for him with the Natches, who declared
that he had nothing more to fear, becaufe the
ceremony was paft, and he was accordingly no
longer a lawful prize.

EtteatleaU being thus affured, ventured to

return to his nation •, and, without fettling

among them, he made feveral voyages thither :

he happened to be-there when. the Sun, called

the Stung Serpent, brother to the great Sun,

died •, he was a relation of the late wife of Eu

teatteak and they refolved to make him pay his

debt. M. de Bienville had been recalled to

France, and the fovereign of the Natches

D 4 thought

40 T R A V ELS through

thought, that the protestor's abfence had annul,
led the reprieve granted to the protected per-
fon ; and accordingly he caufed him to be ar.
refed. As fopn as the poor fellow found him-
fclf in the hut of the grand chief of war, together
with the other vidiras deftined to be facrificed
to the Stwg Serpent, he gave vent to the excefs
of his grief. The favourite wife of the late Sun,
who was likewife to be facrificed, and who faw
the preparations for her death with firmnefs,
and feemed impatient to rejoin her hufband,
hearing Etteaftean complaints and groans, faid
to him, Art thou no warrior I He anfwered,
Yes, I am one. However, faid ihe, thou cry'
eft, life is dear to thee ; and as that is the cafe,
it is not good that thou mouldft go along with
us, go with the women. Etteatteal replied,
True, life is dear to me ; it would be well if I
walked yet on earth till to the death of the great
Sun, and I would die with him. Go thy way,
faid the favourite, it is not fit thou mouldfl: go
with us, and that thy heart mould remain be«
hind on earth ; once more get away, and let me
fee thee no more.

EtteacleaMxd not flay to have this order re-
peated to him ; he difappeared like lightning:
three old women, two of which were his reL
dons, offered to pay his debt ; their age and

their

LOU I S I A N A. 4i

-

their infirmities had difgufted them of life ; none
of them had been able to ufe their legs for a
great while. The hair of the two that were re^
lated to Etteafteal, were no more gray than thofe
of women of fifty-five years in France. The
other old woman was a hundred and twenty,
years old, and had very white hair, which is a
a very uncommon thing among the Indians :
none of the three had a quite wrinkled (kin.
They were difpatched in the evening, one at the
door of the Stung Serpent , and the other two up-
on the place before the temple *J

The generofity of thefe women gave Etteatteal
life again, acquired him the degree of confideredy
and cleared his honour, which he had fullied by
fearing death. He remained quiet after that
time ; and, taking advantage of what he had
learnt during his flay among the French, he be-
came a juggler, and made ufe of his knowledge
to impofe upon his countrymen -j\

j* A cord is fattened round their necks with a flip knot,
and eight men of their relations ftrangle them, by drawing
four one way and four the other ; fo many are not neceffary,
but as they acquire nobility by fuch executions, there are
always more than are wanting, and the operation is perform-
ed in an inilant.

f The jugglers in this country perform the funaions
of priefts, phyficians, and fortune-tellers, and chiefly pre-
tend to pais for forcerers.

m

T R A V E-L S THROUGH

The morning after this execution, they made
every thing ready fer the convoy, and the hour
being come, the great mailer of the ceremonies
appeared at the. door of the hut adorned fuitably
to his quality ; the victims who were to accom-
pany the deceased prince into the manfion of the
fpirits, came, forth; they confified of the fa-
vourite wife of the deceafed, of his fecond wife,
his chancellor, his phyfkian, his hired man,
that is his firft fervant, and of fome old women.

The favourite went to the great Sun, with
whom there were feveral Frenchmen, to take
leave of him : (he gave orders for the Suns -of
both fexes that were her children to appear, and
ipoke to the following effed :•

...'■-'■ ■ ■
" Children, this is the day on which I am to

tear myfelf from you arms, and to follow
your father's fteps, who waits for me in the
country of the fpirits ; if I were to yielcf to
your tears, I would injure my love, and fail
in my duty. I have done enough for you, by
bearing you next to my heart, and by fuck-
ling you with my breads. You that are de-
fended of his blood, and fed by my milk,
ought you to fhed tears ? Rejoice rather that
you are Suns and warriors ♦, you are bound to
give examples of firmnefs and valour to the

"whole

cc

CC
CC

cc

44
CC

CC
cc
cc
cc

LOUISIANA.

43

cc

cc

4S

" whole nation : go, my children, I have pro-
" vided for ail your wants, by procuring you
" friends •, my friends, and thofe of your father,
are yours too-, I leave you amidft them j
they are the French, they are tender-hearted
and generous, make yourfelves worthy of
« their efteem, by not degenerating from your
" race ; always act openly with them, and never
" implore them with meannefs.

" And you Frenchmen," added me, turning
herfelf towards our officers, " I recommend my
" orphan-children to you •, they will know no
f other fathers than you \ you ought to protect
¥ them." •

After that me got up •, and,- followed by her
troop, returned to her huiband's hut, with a
furprifing firmnefs.

A noble woman came to join herfelf to the
number of victims of her own accord, being en-
gaged, by the friendfhip me bore the Stung Ser*
pent, to follow him into the other world. The
Europeans called her the haughty lady, on ac-
count of her majeftic deportment, and her
proud air, and becaufe fhe only frequented the
company of the moft diftinguifhed Frenchmen ;
they regretted her much, becaufe fhe had the

know-

44

T R A VE.L S THROUGH

ic

it

knowledge of feveral fimples, with which fhe

had faved the lives of many of our fick. This

moving fight filled our people with grief and

horror. The favourite wife of the deceafed rofe

up, and fpoke to them with a fmiling countenance :

"I die without fear," faid fhe, " grief does not

embitter my laft hours, I recommend my

children to you ; whenever you fee them,

" noble Frenchmen, remember that you have

" loved their father, and that he was till death

« a true and fincere friend of your nation, whom

" he loved more than himfelf. The difpofer of

¥ life has been pleafed to call him, and I fhall

* foon go and join him ; I (hall tell him that I

" have feen your hearts moved at the fight of

" his corps : do not be grieved ; we fhall be

<c longer friends in the country of the /pints than

*c here, becaufe we do not die there again V

Thefe words forced tears from the eyes of all
the French ; they were obliged tq do; all they
could to prevent the great Sun from killing hin>
felf j for he was inconfolable at the death of .his

brother*

* At the hour intended for the ceremony, they made the/
victims fwallow little balls or pills of tobacco, in order to
make them giddy, and as it were to take the fenfation of
pain from them ; after that they were all ftrangled, and put
upcn mats, the favourite on the right, the other wife or the
lcft? and the others according to their rank.

L O U I SI A N A,

45

brother, upon whom he was ufed to lay the
weight of government, he being great chief of
war of the Natches. i. e. Generaliflimo of their
armies ; that prince grew furious by the refiii-
ance he met with ; he held his gun by the bar-
rel, and the Sun, his preemptive heir, held it
by the lock, and caufed the powder to fall out of
the pan ; the hut was full of Suns, Nobles, and
Honourables *, who were all trembling : but the
French raifed their fpirits again, by hiding all the
arms belonging to the fovereign, and filling the
barrel of his gun with water, that it might be
unfit for ufe for fome time.

As foon as the Suns faw their fovereign's life
in fafety, they thanked the French, by fqueez-
ing their hands, but without fpeaking ; a moil
profound filence reigned throughout, for grief
and awe kept in bounds the multitude that wen
prefent.

i

The wife of the great Sun was feized with
fear during this tranfaclion. She was afked

whether

* The eftablifhed diftin&ions among thefe Indians werfc
as follows : The Suns, relations of the great Sun, held the
higheft rank; next came the Nobles; after them the Bono-
rubles ; and laft of all, the commoti people, who were very-
much defpifed. As the nobility was propagated by the wo*
sien, this contributed much to multiply it.

46 TRAVELS through

whether fhe was ill ; and fhe anfwered aloud,
& Yes I am '" and added, with a lower voice,
" if the Frenchmen go out of this hut, my huf-
*• band dies, and all the Natches will die with
" him \ flay then, brave Frenchmen, becaufe
" your words are as powerful as arrows •, be-
<c fides, who could have ventured to do what
" you have done ? But you are his true friends
" and thofe of his brother." Their laws obliged
.xht great Sun's wife to follow her hufband in the
grave : this was doubtlefs the caufe of her fears *
and likewife the gratitude towards the French,
who interefted themfelves in behalf of his life,
prompted her to fpeak in the above-mentioned
manner.

The great Sun gave his hand to the officers,
-and faid to them : " My friends, my heart is fo
« overpowered with grief, that, though my
<c eyes were open, I have not taken notice that
"you have been Handing all this while, nor
" have I afked you to fit down 5 but pardon the
ic excefs of my affliction."

The Frenchmen told him, that he had no
need of excufes •, that they were going to leave
him alone, but that they would ceafe to be his
friends unlefs he gave orders to light the fires

again

L O U I SI A N A. 47

again .•*, lighting his own before them, and that
they fhould not leave him till his brother was
buried.

He took all the Frenchmen by the hands, and
faid, " Since all the chiefs and noble officers
" will have me ftay on earth, I will do it, I will
" not kill myfelf ; let the fires be lighted again
<e immediately, and Til wait till death joins me
M to my brother ; I am already old, and till I
" die I fhall walk with the French j had it .not
" been for them, I mould have gone with my
M brother, and all the roads would have been
" covered with dead bodies."

j. . ■

This prince only furvived the Stung Serpent
one year, and his nephew fucceeded him. The
reign of that young prince proved very unfortu-
nate to the colony. You mail fee. Sir* by the
fequel of this letter, that the colony owes its
fafety only to the mother of this fovereign ; Ihe
got from him the fecret of the general confpiracy
againft our nation^ whom ihe loved very much/

I muft do juilice to the. Indians 5 the proj
which they formed of deftroying all the French

here,

* The great Sun had given orders to put cut dl the fires,
Vvhich is only done at the death of the fovereio-ns.

4$

TRAVELS THROUGH

here, fras not the refult of natural inconftaricy
or fickle temper j it was the bad conduct of ah
officer, who infulted a" people whom he ought
to have treated gently, that roufed their anger.
Free born men, living peaceably in the country
where their anceftors fettled, could not bear the
tyranny which the ftrangers exercifed over them,
who were come to fettle amongft them. The
Sieur de Chepar, commandant of the poll of the
NatcheS) neglected to gain the efteem of the
French and the Indians under his care ; he abu-
fed thofe who would not enter into his criminal
conduct* and trufled the moft important polls
to ferjeants and corporals who were entirely de-
voted to him. You can eafily conceive, Sir,
that the military difcipline was entirely fubvert-
ed by preferences of this kind, which are fo con-
trary to fubordination.

M. Dutfionti the fecond officer, made remote
ftranceS) which were not attended to, and to
which he gave no other anfwer than by putting
him in irons. As foon as he was fet at liberty,
he went down to the capital to lay his complaints
before M. Terrier^ then governor of Louifiana.
M. de Chepar was recalled to give account of his
conduct -, he was to be broken, but his intrigues

and his patrons ferved him, he was acquitted
and fent back to his pofh

Inftead

L O U I S I A "N A.

49

Inftead of being corrected by this mortifica-
tion, he conducted himfelf as before, and be-
came the object of deteftation and abhorrence of
both the French and Indians j he irritated the
latter, and forced them to come to the moil
violent extremities. M. de Chepar^ defirous of
making his fortune in a fhort time, fummoned
the Sun of a village called the Apple, to retire
with his people, and to leave him the ground
which he occupied, becaufe he wanted to make
himfelf a habitation on it, which fhould turn
out to good account. The Cacique reprefented to
him, that the bones of his anceftors were repofed
there: his rcmon (trances proved ufelefs ; the
French commandant ordered the Great Sun to
caufe the village to be evacuated, and even
threatened to fend him loaded with irons to New
Orleans in cafe of non compliance. Perhaps
this officer thought, he could treat the chief as
a (lave ; he did not reflect, that he fpoke to a
man accuftomed to command, and whofe autho-
rity was defpotic over his fubjecls.

The Great Sun heard him, and retired with-
out mewing any paffion ; he affembled his
council, where it was refolved, that M. de (ike-
par mould be told, that before they could eva-
cuate the Apple village, they muft make the plan
of another, and that this required two moons time.

Vol. I. E This

f

So

TRAVELS THROUGH

This refolution was notified to the gover-
nor, who fent back the meflengers, and threat-
ened them with the fevered puniihments, if the
village of the Apple was not put in his hands
within a very fliort term. This anfwer was
brought to the council, where the old men were
of opinion that they ought to gain time, during
which they ihould confult upon . the means of
getting rid of thefe troublefome Grangers, who
were sober to become tyrants. -As they knew
M. de Chepar to* be very felfilh, they agreed to
propofe it to him, to grant them a delay of feveral
months, during which each hut was to give him
a tribute in Indian corn or maize, in game, and
in furs. The avarice of the governor made
him fall into the fnare -, he accepted the propo-
rtion, but pretended however that he only did
it in order to oblige the nation, whom he loved
on account of their conftant friendfhip with the
French. The Great Sun was not imported upon
by this artful difintereftednefs ; he ordered his
council to meet again, and informed them, that
the term they had defired had been granted, and
that it was neceffary they mould make good life
of it, confider of the means of getting rid of a
heavy tribute, and above all of the tyrannical
domination of the French. He obferved, that
jfuch an enterprise required an inviolable fccret,
folid meafures» and, above all, a great deal of

cunning ;.

L o u I s i A M A,

5*

tunning •,

he recommended it to 9 them, that .
the/ mould in the mean while increase the proofs
of confidence and friendfliip to tile French •, re-
fied upon what was to be done, and return to
the council as fdon as they had hit upon fome
project which might be attended with certain
fuccefs.

During five or fix days the nobles and old
rnen'confulted with each other, arid met again
unanimoufly refolded to deftroy all the French.
The oldcft man in the council, having filuted
his chief, fpoke to the following efte6t:

« We have long experienced, that the heigh-
« bourhood of the French does us more harm
"" than good j we old men perceive it, but our
* youths do not fee it ] the European goods
" pleaie the young people, but of what fervice
" are they ? They feduce our wives^ corrupt
4t the manners of the nation, debauch our girls*
<• and make them proud and idle. The young
« men are in the lime cafe; the hufcands muft
« over-work themfelves, merely to fatisfy the
"luxury of their wives. Before the French
- " came into tfiefe countries, we were men, we
" were contented with what we had \ We walk-
"ed boldly on all the roads, becaufe v.e were
V our own maileis \ but now we only go by

E i

orODTrZ

52 TRAVELS through

" groping, for fear of rinding thorns in our
■ way; we go like /laves, and fuch we fhall
Cl foon be, fince they ufe us as fuch already.
" As foon as they fhall have power enough,
«*' they will no longer keep in bounds, they will
" load us with irons • has not their chief threat-
" ened to offer that indignity to ours ; and is
*s not death preferable to flavery* ?"

Here the orator paufed ; and, after taking
breath, continued as follows :

" What fhall we wait for ? Shall we fuffer
" the French to multiply till we can no longer
" refift them ? What wifl the other nations fay
a of us ? We pafs for the moll fenfible among
"them/ menf, and they will have reafon to
u fay that we have lefs fenfe than other people.
"Why fhall we wait longer? Let us fet our-
" felves at liberty, and let us fhew that we are
" true men. We mull begin this day to pre-
" pare for it; we mutt order our wives to get
' viduals in readinefs, without telling them the

" reafon.

i\

*< Nature alone has taught fhefe favages to refpeft their
fovereign, and to cheriih liberty.

f Thus the Indians call themfelves, to ditfihguiih tKem-
felves from the Europeans who are white, and from the A-
d icans who are black.

;

ft

L O U I S IAN A. 53

s reaion. Let us bring the calumet of peace to
" all the nations of this country, and tell them
"that the French ftrive to fubdue this whole
" continent ; and that, as they are flronger in
" our neighbourhood than any where elfe, we
"ihall be the firff whom they will load with
" their yoke. As loon as they ihall have fuffi-
" cient forces, they will load all the other na-
" tions with it ; let us convince them how much
" it is their intereft to prevent this misfortune,
" which cannot be avoided but by exterminating
'them; let all the nations join us in this un-
dertaking; let us deilroy the French every
' where on the fame day, and at the fame hour;
" let the time of the maiTacre be that of the ex-
" piration of the term their chief has granted
" us : thus1 we can free ourfelves from the tri-
" bute which we have laid on ourfelves; and
" thus the victuals which we brought them, will
" come into our poffeflion again : On that great
M day of liberty our warriors ihall have their
" fire-arms with them ; the Natches Ihall fpread
" among the French, there Ihall be three or
' four of us in each houfe to one Frenchman ;
' they ihall borrow fire-arms and ammunition
" of them, under pretence of a general chace
" on- account of fome great feaft, and they ihall
" promife to bring back fome game. Some
" guns fired near tL-j houfe of the governor of

E 3 " the

—

54

T R A V E L S THROUGH

W the fort, mall be the fignal' for them to fall
** upon the French. In order to make all the
*<■ advantage we can of this blow, the other na-
« tions mult fecond us ; they muft make the
" fame maffacre of the Frenchmen at their fe-
" veral ftations ; to be fare of that, we muft
H make fome bundles of rods, containing an
f equal number, give each of them a bundle,
<< and keep one-, let them take notice of the
« number of days they are to wait -, every morn-
" ing one. rod muft be cut in pieces and thrown
tf into the fire, and when there will be but one
" left, the time of the daughter is come ; it
" muft begin at the firft quarter of the day (i. e.
ft at nine o'clock in the morning)-, we mall fall
"upon our tyrants all at once-, they mail be
> overwhelmed on all fides-, and when they are
fl once deftroyed, it will be an eafy matter to
<< prevent thofe from fettling among us that
" come from the old continent, acrofs the great •
" lake. It muft be recommended before all
" things, to be exa& in drawing a rod from the
« bundle every day jj the ieaft miftake can have
- "dangerous confequences j we fnall charge
If iome wile man with it, and we muft beg our
" neighbours to imitate us."

Here the orator <?ave over, and the old men
aroroved of his propoial ; the Sun of the Apple
" x village

LOUISIANA.

55

village applauded above all-, ^ was the, molt
hurt°by the injustice of M. de Chepar •, his pri-
vate revenge would accordingly be the moit.fa-
tisfied, hefeared to fee it fail, and therefore re-
prefented to the council the confequences of in-
discretion, and even engaged them to keep the
fecret of this confpiracy from the female Suns f ;
It now remained to make the grand chief of the
Natchss enter into their fcheme -, notwithstanding
the great defire he had to be rid of the French,
the project feemed too violent to him •, the Sun
of the Apple took upon himfelf to determine
him to it i he was reckoned a man of fenfe and
penetration, and on that account was in great
repute with the nation : he fucceeded -, he re-
marked to the great Sun the neceffity of this
meafure, by telling him what he had to fear for
himfelf; the French governor of the fort had
threatened him,, that he would foon drive him
from his village ; the great Sun was young, and
confequently a weak man, he that fpoke to him
was a cunning one , the defign was approved of:
the next morning, when the Suns came to fa-
Jute their fovereign, they received orders to go

E 4 to

* The Indians have two words to denote male and fe-
male Suns, (after the manner'of the Engli'fh words prince,
princefs) which the French author has happily expreffed by
Sokil and Sole ilk*

56 TRAVELS through

to the village of the Apple, under fome pre-
tence or other, without railing any fufpicion that
they went thither in purfuance of fome order ;
this was executed as required. The feducing
genius of the Sun of the Apple attracted them
all, and they all promifed to enter into the cori>
fpiracy. A council of Suns and old men was
immediately formed ; the project was propofed
there again, and carried unanimoufly ; the old
men were appointed ambafTadors to the other
nations j they had warriors to accompany them,
and it was forbidden under pain of death to
fpeak of this to any perfon. They fet out im-
mediately all at once, and unknown to the
French.

Notwithftanding the profound fecret that was

kept among theNatches, the common people was

uneafy at the councils of Suns and noble old men

tiiat had been held ; it is not uncommon in every

country in the world, to fee fubje&s endeavour

to penetrate the fecrets of the court. However,

.the curiofity of the people could not be fatrs-

fcdi, none but the female Suns (or princefTes)

had a right in this nation to enquire why they

.kept their proceedings ftcret from them. The

.young wife of the great Sun was. hut eighteen

years old, and cared very little about it -, o::iy

tlie female Sun called the $$ng Arm, mother

or'

L

L O U I 5 I A 'N A. si

of the fovereign, and a woman of good fenfe
(which fhe was not ignorant of) could take it
ill, that they kept the fecret from her. She
fhewed her difcontentment to her fon, who an-
fwered, that the embaiTies were fent out for the
fake of renewing alliances with other nations,
with whom they had long been at peace, and
who "might think themfelves defpifed if they
were longer neglected. This dirTimulated an-
fwer feemed to appeafe the Sun Stung Arm^ but
it did not take off her uneafinefs ; on the contra-
ry it redoubled, when fhe lav/, upon the return
of the ambaffadors, that the Suns affembled in
fecret with thofe deputies, to hear how they had
been received, whereas fuch councils were gene-
rally held in public.

The princefs was vexed at this : What, faid
fhe to herfelf, they hide from me what the whole
nation ought to know : if her prudence had not
checked her anger, fhe would have given vent
to it then. It was happy for the French that fhe
thought herfelf thus defpifed •, fhe juftly feared
to augment the impofhbility of coming at the
fecret, if fhe laid open her difpleafure. Her ge-
nius fuggefted her the means of fatisfying her
l curiofity •, fhe prevailed upon the great Sun, her
fon, to go with her to fee a relation who lived
in the village of the Apple, and who fhe had

heard

TRAVELS THROUGH

heard was very ill. Under pretence of leading
him the fined road. Hie took him on the longed,
which was indeed the lead frequented. She had
a good deal of penetration > (he imagined, that
the motive of this fecret arofe from their carry-
ing on fomething to the difad vantage of the
French •, what confirmed her conjectures, were
the preparations which the Sun of the Apple
was making. Finding herfelf in a folitary place
with her fon, me fpoke to him in the following
words :

" Let us fit down here, for I am tired, and
" I have likewife fomething to fay to thee •," as
foon as they were feated, (he added, " Open
" thy ears to hear me ; I never taught thee to
cc lie, and I always told thee, that a liar did not
" defer ve to be ranked among men, and that a
tc lying Sun deferved to meet with the greateft
" contempt, and even from women; therefore
" I believe thou wilt tell me truth. Tell me
" then, are not all the Suns brothers ? How-
tc ever, they all keep off from me, as if my lips
cc were cut off, and I could not retain my words ;
" or dod thou think that I ever fpoke in my
" deep. I am in defpair to fee myfelf flighted
ic by my brothers, but above all by thee.
IC What, art thou not my own offspring ? Haft
ft thou not fuckled at my bread? And have I

" not

LOUISIANA.

59

« not fed thee with my pureft blood ? Does not
H the fame blood run in our vans ? Couldft
« thou be a Sun if thou wert not my fon ? Bait
« thou forgotten, that, without my care, thou
« wouldft have been dead long ago ? Every
« body, and I myfelf have told thee, that thou
« art the fon of a Frenchman * ■, but my own
« blood is dearer to me than that of ftrangers.
« I now walk by thy fide like a bitch, without
« beina looked upon •, I wonder that thou doJ:
.« not kick me away with thy foot : I am not fur-
«prifed that the others! hide themfelves from
« me ; but thou, who art my fon, canft thou
» do it ? Haft thou ever feen a fon miftruft his
« mother in our nation ? Thou art the only
« one of that temper. There is fuch an uproar
« in the nation, and I am ignorant of the caule
« of it, I who am the old Sun • art thou
« afraid that I ihould rebuke thee, or make thee
«« the Have of the French, againft whom you
" aft ? O ! I am tired of this contempt, and
« of walking with fuch ungrateful people."

The

» This princefs had, for a long time, loved an officer of
cur nation ; there was no doubt of his being the father^ of
the great Sun, and that took off nothing of the refpect mat
K1S fubjeas oWla him; the women gave nobiuty am ng
them, and they were contented if they were fare of a man s
mother, they cared very little to know who was his fa the*.

bo

TRAVELS

THROUGH

The fan of this Sun was quite ftruck with her
difcourfej he was moved by it to tears, and
heard thefe remonftrances with the ufual tran-
quility of an American, and with the refpedb
due to aprincefs-; he afterwards an fwered her
to the following purport, w Thy reproaches are
" arrows which pierce my breaft, and I do not
c think I ever fcorned or defpifed thee ; but haft
"thou ever heard it faid, that the refolves of

* the council of the old men may be revealed >
<* Is it not the duty of all men to keep fecrets,

4 and I who am a ibvereign ought not I to fet

* an example? The great Sun my wife has
" not been informed of the fecretany more than

6 thyfelf. i hough it is known that I am a
1 Frenchman's fon, I have not been miftrufted (
c they have well imagined, that thy great ge-

« nius would find out the fecret of the council;

u but when it was kept from the great Sun my '

* wife, was it fit that thou fhouldft be informed
x of it ? But fince thou haft guefied it all,

- what can I tell thee further ? Thou knoweft
" as much of ir as myfelf, fo fhut thy mouth."

" I was dubious," faid me, » about whom

ryou were taking fo many precautions ;. but

« finceit isagainft the French, I fear vou have

1 not taken your meafures well to iurprife

' them : for I know they have a great deal of

* Jenfe,

LOUISIANA.

6!

<<

<C

u fenfe, though the governor of this Nation has
"lofl his; they are brave; they have goods
" in fuffrcient quantity to make all the other na-
" tions ad againft us. If you had a mind to at-
" tack only the red men, I mould deep with
" more fecurity ; I am no more young * >, an
" old woman's life is a trifle, but thine is dear
to me. If your old men have thought it as
eafy a matter to furprife the French as the red
"men, they are grofsly miflaken ; the French
ic have refources which we have not, thou know-
"eft they have, the /peaking /ubftance (i. e. pa*
" per)."

Her fon told her, that me had nothing to fear
with regard to the meafures which had been ta-
ken. After telling her all that I have juft now
informed you of, he told her that the bundle of
rods was in the temple, upon the flat piece of
wood (or the table).

When the princefs was iuffic.ieotly: informed
ef every particular, me pretended to approve
of the proceedings ; and, leaving her fon entire-
ly eafy, fhe only meditated on the means of ren-
dering this barbarous defigrt abortive «, fhe had
but little time left, for the day fixed for the
maffacre was near at hand.
, This,

* Her kn er was already dead tome time,-

6i TRAVELS through

This woman could net confent to fee all the
French deftroyed in one day by the confpiracy
of the Natches •, flie therefore undertook to bid
them keep upon their guard j for that purpofe
(he made ufe of fome Indian girls who had
French lovers, but me commanded them ex-
prefsly not to fay that they aded by her orders.

The Sieur de Mace, enfign of the gaf rifon of
the fort at the Natches, received advice by a
young Indian girl who loved him i fhe told him
crying, that her nation was to maffacre all the
French: M. de Mace, amazed at this difcourfe,
queftioned his rhiitrels :- her fimple anfwers and
her tender fears left him no room to doubt of
the plot : he went immediately to give M. de
Chepar intelligence of it, who put him under arreft
for giving a falfe alarm % feven of the inhabitants
of the fort, intruded by the fame means, co-
ming to afk his leave to take up arms, in order
to prevent a furprife, were put in irons \ the go-
vernor treated them as cowards, and was vexed
that they endeavoured to infpire him with any
miftruft againft a nation that (hewed fo much
frlendmmPtrte regularity of their payments kept:
up his lecurity : he did not furped the politics of
the Indians • • he blindly defied them, nor did
he think men of their kind capable of fo much
cunning.

LOUISIANA. 63

The Sun Stung Arm faw with grief, that her
cares for the confervation of the French were
ufelefs-, fhe was determined to ferve them in
fpite of themfelves ; flie could not preferve them
all, and therefore file endeavoured to leffen the
number of victims as much as pofnble • (lie fe*
cretly went to the temple*, me drew a couple
.of rods out of the bundle unnoticed by the
priefcs ♦, her intention was to forward the day
fixed for the execution of the confpiracy ; flic
forefaw that the marTacre which would happen at
the ISntches would foon be fpread far about,
that the French who were fettled among the
other nations would be informed of it, and be
upon their guard. That was die only thing that
remained for her to do, and ihe fucceeded in it %
the Natches found they were come to their laft
rod, without perceiving the impofture • they
boldly began the intended (laughter, in the per-
fuafion that their allies would acl: at the fame
time.

The 28th of December 1729, at eight in the
morning, the Indians fpread among the French %
fome difcharges of guns, that were to ferve as a
fignal, were fired near the door of M. de Cfcfear^

houfe 1

* Only tEe Suss among the women eould go into tw
temple.-

64 TRAVELS through

houfe ; and immediately they fell upon the
French every where at the fame time.

Meff. de Roily, chief factors of the Weft In-
dia company, were killed firft. M. de la Loire
des Urjins houfe made fome refiftance -, his fer-
vants killed eight Matches before they were over-
powered. M. des Urfins himfelf, who juft was
taking a ride, but returned at the firft firing of
the guns, was flopped by a troop of Indians :
he defended himfelf very bravely, killed four of
them, and died pierced with wounds. This is<
all that the entreprife coft the Indians : they
murdered near two thoufand perfons j only
twenty-five or twenty-fix negroes efcaped, and
moft of them were wounded. One hundred and
fifty children, ninety women, and as many ne-
groes, were taken prifoners, in hopes of fellino-
them to the Englifii in Carolina.

During this carnage the great Sun was quiet-
ly fitting under one of the India company's
ware-houfes ; they brought him firft of all the
head of the governor, then thofe of the chief
Frenchmen, which he ordered to be ranged
round the firft. All the others were put in
heaps -, the corpfes were not buried, and be-
came the prey of vultures ; they cut open the
bodies of women big with child, and murdered

almoft

L O U I S I A N A.

6S

almoft all thofe that had children at the bread,
becaufe their cries and tears importuned them g
they made all the reft (laves, and treated them
with the greateft indignity.

Some people pretend, that M. de Chepar had
the misfortune to perim laft of all, and to be the
ipectator of this horrible (laughter : he then
found, but too late, how wife the advices were
that had been given him. The Indians toid
him, that a dog as he was did not deferve to die
byvthe hands of warriors : he was given up to
the ftinking fellozvs % who killed him with ar-
rows, and afterwards cut off his head.

Such was the death of a man who only follow-
ed his own head, his cruelty, his avarice, and
his^ ambition. As no Frenchman efcaped from
this maffacre, it cannot be exactly ascertained
what kind of death they made the Governor un-
dergo -, it is enough to know, that his enemies
were a barbarous people, whom he had irritated.
A good adminiftration would have attached them
to the French, who drew great advantages from
them : thus the fault of one man can draw after
it the ruin of a whole colony -, one cannot be

Vol. I. F fuf-

* The common people among the Natches are called Mi-
che-Michequipiy v.'hich fignifres ftinking felloiv.

66

TRAVELS THROUGH

fufikiently cautious in the choice of thofe who,
are to be knt as governors into thofe parts. The
Indians, notwithstanding the ideas we have of
them, are not always eafily managed -, poli-
tics and wifdom mud necefiarily be employed,
in order to obtain their friendship ; they will not
be offended with impunity, this hiftory is a
proof of it j nothing could be better .conducted
than the plot of the Natches • and how unhappy
had it been, without the interposition of Provi-
dence ! The Sun Stung Arm was worthy of the
greater!: acknowledgements, but it is not well
known how they have been made to her.

The nations who entered into the plot with
the Natches, not knowing the ftratagem by
which the flroke had been advanced, believed
they were betrayed : The Chaff a-iv nation ima-
gined, that the Natches were unwilling to give
them their fhare of the plunder of the French ;
and, to convince the latter that they had no part
In the conjuration, they joined them in order to
c haft ife the Natches. Thefe returned the French
women and the negroes whom they had taken ;
fome time after they were attacked in their in-
ncnchmtnts, but efcaped by the help pf a thun-
der-ftorm, and quitted tlie country. About a
thoufand of them were taken and brought to
New Orleans \ zn& after wards Ibid to the ifle of

LOUISIANA. 67

St. Domingo, Among thefe prifoners was the
Great Sun, his wife, and his mother, who rela-
ted to the French the above detail of the plot.
The Great Sun difowned the mafTacre ; he faid
that his nation had abufed his youth, in or-
der to ftrike this blow ; that he had always lov-
ed the French •, that it was their own chief who
had compelled the Natches to this defperate
action, by his extortions upon a free nation.
The French were contented with his difavowal \
they treated him and his mother and wife with
gentlenefs •, but as they did not return to their
nation, they foon died with grief. Since that
time this country is not inhabited i the Natches,
being purfued by the French, and being too
weak to refift them, took refuge among the Chi-
caclias *, where they found an afylum,

We ftill have a fort here, but the colony is
far from being brilliant ; the means of eftabliih-
ing it would be to attract other Indians to it.
This is all, Sir, which I can relate to you con-
cerning this part of the country. I mail now
foon leave it, and continue my voyage ; and I
conclude my letter, by renewing to you the pro-
teftations of thofe fentiments which you know
-me capable of. And am, SIR, &c.

At the Natches, Sept,

jo. 1751. W. 2 L E . T*

f Chickafaws.

68 TRAVELS

THROUGH

^««Iktf

LETTER

IV.

To the fame*

The Author arrives at the Akanzas. Unhappy
. Death of the People of Ferdinando Soto. Re*
jletlions on the Folly of Men who feek for a Moun-
tain of Gold. Origin of the famous Dorado.
Short Account of the tragic Death of M, de la
Salle.

S I R,

F?3e^ftFTER failing about a hundred and
fg A yP twenty leagues -to the north of the
l&^f&gj Natches, up the MiJJifippi, without
meeting with any habitation on the road, we
arrived among a nation famous for their friend-
fhip for the French, and known formerly from
the expedition of Ferdinando Soto. I fpoke to
an old Indian chief of this country, who told
me, he faw M. de la Salle here in 1682, when
he difcovcred the great river Si. Louis, known

under

LOUISIANA. 69

under the name of MiJJifippi, or> as tne Indians
pronounce it, Me/Jiajfepi, which fignifies all the
rivers, or the great river,

M. de la Salle pafTed by this nation in coming
down the river : he made acquaintance with
them, and took pofleflion of their country in
the name of Louis le Grand, of glorious memo-
ry * ; after fixing the crofs and the arms of
France there, he followed the courfe of the Mif-
Jifippi, which enters into the famous gulph of
Mexico. He took the latitude at its mouth,
which he found to be twenty-nine degrees north;
he failed up again afterwards to the river of
Illinois, from whence he went to Canada, and
from thence he returned into France.

F 3 On

* If tyranny, oppreffion, and unbridled ambition are fuf-
ficient to immortalize a prince, it is certain Lewis XIV. has
a juft claim to be called great. It was his happinefs to have
great minifters in the firft part of his life, in a time when
the greater part of Europe had very few manufactures ; but
he was weak enough to give ear to the advices fuggefted to
him by the Jefuits, and a fuperannuated and bigotted mi-
ftrefs : this overturned the fyflem of grandeur for which the
minifters had laid a good foundation, and Lewis had the
misfortune to fee all the rival nations around him grow
powerful and rich, by the emigration of his oppreffed Pro-
teftant fubje&s, and thus he outlived his own greatnefs :
his death was the moil fortunate event for France in her
weak and exhaufted flate, F.

7o TRAVELS through

On his arrival at court, he imparted his dif-
covery to MeiT. Colbert and de Seignelai, who ob-
tained for him a com million from the King, im-
porting, that all the countries which he mould
difcover from New Bifcay to the Illinois, and the
people, both French and Indians, that mould be
in thofe countries, mould be under his orders.

It was at the fame nation, called Akanzas,
■thztMr.Joutel arrived, who fet out after the
death of M. de la Salle, with guides to find out
the MJJifippi. This is the only officer who has
left us an account which may be credited. I
think I ought to give you an abftradb of it ;
you will find the hillory of M*de la Salle in it,
and of the end of his unlucky expedition.

In regard to Fe'rdinand Soto's voyage, I mail
but juft mention, that the general hiftory of the
Wen: Indies informs us, that this great officer,
proud and enriched by the conqueft of Peru, af-
ter imbruing his facrilegious hands in the blood
of the unfortunate family of the Incas, intended
to penetrate into this country with the braveft
of his foldiers, to fubdue the nations that inha-
bit the neighbourhood of this river, of which I
am going to give you a defcription ; but he did
not know the interior parts of this vail conti-
nent j perhaps he expected to find effeminate

nations

LOUISIANA, 71

is in tk$ as in South America ; he was mis-
taken in his hopes, part of his people were kil-
led with clubs by the Indians, who flayed the
principal officers of his army, and afterwards
expofed their fkins on the door of their temple,
which fo frightened the Spaniards that they re»
imbarked immediately for Europe;

The hiftorian fays, that Ferdinand Soto died
of the fhame which the bad fuccefs of this enter
prize had brought on him, in 1543 5 and, fince
that time till 1682:, this fine country has been,
inhabited by no Europeans,

The fate of M. de la Salle has been no happief
than that of Ferdinand Soto.

j There is no virtue in mail which is not blend-
ed with fome faults 5 this is generally the fault'
of human nature; and what increafes our humi-
liation, the greater! virtues are often accompa-^
nied by the greater!: vices. You will eafily per*
ceive this, Sir, by the fliort extracl from M*
j out el's Journals

-

M. Robert Cavelier de la Salle fet faii from Re*

chelle the 24th of July 1684, with a fquadron of

four fhips, commanded by M. de Beaujeu, a

captain of a ftiip. Two hundred and eighty-

F 4 five

72 TRAVELS

THROUG H

*

five perfons, together with thirty volunteers
and fome gentlemen, and a number of workmen
and girls embarked with him. M. de la Salle
was on board M. de Beaujeu's fhip, in whom he
repofed no manner of confidence. Whatever
xhat officer propoied to him, he always anfwered
with an air of haughtinefs, This is not the King's
intention | he certainly did not take the proper
fteps to interefl a man in his undertaking, whofe
aiMance he wanted to make it fucceed. Every
one accordingly began to judge difadvantage-
oufly of an expedition, the chiefs of which feem-
ed to ad by very different principles ; and time
lias unhappily confirmed it.

The 28th of December 1684, the fquadron
difcovered the continent of Florida; and M. de
la Salle having heard much about the current
that fet in to the eaftward in the Mexican gulph,
he made no doubt but that the mouth of the
Miffifippi was far to the weft ; an error that was
the caufe of all his misfortunes. Accordingly
he bore away weftward ; but he advanced very
little, becaufe he went near the fhore from time

to

* Among thefe were three priefts of St. Sulpitizis, one of
them M. de la Salle's brother, ChedeyiUe his relation, and
Mhplh, befides four fecolS&s, who were to eftablifh the
millions among the Indians. There were likewife two of
\m nephews M&ranget and Cawlier. fourteen years of age.

L

LOUISIANA.

73

to time, and failed along the coaft, to try whe-
ther he could not difcover what he fought for.

The 2d of January 1685, the fquadron was*
according to conjecture, pretty near the mouth
of the Miffifippiy and on the 10th they paifed
by it, without perceiving it. M. de la Salle , be-
ino- perfuaded that the fquadron was but juft op-
pofite the Appalachian mountains, continued his
voyage without fending his long-boat on Ihore.

It is faid, that people fhewed him the mouth
of the river, and that he would not fo much as
take the trouble of getting a certainty, becaufe
he had taken it into his head, that it could not
be the place which was pointed out to him.
His obftinacy could not be conquered nor jufti-
fied.

He certainly did not know, or did not think
of it, that the greateft men in the world have
often been, in part, indebted for their greateft
fuccefs to people of inferior merit •, and that
thofe are the wifeft, who profit by the advice
and underftanding even of thofe that are iefs en-
dowed than they themfeives.

Some time after, upon fome hints which the
Indians on the cpaft gave him, he wanted to re-
turn ;

74

T RAVELS through?

turn \ but M. de Beaujeu refufed to do him thafc
favour. They puriued the fame courfe ♦, and
the fquadron, in a few days, came to St. Ber-
nard's bay, without knowing it. This bay is
one hundred leagues to the' weft ward of the
mouth of the Mijfijippi -, they caft anchor there^
and fent the boats upon diicovery, in order to
try to get knowledge of the place they were' in.
They found a very fine river, with a bar at the
mouth of it, where -there is not above ten or
twelve feet water. This difcovery was made af-
ter many times failing backwards and forwards,
and after feveral meetings of the council, in
which nothing was concluded, becaufe whenever
one propofed any thing, the other was fure to
oppofe it.

M. de la Salle, who believed he was near the
Miffijippi-i and whom M. de BeaujeiCs prefence*
conftrained more than it did him any fervice*
refolved to land all his people in that place»
Having taken this reiblution, on the 20th of
February he fent orders to the commander of the
fhip La Flute to land the heavier!: goods, and to
go up into the river. He intended to be pre-
fent at the execution of his orders 3 but the
Marquis de la Seblonnkrey and rive or fix French-
men, having been taken by the Indians as they
walked in the woods, he haftened to free them.

He

LOUISIANA. 75

He was not yet far from the more, when, call-
ing his eye towards the bay, he faw the Flute
manoeuvring in fuch a manner as to beat againft
the rocks ; his bad luck, fays J out el in his re-
lation, prevented his returning to avoid that
misfortune. He continued his journey towards
the Indian village, where his people had been
carried to \ and when he came there, he heard a
cannon fired. He took this as a fignal to give
him notice, that the Flute was loft -, and his
conjecture proved true.

Thole who were witneffes to this accident
plainly took it to be the effect of a premeditated
defign of M. de St. Aigron, who commanded
that veflel. This lofs had many difagreeable
confequences, as it contained the ammunition
utenfils, tools, and in general all that is necef-
fary to a new fettlement. M. de la Salle flatten-
ed to the place where the fhip was loft, and
found every body in a total inaction. He beg-
ged M. de Beaujeu to lend him his boat and ca-
noe, which he obtained very eafiiy.

He began with faving the crew ; next he-got
the powder and flower, afterwards the wine and
brandy •, he brought on fhore about thirty bar-
rels : had the boat of the Flute been able to

-affift

. .

76

TRAVELS THROUGH

affift that of the fhip Le Jolir almoft every thing
would have been faved ; but that was funk on
purpofe, and the night being come, they were
obliged to defer the unlading till the next morn-
ing. Some hours being pad, the wind, which
came from the fea, grew more violent, and
the waves increafed ; the Flute beating againft
the rocks burft, and a quantity of goods
fell out through the opening, and were carried
away by the fea. This was only perceived at
break of day ; thirty more barrels of wine and
brandy were faved, together with fome barrels
full of flower, meat, and peafe : all the reft
was loft.

To increafe the misfortune, they were fur-
rounded on all fides by Indians • who, notwith-
standing the care that was taken to prevent
their profiting any thing by the general confu-
fion, took away feveral things which had been
preferved from the wreck. The theft was
not perceived till they were retired with the
booty. They had left feveral of their canoes on
the more, which wrere feized upon : very weak
reprifals indeed, which coft much more than they
were worth. The Indians came at night to take
their canoes -y they furprifed thofe who were left
to take care of them, and, finding them afleep,
they killed two volunteers, whom M. de la Salle

regretted

LOUISIANA. 77

regretted very much, and wounded his nephew
and another perfon.

So many misfortunes, one after another, dif-
gufted feverai perfons who were upon the expe-
dition ; and, among others, MeiT. Doinmaville
and Mignet^ two engineers, who were willing
to return to France, to which the difcourfes of
M. de la Salle's enemies contributed greatly •, for
they never ceafed to cry down his conduct, and
tax his project as a filly and ralh undertaking.
He? on the contrary, never fhewed more refolu-
tion and firmnefs ; he conilructed a warehoufe
furrounded with good intrenchments ; and tak-
ing it into his head, that the river, in which he
was, might poffibly be one of the branches of the
Miffifippu he prepared to go up in it.

They immediately began, erecting a fort ; as
foon as the work was fomewhat advanced, M. de
la Salle gave J out el orders to finim it, left him
the command of it, and about one hundred
men : he took the reft of his people, about
fixty in all, with himfelf, and embarked on the
river, with the refolution of going up as high
as he could. Joutel ftayed but a fhort time after
him in the fort which had been begun ; every
night the favages were roving in the neighbour-
hood -, the French defended themfelves againft

them,

78 TRAVELS through

them, but with lofTes that weakened them.
On the 14th of July, J out el received an order
from M. de la Salle to join him with all his
people.

Many good (tout men had been killed or ta~
ken by the Indians ; others were dead with fa-
tigue, and the number of fick increafed every
day j in a word, nothing could be more unhap-
py than M. de la Salle's fituation. He was de-
voured with grief; but he difiimulated it pretty
well, by which means his diflimulation degene-
rated into a morofe obftinacy. As foon as he
faw all his people together, he began in good
earned to think of making a fettlement, and
fortifying it. He was the engineer of his own
fort, and being always the firil to put his hand
to work, every body worked as well as he could
to follow his example.

Nothing was wanting but to encourage this
good-will of the people, but M. de la Salle had
not furficient command of his temper. At the
very time when his people fpent their forces
with working, and had but juft as much as was
ablblutely neceiTary to live upon, he could not
prevail on himielf to relax his feverity a little,
or alter his inflexible temper, which is never
feafonable, and lefs fo in a new fettlement. It-
is

L. O U I S I A N- A. 79

is not fufficient to have courage, health, and
watchfulnefs, to make any undertaking fucceed;
.many other talents are requifite. Moderation,
patience, and difintereltednefs, are equally ne-
eeffary. It is ufeful to diflimulate now and then,
■to prevent making evil worfe. Gentlenefs is the
foeft method which every commander can fol-
low.

M. de la Sdk punifhed the lead faults with an
unheard-of cruelty \ and feldom any word of
comfort came from his mouth to thofe who fuf-
fered with the greate-li conftancy. He had of
courfe the misfortune to fee all his people fall
into a itate of languor and defpondency, which
was more the effect of defpair, than of excefs of
labour or fcantinefs of good nourifhment.

Having given his laft orders at his fort, fee
refolved to advance into the country, and began
to march on the 12th of January 1687, with
M. de Gaveliw his brother, Moranget and the
young Cavelkr his nephews, Father Anaftatius a
Francifcan friar, Jontel, Dukaut, UArcheveque de
Marne, a German whofe name was Hiens, a fur-
geon named Ltetot^ the pilot Teffier, Saget, and
an Indian who was a good huntfman. I men-
tion them all, becaufe they mall be fpoke of in
die fequek

Jr\i3

So

TRAVELS THROUGH

As they advanced further into the country,
they found it inhabited ; and when they were
but forty leagues from the nation of the Cents,
they heard that there was a Frenchman among
thofe Indians. It was a failor from Lower Bre-
tany, who had loft himfelf when M. de la Salle
firft came down the Miffifippi : this poor'wretch
lived among the Cents fince 1682, having been
adopted by them. He did not hope to fee Eu-
rope again, nothing but chance could procure
him the means of returning thither : Joutel went
to fetch him from amongft thofe Indians. He
only quitted them to be witnefs of a crime.

The 17th of May, Moranget being on a hunt-
ing party, and having, as it is faid, abufed
with words Duhaut, Hiens, and the furgeon
Lieto&t thofe three men refolved to get rid of him
as foon as pomble, and to begin with the fervant
of M. de la Salle, and his Indian huntfman who
was called Nika> who both accompanied Moran-
get, and could have defended him. They com-
municated their defign to U Archevcque and the
pilot TeJJier, who approved of it, and defired to
take part in the execution. They did not fpeak
of it to the Sieur de Marne, who was with them,
and whom they wifhed to have been able to get
away. The next night, whilft the three unhap-
py victims whom they would facrifice to their

revenge

L o u i s i A N A-

Si

revenge flept very quietly, Liefot gave each of
them feveral blows with the hatchet on the head.
The Indian and the fervant died immediately.
Moranget raifed himfelf fo as to fit upright^
without fpeaking a word ; and the murderers
obliged the Sieur de Marne to difpatch him>
threatening to kill "him too if he refufed \ thus,
by making him an accomplice of their crime,
they wanted to fecure themfelves againft his se-
curing them.

The firft crime is always followed By urieafi*
nefs ^ the greater! villains find it difficult to con-
quer it : the murderers conceived, that it would
not be eafy to efcap'e the juft vengeance of M,
de la Salle^ unlefs by preventing him 5 arid this
they refolved upon, after deliberating on the
means of effecting it. Tliev thought the fafeft
way was to meet him, and furprife all that ac-
companied him, and fo open themfelves a way
for the murder which they intended to perpe^
trate.

So ftrange a refolution could only be irifpired
by that blind d-fpair, which hurries villains into
the abyfs which they dig for then:fclves : an un-
expected incident became favourable to them,
and delivered into their hands the prey which

Vol. L G they

$2 T R A V E L S THROUGH

they fought for. A river that feparated them
from the camp, and which was confiderably in-
creafed fince they paffed it, kept them two days:
this retardment, which at firfl feemed an ob-
stacleto their project, facilitated the execution
of it. M. de la Salle, wondering that his nephew
did not return, nor either of the two men that
were with him, determined to go and feek them
himfelf. It was remarked, that he was uneafy
when he was going to fet out, and inquired with
a kind of uncommon concern whether Mor angel
had quarrelled with any one.

He then called Joutel, and intrufted him with

the command of his camp, ordering him to go

his rounds in it from time to time, and to light

fires, that the fmoke might bring him on his

road again, in cafe he mould lofe his way ; he

likewife bid him give no body leave to abfent

-himfelf. He fet out on the 20th, attended by"

-Father Anaflafius and an Indian. As he ap~

- proached to the place where the aiTaflins had

itopt, he faw fome eagles foaring pretty near the

place, and concluded that there was fome car-

1 rion : he fired his gun ♦, and the confpirators,

-who had not yet feen him, gueffing that it was

.he who was coming, got their arms in readinefs.

The river was between them and him : Duhaut

and

L O V l B I A N;.;A; 83

and -UJrcheveque crofied it; and. feeing -"Mr .&
in -Salle advancing fiowly, they Hopped, titi-
haiit bid himfelf in the long grafs, with his gun
cocked, VArcheveque advanced a little morei
and a moment after, M. de la Salle knowing him,
afked him where his nephew was ? He anfwered,
that he was lower down. At the fame inftarit
Buhdui fired ; M. de la Salle received the fliot in
his head, and fell down dead*

It was the aoth of May 1687 that this rhur*

der was committed near the Cents, Father Ana-

ftafiust feeing M. de la Salle drop down at his

feet, expected that the murderers would not

fpare him* though they mould have no other

: view.in it than to get rid of a witnefs of their

. crime. Duhaut came near him to quiet him*

. and told him, that what they had done was an

: aft of defpair, and that they had long thought

"•of revenging therrifelves on Moranget, who had

- endeavoured to ruin them. Father Anaftafius

■ Informed M. Cavetier of his brother's death; that

; gentlemen told them, that if it was their inten-
se ?

tion to kill him likewife, he. would forgive them
his death before hand, and he only demanded,
• as a favour* a quarter of an hour to prepare him-
felf for death. They replied, that he had no-
thing to fear, and that nobody complained of him.

G 2 Joutel

84 TRAVELS through

J out el was not then in the camp ; UArche-
veque, who was his friend, ran to inform him,
that his death was certain if he fhewed any re-
fentment of what had happened, or if he pre-
tended to take advantage of the authority with
which M. de la Salle had inverted him. JouteU
who was of a very gentle temper, anfwered,
that they mould be content with his conduct,
and that he believed that they ought to be plea-
fed with the manner in which he had hitherto
behaved ; and then he returned to the camp.

As foon as Duhaut law Joutel, he called out
to him, that every one mould command by
turns. He had already taken all the authority
into his hands ; and the firft ufe he made of it,
was to make himfelf mafler of the magazine.
He divided it afterwards with UArcheveque, fay-
ing, that every thing belonged to him. There
were about thirty thoufand livres worth of goods,
and near twenty- five thoufand livres both in
coin and in plate.

The aflaflins had force and boldnefs on their
fide \ they had fhewn themfeves capable of the
greater!: crimes, accordingly they met with no
refinance at nrft. They foon divided, and quar-
relled among themfeives -3 they found difficul-
ties

LOUISIANA.

*5

ties in dividing the treafure \ they came to blows,
and Hiens fired his piftol at Duhaufs head, who
reeled, and -fell four yards from the place where
he flood. At the fame time Rut el the Tailor,
whom J out el fetched from the Cents, fired a gun
at Lie'tct. That wretch lived yet feveral hours,
though he had three balls in his body ; fo the
two afTaiTins, one of M.'de la Salle, and the
other of his nephew Moranget, were themfelves
the victims of that fpiritof fury, which they had
infpired to this unhappy colony.

The Indians knew not what to think of thefe
murderers ; they were quite fcandalized by them.
They were in the right, and could with more
reafon treat thofe Frenchmen as barbarians, than
we had to confider them as fuch. Be that as it
will, fuch was the tragic death of Robert Cave-
Her, Sieur de la Salle, a man of abilities, of a
great extent of genius, and of a courage and
iirmnefs of mind which might have carried him
to fomething very great, if, with thefe good
qualities, he had known how to get the better of
his fullen, morofe mind, to foften his fe verity, or
rather the roughnefs of his temper, and check
the haughtinefs with which he treated not only
thofe who depended entirely upon himfelf, but
even his aiTociates. The moil unhappy thing

G 3 for

S6

TRAVELS THROUGH

for the memory of this famous man is, that he
[ has not been pitied by any body, and that the
bad fuccefs that has attended his undertakings
has given him the appearance of an adventurer
among thofe who only judge from appearances.
Unhappily they are commonly the greateft num-
ber, and their voice is, in a manner, the voice of
j jhe people. He has further been reproached with
never taking advice from any body, and with ha-
ving ruined his private affairs by his obftinacy *.

Thus. ended this unlucky undertaking-, many
things confpired to make it abortive: it would
atleafthave had part, of the wifhed-for fuccefs,
iff a fettlement on the mouth of the MimTippi
had been the only thing in view, as many people
thought it was. It is certain, that when M. de
Beaujeu abandoned M. de la Salle in St. Bernards
Bay, the latter foon found out, that he was to

the

: ;

* In order to diminifo the villainy of the deed of Duhaut,
it has peen fpread, that M. fc la Salle had killed young
Duhaut with his own hands, and that he had treated feveral
pthers in the fame manner j that it was defpair and revenge
that animated the confpirators, who feared to periih them-
felves by his injuRice and feverity. One ought to be fp
much the more upon one's guard againft fuch calumniating
difcourfes, as it is but too common to increafe the faults ef
the unhappy, and to attribute to them even thofe which they

really have not.

L O U I S„I

A N^A. 87

the weft ward of the river he fought for; if it
had been his intention to find it, he might on
his rtrft journey to the Cents have obtained
guides from thofe Indians, becaufe they granted,
fome in the fequel to ' Jbutel* ; but he wiflied to
come near the Spaniards, in order to take cog-
nizance of the mines of St. Barbara, and to feek
1-ikewife a Dorado. By endeavouring to do too
much, he not only did nothing at all, but made
all his people perifh, and perifhed himfelf, and
was pitied by nobody.

Before I conclude this letter, let me add fome
reflections on the folly of men.

The avidity of the Spanifh captains muft have
been very great, as it engaged them to feek for
an imaginary Dorado or mountain of gold, whilil
the whole country they were in abounded in all

G 4 parts

- The Sieur J out el found the Mijfifipfi by means of the
Indians, who brought him to the Akanz.as> and from thence
into Canada, ; where he arrived, accompanied by one. prieft,
a Recollet friar, a foldier, a failor^ a colonic, and an In-
dian, who compofed a Orange fort of caravan. They were
all that returned from this expedition. The remains of this
unhappy colony perifhed either through the Indians or
through the Spaniards, who took them prifoners, and fe$
them at work in their mines»

88

TRAVELS through

parts wi:h that metal. This is a proof, that all
the treafures in the world are incapable of fatisfy?
ing man, as foon as avidity has once gained the
empire in his heart.

The Spaniards were not contented with the
riches of Peru--, they mult ftill go to difcover a
Dorado, that is, a country where the rocks and
Hones are all of gold. The Indians, in order
to flatter the avidity of their enemies, and at
the fame time to get them out of their country,
never ceafed amufing them with accounts of the
gold, fiiver, diamonds, and pearls with which
that country abounded, Their defire of getting
rid of their unwelcome guefcs, induced them to
fpare nothing towards perfuading them of the
exigence of this pretended country. The Spa-
niards believed thefe accounts, in which they
were interefted ; and this is faid to be the origin

o

of the famous Dorado, which has made fo much
noife in the world.

The report was current, that, after pafling a
long chain of mountains covered with fnow, one
entered upon a vaft plain exceedingly well peo^
pled, in which was the Dorado that every one
wilhed to difcover.

<S

uefada,

L O U IS I ■ A N A.

89

• §uefada, with two hundred and fifty brave
foldiers, fet out immediately in fearch of it. On
St. James's day they perceived, from the top of
a mountain, fome vail plains which refembied
a iea -, and when they were defcended to the
foot of the mountain, they built there a town,
and called it San-Tago, in remembrance of the
clay on which they diicovered the plain ; they
likewife furnamed it Las Atalayas *, in order to
point out the defign of their journey, which was
to difcover the Dorado. This town exifts ftill
in the "place, which is marked in the maps as a
monument which feems to engage pofierity to
m out upon the difcovery of this unknown
treafure. Quefada palled :■ through the woods of
Ayrico with exceflive trouble, and arrived at Sfe
mana id 1543, having loft almoft all his people.

Orellana undertook the fame voyage in that
year ; he fet out from Peru, defcended the ri-
ver Maragnon or of the Amazons, came to the
coafr, and neglected nothing towards arriving
at the mountain of gold ; but all his pains were
ufelefs, and he gained no more honour by the

under-

* Atalayar fignifies to difcover, or to fpy, in Spaniih :
Atalaya, a tower or fort from whence one difcovers : Las
Atalayas is the plural.

1

i£3i TRAVELS; through

undertaking than that of having completed one
of the moft horrible voyages that ever were
heard of..- About the fame time Philip de Ure>
fearing that Quefada would profit alone by this
difcovery, fet out from Coro in the province of
Venezuela, together with Aquito,. the Lieutenant
Velalcazar, and one hundred and twenty men %
but a Cacique having told him, that moft of the
people of Quefada had perilhed in the undertak-
ing, he went to the fouthward along the river
, Guabari, and flopped, as Father .Simon and Fa^
ther Piedrahata affure us, at the firft fettlement
of Omaguas, in a very bad plight. But what
will not men undertake for the fake of o-old f
Auri facra fames, quid non mortalia peclora co-
gis

*J

But to what purpofe is all this philofophy.--
The ftay which I intend to make here, willen-
able me to fend you a new letter on the fubjeel:
of the moft interefting particulars of the politics
and form of government of the nations who. in*
habit this country. I am,

S I R, &g.

At the Akanzas}

ort. 29. 1 75 1.

;' Here follov/s a dull quotation from a Spanifh author up-
•on &ii fubjecl, which we thought proper to omit. F.

L G U I S I A N A- 91

LETTER

2> the fame.

Defcripion of the Manners of the Nation of v^kan*
zas, /A«V £*%/*» and Manner of carrying on
War ; the Gocdnefs and Fertility of their Country.

SIR,
K££^ HoPe the defcriPtion * ^11 give of

H 1 M this Indian nation, by drawing, your
Vlfifi attention upon their particular eharac-
H$ will convey a general idea of all the nations
of North America. There is indeed very little
difference among them, in regard to their cu-
ftoms and their way of thinking, and efpecially
in regard to a Supreme Being, which in their
language they call CoyocopchilU which fignifies
fh/great Spirit, or the Mafier of life.

The

-

t'92 TRAVELS

THR OUGH

The Akanzas live on the banks of a river that
bears their name ; it arifes in New Mexico^ and
falls into the MtJJifippi. Thefe Indians are tall,
well made, brave, good fwim Tiers, very expert
in hunting and riming, and entirely devoted to
the French, of which they have given marks on
feverai occasions.

I fpoker in my preceding letter, of an old
-man of this nation, who (aid he had feen M. de
la Salle, This good Indian added, that from
that time he conceived a very great efteem
for the French; that they were the firfjfe na-
tion of white men he had feen, and ifiee that
time he had always recommended it to his na-
tion, whofe chief he was, never to receive any
other European allies than the French, who
were immediately received at his requeft : in
reality thefe people never would have any thing
to do with the conjuration of the o-eneral maf-
facre of the French colony at the Natches. I
muft do* thefe good Indians that juflice ; they
are always at war with the Tchicachas (Chick-
faws) who gave the Natches a retreat.

The country of the Akanzas is one of the
fined in the world ; the foil of it is fo fertile,
that it produces, without any culture, European

wheat,

L O U I S I A N A.

93

wheat, all kinds of food, and good fruit, un*
known in France ', game of all kinds is plenti-
ful there ; wild oxen*, (lags, roebucks, bears*

tygers,

* The here enumerated animals, we intend to make bet-
ter known, by adding the names in Dr. Linnseus Syft. Nat*
and Mr. Pennant's Syn. of Quadr. or his Britilh Zoology.

i. Wild Oxen. Bos Bifon, Linn. American ox,
Penn. Syn. Quad. 8.

2. Stags. Cervus Elaphus, Linn. Stag deer, Pmn*
Syn. Quad. 49.

3. Roebucks. As it is dubious whether this fpecies is
in North America, this is probably the Dama Virginiana,
Ray. Syn. Quad. 86, ; or Virginian deer, Penn. Syn. Qua-
drup. 51.

4. Bears. Urfus ArSos, Linn. Black bear, Penn.
Syn. Quad. 190.

5. Tygers. There are no true tygers in all the nevif
continent, and what is called thus muil be the Cugacurana

- cfMarcgrave,andRay. Syn. Quad. 169. or Brown cat, Penn,
Syn. Quad. 179. - *

6. Leopards. Felis Pardus, Linn. Panther, Penn,
Syn. Quad, p. iji. note. Mr. Pennant has proved, from
very good authorities, that this fpecies is found in America,,
contrary to what M. de Buffcn fays ; who, though a very
great naturalift, by far fuperior to many who make free

with

94

TRAVELS THROUGH

tygers* leopards, foxes, wild cats, rabbets, tur*
kies, grous, pheafants, partridges, quails^
turtles, wood-pigeons, fwans, geefe, buitards,

ducks

with him, is however a man who never departs from an opi-
nion which he once has embraced, and which he will carry
by his eloquence in fpite of the moft creditable authorities to
the contrary.

7. Foxes. Canis Vulpes, Linn. Fox, Penn. Syn.
Quad. 152. with all its varieties, the crofs fox, the black
fox, and the brand fox.

8. Wild Cats. Felis filveftris tigrina, Prijfon. Quctdc
193. Cayenne Cat, Penn, Syn. Quad* 182.

9. Rabbets. There were originally no rabbets in Ame*
rica, but they were imported by the Spaniards, and are novV
greatly increafed ; whether thefe, here called rabbets, on
the river MiJJlfippi, are the true rabbets, or whether they
are that kind of hare which is peculiar to North Ameri-
ca, cannot be decided. The North American hare feems to
be the Alpine hare, Penn. Syn. Quad. 249 % it is lefs in
iize than the European common hare, and a medium between
hare and rabbet, according to Kalm's North Amer. I. p. 105»

10. Turkies. Meleagris Gallopavo, Linn. Le dindon,.
Planches enluminees> 97.

11. Grous. There are about feven different kinds of
grous in North Jmerica*

{a) Tctrao

L O U I S I A N A. 95

ducks of all kind's,- teals, divers, fnipes, wa-
ter-hens, golden plovers, Hares, thrufhes, . and
other birds which are not known in Europe,

On

(*) Tetrao Phananellus, Linn, The long-tailed grous, Ed-

ward, 117.

{b) • " Canadensis, Linn. The fpotted grous, Edw.yi.

(f) Lagopus, Linn. The white grous, Ed~aj. 72.

PL en I. 12».

[d) Cupido, Linn. The pinnated grous, Cat. III. 1 .

(*) — — Umbellus, Linn. The ruffed grous, Edtv. 248.

(f) ' Canace, Linn. The ilriated grous, PL enl. 131,

' & 1.32, Brijf.l.zo^, t. 20. f, 1. 2..
(^) — Togatus, Z/««. The fhoulder-knot grous,- PI.

enl. 104. BriJJW. 207. t. 221. f. 1.

. Which of thefe are found fo far fouth as Louijiana cannot be
determined.

12. Pheasants. This Is fo vague a denomination, that
it is next to impoiTible to find out which kind of pheafant
the author means ; for there is but one pheafant in America,
in Cayenne, and Guiana, and therefore it is dubious whether
this bird is found fo far north as Louijiana : I am therefore
inclined to believe, the author meant the long-tailed grous,
which bears a great fimilarity to a pheafant, and is found as
far as Virginia, which is not above three or four degrees
more north than the Akanzas.

• 13. Partridges. This feems to be the American par-
tridge, Cat. Ill, iz, Tetrao Virginianus, Linn.

14. QUAI.LS,

$6 TRAVELS through

On my arrival at the Akanzas^ the young
warriors received me with the dance of the ca-
lumet. It is neceffary that I mould inform you,

that

14. Quails. Tetrao Mexicanus, Linn. Loufiana quail,
PL enL 149.

15* Turtles. Columba Canadensis, Linn. Canada
turtle, PL enL 176.

16. Wood-pigeons. Columba migratoria, Linn. Mi-
gratory pigeon. Kalniy II. p. 82. t. 2. Columba Caroli-
nenfis, Linn, Caroline pigeon, Cat, I. 24.

17. Swans. Anas Cygnus, Linn. Br. Zool. p. 440. Ed*
woard 150.

18. Geese. Anas Anfer, Linn. Wildgoofe, Br.Z00L4.4-j.
Anas crythropus, Linn. White fronted goofe, Br. Zool. 450*
Ednjj. 153. Anas Canadenfis, Linn. Canada goofe, £dw.
151. PL enL 346.

19. Bustards, Otis Tarda, Linn. This is the firfl
time that I find a buftard mentioned among the American
birds. As they are net uncommon in France, I am inclined
to think the author's account to be true ; and as he has al-
ready mentioned the turkies before, it is net likely that he
fiiould confound the buftard and turkey.

20. Ducks of ail kinds. There are at leaft twenty kinds
Of ducks known to be in America. Vid. Former's Catalogue
of North American animals , p. 16. 17.

21. Teals*

LOUISIANA. 97

that dancing enters into all forts of tranfa&ions
With thefe nations ; they have religious, phyfical*
merry, ceremonious^ warlike, pacific, nuptial,
funeral, playful, hunting, and lewd dances :
the laft is abolifhed fince our arrival in America;

The dance of impudicity was performed pri-
vately and in night-time, by the light of a great
fire. Ail that entered into the lafcivious aflenv

bly,

2i. Teals. I fuppofe the author means by teals the
fefTer kinds of ducks, as the harlequin, pied, brown, white-
faced, blue- wing, cifc. and common teal;

22. Divers are of four kinds in North America. Vi<§s
ForJler*s Cat. N. Amer. i6>,

23. Snipes. There are likewife feveral birch of th's
kind in North America 5 fo that without a more detailed de-
nomination, it is impoffible to determine the ipecies.

24. Water-hens. Oi this kind is the Rallus Caroli-
neniis, Linn, the Carolina rail, and the common water-
hen, or Fulicachloropus, Lhm. in N. Amer.

25. Golden plovers. Charadrius apricarius, twin*
■Ed<w. 140-.

26. Stares. Sturnus Ludoviciarius, Linn. Pl.tnl. 1\6*
BrifAl.^g. t. 42. f. 1. Cat. I. 13. This bird has m>if-
takenly appeared in the books of the modern ornithologifU

Vol. I. H under

98 TRAVELS THROUGH

bly were obliged to fit ike againft the poft *,' that
is, to iwear that they never would reveal what
they had feen or done in this diilblute ball : the
dancers of both fexes appeared quite naked
there, in attitudes and geftures of proftitution,
accompanied with fongs of the fame kind, which
you muft excufe my tranfcribiiig, though, in the
language of the Indians, they are purely pieces
of genteel wit.

The Manias have expert fellows among,
them, who would perhaps amaze our jugglers.

I faw

under two names : Brijfon calls it, in II. 242. an American
ouzel ; and II. 449. he reprefents it as a Louisiana ftare.
Linnaus makes likewife two birdi of it ; he calls it a lark,
p. 289. Alauda magna, and p. 290. a ftare, Sturnus Lu-
Ylovicianusj but, upon comparifon, it maybe eafrly fieter-
mined, that both are but a itare, and that it ought to be
erafed from among the Larks and Ouzels.

2*7. Thrushes. There are at lead: feven North American
thrufhes,- which of them are upon the river Miffififpi cannot
be determined for want of information, F.

* Whenever the Indians, fweajr or take oaths,- they take a
club with which they ftrtke again ft a poll, calling to mind
their fine aclions in war, and promifing to keep their word
religioufiy : an oath of this nature is irrevocable among them:
every Cacique fwears to lead his nation well, and itrikes the
poft ; without taking that oath, he cannot be inftalled in the
ftty.

L O U I S I A N A..

I faw one of them, who* in my prefence, per-
formed a trick which will appear incredible to
you ; after fome wry mouths, he fwaliowed a
rib of a flag feventeen inches long,- held it with
his fingers, and drew it out of his ftomach again,
He went to New Orleans to fhew his agility to
the sovernor and the officers of the garnfon \
this the Indians call acting the phyfician;

The Akahzas declare war with the following
ceremonies. They make a feaft irt the hut of
the chief, where dog's flefri is ferved up, which
is the principal food of warriors \ becaufe they
fay, that a creature which is fo brave as to be
killed in the defence of his mailer, muft give them
valour, He that kills one of the enemy's dogs
is likewife received as a warrior ♦, but he muft
bring the fcalp of the dog, that is, the fkin from
the head, as if it were the fcalp of a man, with-
out which the others would not believe him,
The Indians have dogs in great numbers, both
for hunting, and to fecure them from being fur-
prifed by the enemies.

After the feaft of which I have fpoken, the
great chief calls together an aftembly of war^
riors.

loo TRAVELS through

The auembly is held in the middle of the vil-
lage, in a great hut made on purpofe, which
they call the hut of the council, The chief
and moil confiderable men place themfelves, ac-
cording to their refpedtive ranks, on mats or on
tyger-fkins. When they are all feated, the*
chief or orator puts himfelf into the midft of the
auembly, and holds his fpeech with a loud
voice : he reprefents to his nation, that it would
be a mame for them not to revenge the affront
they received from fuch or fuch a nation ;*- that
if they did take them to account for it, they
would for the future be looked upon as wo-
men*. At that inflant all the auembly ap-
plauds, by faying, Heu I heu ! The chief then
takes a bundle of rods, and prefents it to the
auembly-; all that are defirous of going to war
take one of the rods, and by this means they are
enlifted.

The next morning the women run through
the village, crying, " Young men and warriors,
" who received the rods, {et out, go. to war, re-
" venge the deaths of our relations, allies, and

" friends ;

* When an Indian is called a woman or an old woman, it
is an affront, which iignifies a man without courage, a
coward.

LOUISIANA.

IOI

" friends ; and do not return till you are ftained
" with the blood of our enemies, and bring with
H you their fcalps Vs
■
Then a young Indian takes the trouble to
paint red a club, which they call a head-breaker >
this club is brought upon the limits of the ene-
mies country ; there they cut a piece out of a
tree, and with vermilion they draw on it two ar-
rows acrofs each other, which is their fymbol of
war : the red colour fignifies, that the nation
defires revenge, and will not be fatisfied till it
has Hied the blood of their enemies.

Before they fet out, the chief of the nation
calls another affembly, which is generally fol-
lowed by a feaft, to which he invites his allies.
The chief prefents the confederates with rods,
to engage them to march with them as auxiliary
troops. At the end of the repait they fing and

W 3 dance

* The Indians are ufed to pluck the fkins from their ene-
mies heads whom they kill in battle ; they count the num-
ber of the ilain by thefe fcalps, which they bring home like
trophies on poles. We generalfy give them, in goods, for
the Kind's account, the value of ten crowns (ecus) for each
ijcalp of our enemies.

102 TRAVELS THROUGH

dance the dance of war*. All the young men
are painted red -, it is really curious to fee them
dance. He that expreiTes by dance the difco-
very or the furprife, watches his enemy, keep-
ers in a {looping pofture ♦, all at once he falls
upon him, his club in hand, making horrible
cries, as is done in a real adtion. His comrade
drops as if he were thunderflruck, ftiftening ali-
bis mufcles as an epileptic g after which the.
other reprefents, dancing, the method of fcalping
the dead enemy \ this is done with a knife which
he has in his hand, he makes an incifion on the
forehead, and round the neck of his enemy; he
places his long nails therein, he puts both his
knees againft the fhoulders of the captive, and
with a fudden pufh with his knees and pull with
his hands, he takes up the fkin with the hair on
:t, from the head. Ail this is reprefented in
finging and dancing to the tune of a drum and

a Mr

* The fong of war is conceited In the following terms :
\\ I go to war to avenge the death of my brothers ; I lhall
•l kill, I mail exterminate, I lhall plunder, I mail burn my
;< enemies : I mail bring away Haves, I mall devour their
J; heart, dry their flefti, drink their bleed ; I lhall bring
fl their fcajps, and make cups of their fculls ;" and mere,
fuch expreffions, which ?re full of cruelty, and mew a tlurfl
after revenee and Uau^hter.

L

O

U I

S I A

N

A. \

103

a chichikois

*j which

marks the

time

and the

ca-

dcnce.

The Indians rlever go to war without confult-
ing their Manitou -j~, to whom they attribute all
their good or bad kick. If the Manitou has not
been favourable to them, they quit him without
any ceremony, and take another. The chief,
before he goes to war, undergoes a very rigid
failing, and paints his body black during that
time. After the faft, he wafhes himfelf, and
paints his body and his face red. He harangues
his warriors before the falfe deity, after which
every one prepares his baggage. Sometimes
they go to war four or five hundred leagues from
their own country.

Their baggage, in time of war, confifts of a
bear's fkin, which ferves as a bed -3 a wild ox's
fkin, with which they cover themfelves ■ a ty-r
ger-cat's fkin, which ferves as a fack to put the
calumet or tobacco-pipe in j a kead-breaker or

H 4 club 5

* This is a gourd in which they put a kind of little beads,
they likewife fallen fuch beads to their ieet.

f Falfe Indian deity ; fometimes a dried raven or a make;
they likewife employ for that purpofs amphibious creatures
and quadrupeds.

104

T R A V E L'S THROUGH

club ; and a little hatchet, which they make ufe
of in order to make huts in the woods.

Their arms confift of a gun or mufket, the
Jiorn of an ox to put the gun-powder in, which
they hang round the body with a firing, toge-
ther with a little bag in which they put their
balls, the flint, and a fcrew •, befides this, a bow
and a quiver full of arrows ; the latter are very
lifeful for hunting. They never employ their
fire-arms at any animals, when they are upon any
expedition againfl their enemies, left the noife
might ferve to difcoyer them. They agree
amongft themfelves upon the method of furpri-
fipg their enemies ; for the Indians place all
their glory in the knowledge of this kind, of war,
which is generally fatal to thofe.who are the ob-
ject of it.

•

They take very little care with regard to vic-
tuals ; every one has a little bag of flour of In-
dian corn or maize, roafted as we do coffee,
and when' he is hungry he takes a fpoonful of
water in which fome of this flour or meal is
diluted, which he keeps till they are very near
the enemy.

Thou;

U I S I A N A.

ICK

Though the Indians are fometimes" three or
four days without eating, they are not ill at all
from it, but continue their road as before : they
contract their girdle round their belly, in pro-
portion as it grows more empty, and diminifhes
in fize 3 in a word, they are indefatigable.

When the Indians have made a ftroke at the
.enemy, as they term it, fome young warriors
immediately (tt out, to bring the news of the
yi&ory to the village. They make their arrival
known, by fome cries, v/hieh mark the number
of prifoners, that of the dead, and that of the
fcalps which they bring with them. The wo-
men prepare to receive the prifoners, and tp
give them a hearty drubbing with flicks. They
haye like wife a right to decide who of the cap-
tives friall die, for they are brought before them
with their hands tied, and painted black %
Thofe women who have loft their hufbands, or
fons, are at liberty to take captives to replace
jthem. They can adopt them as hufbands or as
fons, and £hey are then immediately fet free.

Thofe who are not adopted muft be burnt at
a flow fire : to that purpofe their head is fcalp-

ed,

* Thofe who are thus painted are to be burnt in the midfl
of the village, unlets the women adopt them,

ic6

TRAVELS THROUGH

ed, and they are fattened to two polls which
are driven into the ground, with a piece of wood
lying acrofs them * ; then all the young people
exercife their fury upon them, and they endure
the greateft torments without complaining ; on
the contrary, they fing till they expire, faying
that they are true men, and that they fear nei-
ther fire nor death; they laugh at their tor-
mentors, and tell them that they do not make
them fuffer enough ; that if they were in their
hands they would plague them much worfe;
that the fire muft be applied to fuch and fuch
parts, and that they are there the moft fenfible
to pain. It is to be remarked, that when they
difpofe themfelves to march againft their ene-
mies, they take care to paint their bodies red ;
fo that, when they attack the enemy, with fuch
howls as if they were bewitched, they really
look like a troop of devils let loofe from hell ~\\
They are good towards their friends, but very
cruel towards their enemies.

As

» The captives are obliged to fing and dance round thefe

polls.

f The Indians in general, both men "and women, have
no hair on their bodies, befides thole on the head ; they
fay, that in this particular we referable the beafls, and they
fay the fame when they fee us eat herbs and fallad.

LOUISIANA. 107

As to religion, they believe the exigence of a
great Spirit, whom they adore under the form
p{ a ferpent or a crocodile ; they give him a
kind of divine fervice. They fear the devil,
whom they call a bad fpirit. They likewife
adore the fun and moon. When it thunders,
they imagine that the Lord of life fpeaks to them
in an angry tone.

I muft not clofe my letter without informing
you of a Angular event, which, though of very
little importance, may however be very ufeful
to me* during my ftay in America. The Akan-
zas have adopted me \ they have acknowledged
me as a warrior and a chief, and have given me
the mark of it, which is the figure of a roe-
buck imprinted on my thigh. I have willingly
undergone this painful operation, which was
performed in the following manner : I was feat-,
ed on a tyger's ffem; an Indian burnt fome
fcraw, the aihes of which he diluted with water:
he made ufe of this fimple mixture to draw the
roe-buck ; he then followed the drawing with,
great needles, pricking them deep into the ftefh,
till the blood comes out; this blood mixing
with the afhes of the draw, forms a figure which
can never be effaced. I fmoked the calumet af-
|er that \ they fpread white flu ns under my feet*

on

io8 TRAVELS through

on which I walked ; they danced before me cry-
ing out for joy ; they tola! me afterwards, that I
could go to all the people who were their allies,
prefent the calumet, and fhew my mark, and I
would be well received ; that I was their bro-
ther, and that if any one killed me, they would
kill him -, now I am a noble Akanza. Thefe
people think they have done me all the honour
due to a defender of their country, by thus
adopting me : and I regard this honour almoft
like that which the Marjhal de Richelieu received,
when his name was inferibed in the golden book,
at Genoa among the noble Genoefe. It is true
there is fome difference between an infeription
and the operation I have undergone ; I cannot
exprefs it to you how much I have fuffered by
it; I did all I could to prevent mewing how
much I was affecled ; on the contrary, I joked
with the Indian women that were prefent ; and
all the fpeclators, amazed at my infenfibility,
cried out for joy, and danced round about me,
laying, I was a true man. The pain has been
yery violent, and I have had the fever from it
for a week together. You cannot believe how
fond the Akanzas are of me fince that time.
This is all I had to fay upon this fubjeel: : fome
time this month we intend to continue our jour-
ney to th? Illinois. As the feafon is much ad-
vanced,

LOUISIANA.

109

vanced, and we have yet three hundred leagues
to go, we run the rifk of being Hopped by the
ice, and of wintering on the road. We have
been obliged to flop here for preparing the bif-
cuit neceffary for fo long a voyage ; for in this
feafon we muft combat both the current and the
north wind. According to all appearances, I
mail not be able to write before next year. This
letter fets out by a boat, which will arrive in time
before the departure of a man of war for France,
where I hope my letter will find you in good
health. I beg you would let me hear from you ;
for I affure you, you can do me no greater
pleafure,

I am, &c.

At the Akanzas, the 6th
of November 1751. ?

P. S. I found a Meflizo Indian among the
Akanzas ; and, upon queftioning him concern-
ing his origin, I heard that he was the fon of
Rutel, that failor from Bretany who loft himfelf,
when M. de la Salle came down the Mijjiftppi in
1682, and of whom I have had the honour of
ipeaking before.

This

no TRAVELS

THROUGH

This demi-Indian added, that Rutel his father
was f.und by the Cents, an Indian nation, who
adopted him ; he received one of their girls as
his wife, in the quality of a warrior 3 becaufe,
having made ufe of his mufket in a battle againft
Lome enemies of the Cents, the explofion of that
weapon, which was as yet unknown to them,
frightened them, and put them to flight.

This Rutel having afterwards taught the In-
dians the method of going with oars and fails in
their canoes and piraguas, he enabled them to
defeat a little fleet of their enemies ; this man-
ner of navigating being till then unknown to
the nation, and drew their gratitude and vene-
ration upon him ; they revered him as the great-
er! man in the world -9 and the famous Ruiter,
who, from a common Tailor, became Lieutenant
and Admiral of the United Provinces, was per-
haps lefs revered than Rutel was among the Cents.

L E T-

LOUISIANA. in

•»»J£M«£g

:^^%Tt%it%:

LETTER VI.

To the fame.

An Account of the Author's Navigation from the A-

kanzas to the Illinois. The King's Boat St.

Louis, on which the Author was, is overfet ; he

falls into the Miflifippi, and an Akanza faves

his life.

S I R,

JSSHE^ AM now, thank God, arrived at Fort
*t * 12 Charts after running many riiks on

S£?3£5({ ^ *ono anc* trou^e^ome voyage.
We fet out from the Akanzas the 7th of Novem-
ber, on our voyage hither. We have gone
three hundred leagues without meeting with any
village or habitation. As this extent of country
is abfolutely uninhabited, there are happily great
flocks of wild oxen, flags, and roe-bucks, to be
met with, efpecially in this feafo» when the wa-
ters

112 TRAVELS THROUGH

ters are low. Thefe animals are obliged to come
in flocks to the river to drink, we often killed
them as they crofTed it, and likewife fome bears'
were thus got. The Akanza Indians generally
come to hire themfelves to the French, in order
to make them fubfift by hunting upon the road.
Thefe hunters kt out in the morning in pira-
guas ; they kill the oxen which they meet ori
the banks of the river, and the boats that fol-
low after them take on board the meat, which
lies ready for them on the more.

The Indians take care to keep the tongue,
and the fieih from the back of the animals which
they have killed, and to prefent thefe bits to
the commander and officers of the convoy •, af-
ter which a ferjeant or a corporal diftributes the
fiefh to the foldiers in each boat : the pleafure of
hunting amply repays for the fatigues of the
voyage. The game is fo common in the neigh-
bourhood of the river St. Francis*, that, when
we went on fhore in thofe parts, it was impofiible
to fleep, on account of the multitudes of iwan.v,
cranes, geefe, billiards, and ducks, that were
continually going up and down in thefe watery
places. On approaching the country of the

IllimiSy

1 «• ■ I»..-1 ' ' — — * ' — " — '■ T

* This liver comes from the country of the ILiUtaux.

L -0 U I S I A N A.

Ix3

Illinois, you fee, in- the day-time, whole clouds of
turtle-doves or wood-pigeons. A circumftance
that will perhaps be incredible, is, that they
often eclipfe the fun •, thefe birds,, living mere-
ly upon acorns and the feeds of beech-trees, in
the woods, are excellent in autumn \ fometimes
eighty of them are killed at one fhot. What a
pity that Co fine a country is not inhabited, or is
only inhabited, by brutes !

M. de Macarty, an Irimman, and comman-
der of the convoy, having had fome fits of the
gout, and fearing to be obliged to winter on the
road, refolved to go before the reft, when we
were at the junclnre of the Ohio with the Mijfi-
Jippt. thirty leagues from the Illinois. Fie took
the bed rowers out of all the boats, and put
them on board his boat, and, without troubling
himfelf about the others, he left them behind,
contrary to M. de VcindreniTs injunctions ; how-
ever, the law of nature dictates to every body the
order of affifting others mutually, in cafe of an
attack from an enemy, or fome other accident,
fuch as happened to the boat W. Louis, on board
of which 1 was. It got upon a fand-bank, and
they were obliged to unload it almoft entirely
before they could fet it a-float again, which made

Vol. I.

I

.-.

me

ii4 TRAVELS through

me lofe two days, and prevented my joining the
convoy again.

To increafe my misfortunes, when I was biit
fourteen leagues from the Illinois, my boat, three
days after it was ftranded, ran againft a tree, of
which the MiJJifippi is full, and efpecially in time
of low water; the fhock burft the boat, and
fuch a quantity of water got in, that it funk in;
lefs than an hour's time. By this accident I loft
all I had : I ran the rifle of perifhing too •, for I
had thrown myfelf into a piragua, but it was fo
full of goods faved from the wreck, that it
overfet •, feveral foldiers were drowned, and I
fhould have fhared the fame fate, had it not been
for a generous Akanza, who, not fearing the
feverity of the feafon, leapt into the water, and
feized me by my riding-coat.

After thefe adventures I am at 3 aft arrived
at Fort Chartres : I had not been long here,
when I was witneis to an event which might have
had very unhappy confequences. The Pehen-
guichias and the OuyatanGtis had agreed upon the
total ruin of five French villages among the Eli-
mis. M. de Macarty had fent me before-hand
to prepare quarters for fome troops that came in

a con-

LOUISIAN. A. u5

a convoy. The Indians had meditated their en-
terprife, and intended to come before the con-
voy. I was then at the Kajkakias, where M.
de Montcharvaux commanded, who could, not
juftly know the whole extent of the plot of thofe
barbarians. Thefe were fpread in the houfes of
the inhabitants; by their careiTes, their affecta-
tion, and calling to mind the maffacre of the
Natches, we fufpected their defign.

';
On fuch occafions as thefe, an officer feels all
the weight of the command. M. de Montchar-
vaux was not difcouraged % he was feconded by
M. de Gruife, an intelligent, brave officer. He
held a council with the older! and moll confider-
able people of the place ; and did me the ho-
nour to confult me in this circumilance : it was
more through his goodnefs than through necef-
fity, becaufe I was newly arrived, and confe-
quently little acquainted with the fituation of af-
fairs in that neighbourhood. I will however
venture to fay, that he was pleafed with the ad-
vice I gave, though it was a very fimple one.
My opinion was, that, in order to penetrate the
defign of thefe Indians, we mould keep on the
defenfive, without fhewing the leaft fufpicion :
that we iliould fend out fome armed inhabitants
on horfeback, as if they went a-hunting ; recom-
A I 2 mending

-

xi6. T R A V EL S through

mending it to them, that, after they had gonq
the rounds, they mould return into the village
full gallop, as if fome thing had happened to them ;
this was to give a falfe alarm. There remain-
ed nothing further to be done in that cafe, but
to examine the countenances of the Indians,
who would certainly betray themfelves. This
advice was followed ; the Indians Relieved the
French had cjifcovered their plot > they intend-
ed to execute it on Chridmas-day, when the
people came from the great mafs ; they had ex-
actly inquired after that day, aiking, in their
way, when that day came on which the Son of
the great Spirit came into the world.

As foon as they believed they were difcover-
ed, they thought only of making their efcape ?
we fired upon them, and killed twenty-two on
the fpot. A ferjeant, called La Jeunefe, a
Creole, and a good hunter, killed four in my
prefence. M. de ■ Gruife, on his fide, attacked
thofe who were in the Jefuits houfe, he wounded
feveral of them, and took five alive, among whom
there was one Illinois -, they were put in irons.

M. deMacarty haftened todifpatch meuengers
to New Orleans to the Marquis de Faudreuil, to
give him an account of this expedition j the go-
vernor

LOUISIANA.

n7

vernor fent back orders to deliver the prifoners
to their countrymen, who came crying, the ca-
lumet in hand, and difavowed the plot, faying
their people had loft their fenfes, and that the
Englifh had taken their fenfes from them. They
received peace very thankfully, and all is quiet
at prefent ; however, for precaution's fake, the
inhabitants have received orders to carry their
mufkets when they go to mafs ; and the officer
of the guard to place two fentinels at the church-
door during divine fervice-o

I muft not forget to mention to you, Sir,
that all this pafTed without our having a fingle
man killed or wounded. The Indians threw
away their cloaths and their clubs to run the
better ; the vigilance of M. de Monfcharvaux
the commandant, and of M. de Gruife the ma-
jor, has prevented the confpiracy, at the mo-
ment when the plot was to be executed. I am
now returned to Fort Chartres^ where we lead a
pretty peaceable life 5 I cannot fend any great
news, but I will communicate fome little anec-
dotes which may amufe you, and will at leaft
give you an idea of our Indians.

I had hired an Indian for my hunter durino-
winter • he belonged to the village of the MtP

I 3 chigamias \

lift TRAVELS THROUGH

chigamias ; one day having got a very great quan-
tity of game, inftead of bringing it to me, he
went to treat * with fome Frenchmen, who
gave him brandy in exchange, of which he
drank fo much as to lofe the ufe of his
reafon. As he entered my lodgings in this
condition, I received him very ill; I took
away the mufket which I had given him, and
turned him off by pufhing him out of doors :
he came, however, into my kitchen againft my
will, lay down in it, and would not go out of
it. As foon as he was in his fenfes again, he
well conceived what a great fault he had com-
mitted •, and, being willing to atone for it, he
took a gun, powder, and fhot, and went out.
The next day he returns, and comes in, very
haughtily, loaded with game : he had round his
naked body a girdle, between which all the heads
of the wild fowls were put -, he loofened it, and
threw them into the middle of my room -, he
then fat down near my fire, without fpeaking $
he lighted his calumet, and giving it me to
fmoke out of it, he faid, " I own I had loft my
" fenfes yefterday, but 1 have found them again :

" I ac-

* They call treating, the exchange or barter of European
merchandize againft the furs which the Indians take in hunt-

LOUISIANA. 119

" I • acknowledge my fault •, and I beg thee to
" excufe it. I agree that I had deferved the
" treatment I received, being turned out of thy
" hut; thou haft done well to let me come in
" again, becaufe, if the other Indians had heard
" of it, they would at the leaft difpute reproach
€< me with having been turned out of the hut of
«■ the chief Great Nofe *."

Many Europeans make no difference between
the Indians and brutes, imagining that they
have neither reafon nor common fenfe. How-
ever, the circumflance which I have now rela-
ted, and a great many more, fufficiently fhew,
that thefe people are fufceptible of fentiments
of honour * they know how to do themfelves ju-
flice when they are wronged, and know very
well when they do ill. There are nations among
the Europeans, of whom one may remark as
ridiculous and barbarous cuiloms as among
the American Indians.

To return to my hunter : you know very
well, that drunkennefs debafes men to the rank

iy ** i_4 <*

* An epithet the Indians gave me to diftinguifh me from
the other officers, to each of whom they gave fuch denomi-
nations, relative to the good or bad qualities they obferved
in them,

120 TRAVELS THROUGH

of brutes, and that this vice is corrected with
difficulty even amongft the French. The In-
dians imitate them eafily in it, and fay the white
people have taught them to drink the fiery wa-
ter ifri

One day my Indian found the door of the
King's magazine open-, he fneaked in like a fer-
pent, got to a barrel of brandy, and fried half
of it, by endeavouring to fill a bottle with it.
This accident obliged rrre to difmifs him •, hew-
ever, as he was a good hunter, and had only one
fault, his wife begged me to give him phyfic,
to prevent his drinking : I willingly undertook
the cure, with the aftiftance of his wife and rela-
tions. Once this hunter was drunk, but defired
Hill more brandy •, I got the people to tell him
I had fome, but that I was very tenacious of it.
He came immediately, and afked me for fome :
I faid, I had brandy, but I would not give it
for nothing. He faid he was poor; however,
if I would take his wife, he would hire her to
me for a month. I anfwered, that the chiefs of
the white warriors did not come to the red men
to enjoy their wives •, that if he would fell me
his fon, I would willingly take him as a Have,

and

* Thus they call brandy,

LOUISIANA.

tit

and give him in return a barrel of brandy ♦, we
made the bargain in prefence of feveral witneffes,
and he delivered his fon to me.

I was ready to laugh at this farce, from the
very beginning of it. I made him drink upon
the bargain fome brandy, into which I had put
long pepper. When he had drunk it, he was
bound, and brought to fleep. When he was
recovered of his drunkennefs, the Cacique of
the village and his relations, who were in the
fecret, came to him into his hut, where he lav
upon a mat •, they difplayed to him all the hor-
ror of the unnatural action he had committed by
felling his own offspring. The poor Indian
came crying to me^ and faid, Indage <wai panis,
ii e. I am unworthy of living j I do no longer
deferve to bear the tender name of father. He
was very angry at the brandy I had given him
to drink, and which had fired all his ftomach ^
he called it urine of the chief of hell, that is, of
the evil fpirit that caufed it.

His wife, who is naturally humorous, and
who was diverting herfelf at his expence, afked
him very coolly where his fon was ? He frill ex-
cufed himfelf» 'faying, that, knowing me to be
very kind; he expected I would return him his

fon ;

121 TRAVELS THROUGH

fon; that he knew the grand chief of the
French *, and the father of the red men, had no
flaves in his empire. I told him he was in the
right, but that I had adopted his fon, and
would take him in that quality with me to
France, in order to make him a Chriftian, and
that all the furs of his nation would not be fuf-
ficient to redeem him.

As the relations feemed to be grieved, they
advifed the drunkard Indian to go to the chief
of the prayer, or the man that fpeaks with the
great Spirit * for thus they call the priefls : I
told him, that if the chief of the prayer -fc re-
quired it^ I mould not be contrary to him ; 1
would return him his fen, on condition that he
mould be baptifed, and that I mould be his
godfather ; that as to himfelf, I required from
him an abjuration of drunkennefs, which had
proved fo fatal to him. He faid my words were
ftrong, and he mould remember them while he
lived ; he begged I would adopt him as a bro-
ther, and faid he was going to ftrike at the pod J.

Since

* The French Kiii£.

f The Abbe Gagnon, of the order of St. Sulpitius, and
chaplain of Fort Chartres.

X The Indian method of taking an oath. See Letter V.

LOUISIANA. 123

Since that time he has never drank wine, or any
fpirituous liquors •, I have fent people to offer
them to him, but he always refufed them, fay-
ing, that he had ftruck at the poft, and that
the Lord of life would be angry with him •, that
I had told him that this Spirit could not be de-
ceived : he rocollected that once I had named
the number of glarTes of brandy which he had
drunk, without my having feen him -, to which
he had anfwered, that it was very true, and that
he believed that the great Spirit that fees every
thing mud have told me of it. I took the follow-
ing method when I wanted to know how many
drams my Indian had taken. I left a clean
glafs near a barrel of brandy •, the Indian, being
alone, was tempted to drink a glafs ; after
which I ordered the glafs to be warned in hot
water, and put in its place again ; and every
time he drank, my people always did the fame
thing. Accordingly it was very eafy for me to
tell him, thou haft taken fo many drams ; he
was always amazed at it, and thought I was a
forcerer.

I have often remarked, that the Indians are
highly pleafed when the French carefs their lit-
tle children ; likewife, in order to make myfelf
beloved and feared by them at the fame time,

when-

W TRAVELS through

•whenever I had reafon to be difpleafed with their
behaviour, I made ufe of this method: the
more I feemed vexed and angry at the fathers,
the more I affe&ed friendfh'ip for their children ;
I carefled them, and gave them European toys.
The Indians readily guefled, that as I had no rea-
fon to complain of their wives and children, I
did not love them lefs than before, and was only
vexed at thofe who had offended me,~ without
extending my anger upon their families. This
moved their heart, and confequently they went
out, killed fome wild fowls, brought them
to me, and, throwing them on the floor, faid*
" This is to appeafe thee, be no longer angry
"with us/' I immediately anfwered, I willing-
ly forget the pari, when I fee you come back
with your wits, meaning when you do not come
empty handed. A father's heart is the fame all
t)ver the world ; every father is pleafed with the"
friendihip which is fhewn to his children, who
make returns by their careffes.

You can well conceive, that a mere trifle can
gain me the friendfhip of thefe people ; and that
it depends only upon the method of acling with
them, to attach them to one's felf at all events*
But let this fuffice for this time ; I think I
muft recall to your mind the plan I purpo-

fed

LOUISIANA.

*H

fed to follow ♦, I only examine the fituation of
the places where I ftop, and, during my Hay, I
fhall apply particularly to know the genius of
the people with whom I am to live for a time ;
and I think this ftudy not beneath a traveller.
You ate a foldier and a philofophe**; I am per-
fuaded, that what I fhall give you an account of
will pWafe you •, for I flatter myfelf, that you
depend upon the fidelity of your hiftorian : in-
deed, I mean to aflert nothing but what I am an
eye-witnefs of 4 for I can neither invent nor ex-
aggerate. I am, SIR, &c.

4i Fort Chartre$i among the Illinois,
the i%th of March 1752.

LET-

— — i

126 TRAVELS throug

H

LETTER VII.

To the fame.

JDefcription of the War of the Nations of Foxes
againft the lllmois^ of which the Author has hen
an Eye-witnefs. Account how the French fettled
among thefe People,

S I R,

FJk$.y{ HAVE enquired after the manner
$ I % in which the French fettlement has been
kJR£j|[ made here. The country of the Illi-
nois was difcovered by our Canadian hunters ;
they found its climate very good, being in forty
degrees north latitude, fettled on it, and made
an alliance with the natives. Many people among
them married Indian girls, of which the greateft
part became Chriftians : and after the difcovery
of Loui/iana, the India Company fent many fami-
lies

*

LOUISIANA. 127

lies over hither, who lived and multiplied here.
There are now five great villages of French in-
habitants in thefe parts . The moll confider-
able place is called Kajkakias, a name of the
tribe of an Illinois fettlement, which is about half
a league from it. The Sieur Sauffier, an en-
gineer, has made a plan for conftrudting a new
fort here, according to the intention of the
court. It (hall bear the fame name with the old
one, which is called Fort de Chartres.

The Illinois country is one of the fineft in the
world ; it fupplies all the lower parts of Louifiana
with flower. Its commerce confifts in furs,
lead and fait. There are many fait fprings -f-,
that attract the wild oxen, and the roe-bucks,
which like the paftures around them very much.
Their flefh and tongues are faked, and furnifh
another branch of commerce to New Orleans ;
and they cure hams, which equal thofe of
Bayonne. The fruits are as fine as in France.

* The India Company were poflefled of Louifiana ; but they
gave it back to the King in 173 1. The five villages of the
French are that of the Kajkakias, the Fort Chartres, St.
Philip, the Kaokias, and the Prairie du Rocher (meadow on
the rock) ; there is now a fixth, called St. Genevieve.

f Called Salt-licks, by the Englifh Planters. F.

The

J2S TRAVELS THROUGH

The Illinois have very near the fame manners
and cuftoms as the Nations I have already fpoken
of; they only differ in their language. They
marry, and often, when they return from hunt-
ing, leave each other again, each party goino-
a different way.

The, marriage of the Indians is quite in the
(late of nature, and has no other form than the
mutual confent of the parties. As thev are not
tied by any civil contract, whenever they are dif-
fatisfied with each other, they feparate, without
ceremony, faying that marriage is a tie of the
heart, and that they only marry in order to love
each other, and help each other mutually in
their wants. I have feen very happy marriages
among thefe people ; divorces and polygamy are
uncommon amongit them, though the latter is
allowed by the laws. An Indian may have two
wives if he hunts well -, fometimes one Indian
marries two fillers, giving it as a reaibn that
they will agree better among themfelves, than
two that are flran^ers to each other. The In-
dian women in general are very laborious ; they
are commonly told, when they are young, that;
if they be idle or heavy, they will get a
wretched hufband. Here avarice, ambition,
and many other paffions, fo common among the

Europeans,

LOUISIANA.

129"

Europeans, never ftifle the feelings of nature,
in a father's bread, or Incline him to force his
children^ and much lefs to controul them in their
inclinations. By an admirable fyrnpathy, defend-
ing of admiration, thofe only are married, who
love each other.

The Illinois Indians were formerly the mod
formidable in Loufiana, but the continual wars,
which they have been engaged in, againft the
northren nations, have reduced them to a very
fmall number. The hatred of the Canada Indi-
ans againft. them, arifes from the incurfions which
the Illinois were ufed to make into their coun-
try, and becaufe they took and killed in thefe
inroads, both the male and female beavers,
which among thefe nations is reckoned a crime
and cowardice, becaufe they make a great com-
merce with the fkins of thefe amphibia % which
they exchange for European goods.

In 1752, the Indians of the tribe of ICpakias
met fix Indians of the nation of Fcxes, hunting -f ♦

K they

Vol. I.

* Beavers are quadrupeds and probably called, by our au-
thor, amphibia for no other reafon, but becaufe they may
be eaten as flih on the jcurs maigres F.

f Their true name Is Q-atagami: 5 they inhabit the coun-
try to the weft: of the I

130 TRAVELS THROUGH

they took them prifoners, though they were not
at war, and refolved to burn them, that they
might not give any account of them. One of
the Foxesy or Outagamis was happy enough to
efcape from the Hake he was faftened to, and be-
ing purfued by his tormentors, he leaped into a
lake, and eluded their refearches, by fwimming
under water. He remained hidden in the rufhes,
only putting out his head from time to time to
take breath. He had the firmnefs to remain in
that poflure while his comrades were broiling.
In the night time he efcaped the watchfulnefs of
the Illinois, who thought he was either drowned
or eaten by the armed fi/Ii *. As he was naked
and without arms, he was obliged, in order to
fubfift upon the road, to eat grafs like a bead.
Being returned to his nation, he told them what
had happened to him with the Illinois y and the
unhappy fate which they had made his fellow-
travellers undergo, Tireir relations immediately
began to grieve for them after their manner. The
chief of the nation called an affembly together,
for they undertake nothing without a council ; the

refult

* The armed fifh in Lomfiana is exceedingly voracious.
His teeth ciit the iron of the nih hooks in pieces.

L 6 U I J> t A N A. 13't

refult was to fend bundles of rods * to the chiefs
of the tribes, who were their allies, among
whom were the Sioux, the Sdkis and the Jtikapous
who marched as auxiliary troops under the
ftandard of the Foxes. The army confifted of
a thoufand warriors £ every thing being in rea-
dinefs, the general of the Foxes marched towards
the Illinois, and chiefly towards the MitchigamiaS
who had given fhelter to the Kodkias.

The warriors being come together to the num-
ber of one thoufand, they embarked in one
hundred and eighty canoes made of birch tree
bark, on the river Ouifconfing which falls into
the Miffifippi. By the current of the river, and
the help of their oars, they were foon brought
to their enemies, the Illinois*

They paffed in good order by the fort of Koa-
has where the Chevalier de Folfei, an officer of
my detachment, commanded. The van of this
fleet of the Foxes, confifted of the bell runners,
who were to go on more to reconnoitre. They

K 2 landed

* As tne Indians have not got the art of writing, the rods
mark the number of warriors, and the day of afiembling for
the departure of the army.

i$z TRAVELS THROUGH

landed about a quarter of a league from the
Mitchigamias village, which was furrounded within
a mufket fhot by a wood ; their enemies being
far from expecting fuch a vifit.

The Foxes had fixed upon Corpus Chrifti day
for fighting the Illinois. They knew that the
latter would come to Fort Chartres to fee the ce-
remony which is performed by the French on
that folemn day •, the fort was only a league from
the Indian village.

Every thing being in readinefs for the attack,,
the general of the Foxes ordered ten or twelve of
the bed runnners to throw away their bodies f .
Thefe young men immediately fell upon the
enemy's village and killed all they met as they
came in, crying the cry of death, and having
difcharged their arms, they fled with as much
quicknefs as they came.

The Illinois took up their arms and purfued
them -, but the army of the Foxes, lying on the

ground,

* This is a great holiday with the French.

f To throw away their bodies, is among the Indians to
expofe their bodies to danger , as thofe do that are obliged to
mount firfl of all the breach to ftorm a place.

LOUISIANA.

*33

ground, in the high grafs, difcharged all their
arms and killed twenty-eight Illinois : at the fame
time they fell upon the village, and killed men,
women and children -, fet fire to the village, and
bound and led away the reft as captives.

The Foxes loft but four men in this glorious
expedition, one of them being a chief with a
medal *, of the nation -of Sioux, who went with
them as an ally.

I was a fpe&ator of this (laughter, which hap-
pened on the fixth of June 1752. I was at that
time on a hill which overlooks the plain and the
village of the Mitchigamias. I had the opportu-
nity of faving the life of a girl of fifteen years
of age, who came to bring me fome ftraw-ber-
berries. At the time of the attack, fhe ran
away, and as the enemies purfued her, ihe ran
into my arms, where the barbarians did not
venture to ihoot at her, for fear of hittino-
me.

K3

Thi

is

* This diftinftion, of which I have already fpoken, is
granted by order of the King, through his general, to the
.molt valiant Indians, and who are moil attached to the
French nation.

■ -

jj4 TRAVELS through:

This account will inform you, that nothing
can be more dangerous, than being taken una-
wares by thefe nations. None but thofe, who
were gone out of curiofity to fee the procemon at
the French fort of Qharires, efcaped the revenge
of the Foxes, who contented with their victory,
j-e-embarked in their boats, and put the prifoners
well bound in the van ; and palling by the
French fort of Koakias, they gave a general fa?
iute with their guns.

The chief, or admiral of the poxes, had
hoifted the French colours on his canoe, ancj
was as proud of his victory, as if he had fub-

clued a great empire.

M. de Macart)\ our governor, has written to
thofe in the pods of Canada, to treat with the
Foxes concerning the ranfom of jthe Illinois, whom
they have taken prifoners.

Thefe cunning Indians had conducted their
undertaking fo well, that we knew nothing of
it till it was executed ; they hid the knowledge of
it from us, juftly fearing that we mould interpofe
pur mediation between them and the Illinois, as
beine; the friends and allies of both ; but the

offended

LOUISIANA.

135

offended nation was defirous of vengeance
only.

The village of the Mitchigamias has loft about
eighty perfons, both killed and prifoners, in this
fatal affair.

On the fixteenth of June, I was ordered by
the commandant of Fort Chartres, to affemble
the remains of the conquered tribes of Koakias
and Mitchigamias, and I held this fhort fpeech
to them, by means of the King's interpreter.

I fpeak to you, my children *, on the part of
your father, M. de Macarty, who takes a great
(hare in your misfortune, at the fame time he
exhorts you to take care in fowing your maize,
that you may efcape the want in which you are
at prefent. Here is fome maize, which he gives
you, becaufe his heart fuffers to fee you weak-
ened by hunger. He has likewife told me to
give this little quantity of powder, fhot and
flints 1 we cannot do better at prefent, becaufe
we have our enemies as well as you, and we do
not know when the boats will come from the
great village (i. e. New Orleans) Your father

K 4 recom-

* The Indians are ufed to call every officer, my father.

■■

i^6 TRAVELS through

recommends it toyoutogoahunting, and to take
your families with yon, that they may have
fomewhat to live ' upon, leaving only a certain
number of men, to take care of the fields, and
to prevent the wild beafls from ruining them ;
you mud likewife take care to fend one of your
people from time to time, to inquire how
matters (land here.

The Anfwer of the Chiefs of the Tribes.

" It is very well, my Father, that the great chief*
" pities us. It was a very brave action to be fur-
" prized in the manner we have been; thou haft been
*' an eye-witneJs of it, for- thou haft faved the life
cc of one of our girls ; our tribe have been killed
". by the Foxes, who have burnt our huts with our
cc victuals, and taken our booty, during our re-
" treat at the Kafkakias. Thou muft think, that
" we cannot leave any here, or they mull ftarve,
" and would ever lament the death of our rela-
tc tions, who perifhed in this fad action. But to
<c convince our father of our fidelity,, tell him*
" by means of the fpeaking fubftance (paper),
*' that from time to time we fnall fend ibrpe one

"of

* Thus thefe nations call- the fuperior of&ctjys of a pro-*
itfcc cr diftricl,

O U I S I A N A.

*37

" of our people to him with game to know what
" happens here.

" We hope the grand chief of the French
" will protect and help us to fhelter ourfelves a-
cc gainil the enemy. We beg theelikewife to make
" intereft with him that he may be fo good as to
" fend word to fever al families of our people,
" who frayed among the Ka/kakias, to join us,
w in order to affift us in the common defence of
iC the intended fort, of which we have drawn
'* the plan on the fhore of the MiJJiftppi"

Speech of Chikagou^ a Chief with a Medal.

" I beg, my father, that thou wouldft get our
" arms mended, and we fhall decamp after that
" immediately : and that thou wilt tell the grand
" chief not to hear the bad words, which our
*c enemies will not fail to throw out againft our
M nation, let him remember the promife I made
" him, it fhall be a true one j and I preferve his
*' words in my heart."

Anfuter.

If what thou fayeft be true, thy father will
receive thee well, and all the other chiefs will

endeavour

i'3S TRAVELS t

HROUGH

endeavour to pleafe thee, if thy heart agree
'With thy tongue. It is neceflary thou lhouldft
&t Out foon : confider the damage which the doo-s

CD o

of thy village have done among the cattle be-
longing to the French inhabitants *, and with
what tranquility they furTer it ; that they
have hitherto faid nothing about it, is in confi-
deration of your misfortunes, which grieve
them, and they cannot fee you reduced to this
fad condition without being moved at it : but
they begin to be tired, therefore you muft re-
medy it. Your father will be fatisfied when he
knows that you are gone to the hunting country,
becaufe his heart is afflicted to fee you fuffer hun-
ger, and he pities his children.

As to myfelf, I heartily wifli you good fuc*
cefs in hunting, and a plentiful crop at your re-
turn. I hope the Great Sprit will have pity
upon you ; do not flight him : recommend it to
your young people not to play the fool, that is,
not to deftroy the female beavers in the lakes

and

# The Indians have many dogs for hunting ; and they
themfelves having loll their provisions, their dogs were hun-
gry, and devoured the cattle of the French. The Indian
dogs are of a breed which partakes of the , wolf and the

doo;.

L-OUISIAN A.

129

and hunting places of your enemies, who will
not fail to be revenged for it, as you have un-
happily experienced.

Your father has written to Mr. Jdamvilie.
who commands at the Peorias, to make your
peace with the Foxes, and to treat with them
about the ranfom of your wives and children,
whom they have taken prifoners ; the merchan-
dizes mail be furnifhed for that purpofe for the
account of the king, your father, grand chief
of the white men and of the red men.

Among the Indians, thofe who run away or
defert in an action, where their honour, and the
defence of their country is at flake, are not pu-
nifhed •, but they are confidered as the difgrace
pf human nature. The others are continually
reproaching them, that they are not men, but
old women •, they are defpifed by the very wo-
men, and the uglieft girls will not accept of
;hem for hufbands, and if ever it happened that
a girl mould be willing to marry a coward, her
relations would not allow of it, for fear of hav-
ing men without courage, and ufelefs to their
country in their family. Thefe men are obliged
#) let their hair grow, and to wear an alkonan^

like

rw

TRAVELS THROucft

like the women *. I faw one of them, who
being afhamed of his figure, went by himfelf to
fight the Tchikachasy who are our enemies and
theirs. He came near them, creeping like a fnake,
and hiding himfelf in the great grafs durino-
three cr four days, without eating or drinking.
As the Englifh bring goods to the Tchilcachas
(Chickfaws) in caravans, our Illinois killed one
of them who had ftrayeu from the caravan, cut
off his head, mounted his horfe, and got off.
He was out three months upon this fine expedi-
tion. On his return the nation received him
with due honour, and gave him a wife, that he
might beget warriors. Before his departure he
eat of dog's flefn, conformably to the opinion
current among his people, and of which I
have already had the honour of fpeaking toyou.

The grand-chief of the Illinois isdefcended from
the family of the Tamaroas, who were formerly
fovereigns of this country. This Cacique or
is the fon of him that went to
France with his attendants in 1720. He was
preiented to the King, who gave him a medal
with his portrait, which the fon now wears on

his

0 A fhort petticoat, which the Indian women make.ufo of,
to cover th?ir nataednefs.

LOUISIANA. 141

his breaft. There was likewife a woman of the
nation of the Mijjburis, who was called the prin-
cefs of the Mijfouris * The Sieur Dubois, a fer-
jeant, and interpreter of thofe American ambaf-
fadors, having been created an officer by the
King, married this Mijfourian lady at his return.
She became a widow ; and afterwards married
the Sieur Marin, a captain of the militia, by
whom Ihe had a daughter, who is ilill alive.

The Indian princefs defcribed to her country-
men the magnificence fhe had feen at the court
of France, where Ihe had been well received,
and loaded with prefents -, fhe had, amongfc
other things, got a nne repeating watch ftt with
diamonds, which the favages called a fpirit, on
account of its motion^ which feemed fupernatu-
ral to them.

I have here fpoken with an old Indian, who
was in the retinue of the Prince Tamaroas; I
afked him feveral queftions concerning France,

and

* She was the daughter of the grand chief of this nation.
It is faid fne was M, dc Bour'mont's mifirefs, who, during his
command among the MiJ/hurisf never ceafed to praife and ex-
tol the wonders of France, and by that means engaged feve-
ral to follow him : this girl went over to the Chriftian reii-
gion, and wa? baptjjfed at fhe church of Notre foams.

142

TRAVELS THROUGH

and efpecially what fine fights he had feen at Pa*
ris : he anfwered, that it was the Rue de Bouche-
ries, (the fhambles) becaufe there was a great
abundance of flefh ; and after that the Rue St.
Honors. When he told his countrymen that he
had feen the opera, and that all the people there
are jugglers or forcerers ; and that he likewife
faw, upon the Pont-Neuf, fome little men who
danced and fung *, they would not believe him.
When he faid, that, in the great village of the
French (Paris), he had feen as many people as
there are leaves on the trees in their forefts, (an
hyperbole which the Indians make ufe of to ex-
prefs a great number, having no words to ex-
prefs a number above a hundred), they anfwer-
ed, that the Europeans probably had fafcinated
his eyes, that it was impoffible, and that they
had always offered the fame objects to his eyes.
He faid that he had feen the huts of the grand
chief of the French, ii e. Verfailles and Louvrei
and that they contained more people than there
are in their country : he likewife added, that he
had feen the hut of the old warriors, (the royal
hofpital of invalids). As this old Indian began
already to doat, he agreed with the other Indians,
that the French had bewitched him. Another

IllinoiSy

A puppet- fhow.

LOUISIANA.

*43

Illinois j who had made the fame voyage, told
his countrymen, that, in the Thuilkries, and
other public walks, he had feen men who
were half women, having their hair dreffed like
women, wearing the fame ear-rings, and great
nofe-gays on their bread •, that he fufpected they
put rouge on their faces, and that he found they;
fmelled like crocodiles %

This Indian fpoke with the greateft contempt
of that race of mortals, whom we know under
the name of -petit s-maitres^ or beans, who are
born with the weaknefs and the delicacy.peculiar
to women \ nature feeming to have begun mak-
ing them fqch, and afterwards to make a rnifc
take in the formation of their fex.

The Indian had likewife remarked the enor-
mous height of the head-drefTes of our women
In that time fa and of the heels of their fhoes.
But what would he have faid, if he had feen the
extravagant width of their hoops, and their fine

fhape

* The crocodile in the Mlftjlppi has follicles with muik,
which fmells Wronger than the Ealt Indian mufk ; its effluvia
-are Co ftrong, thac you can often imeii die animal before you
fee it.

• ' ..-.--

f During the regency.

ELS THROUGH

fhape forced, from their infancy, into that ele^
gant cuirafs called flays. Thefe coquets are
not lefs ridiculous by their artifices, than their
filly adorers. You have made the obfervation,
as I have done, in the courfe of your travels
through Europe, that the foreigners and coun-
try gentlemen, wko come to Paris to copy our
beaus and our belles, have rendered themfelves
infupportable to their countrymen by this unna-
tural method of acting : indeed, faid our Ame-
rican,; fuch effeminate manners difhonour are-
ipectable nation.

I have received a letter from the Marquis de
Vaiidreuily in which he expreffes great ;concern
for the unhappy accident which has befallen me,
by the wreck of my boat. This governor, from
a pure effect of his generality, which is natural
to him, has been willing to alleviate, as much
as is in his power, the fate of an unhappy offi-
cer, who loft all he had in the King's fervice.

He has given me leave to come to New Or-
leans^ and offered me his purfe and his table •, I
am afraid he will be gone for France by the time
I arrive at New Orleans. It may be faid with
truth, that he has deferved the efleem and friend-
fhip of every body. The Indians inceflantly

com-

LOUISIANA.

Hi

Compare him now to M. de Bienville, his prede-
ceflbr. When thefe people do not fpeak in
praife of a governor, but, on the contrary, agree
with all the inhabitants in detefting him, it is the
itrongeft accufation againrt him.

Before I conclude, I fhall add a word about
the Mifiouris. Baron Forneuf, who has been go-
vernor of Fort Orleans eftablifhed in that nati-
on, and who knows their genius perfectly well,
has informed me, that they were formerly very
warlike and good* but that the French hunters
had corrupted them, by their bad conduct, and
by fome difunions among them ; they had
made themfelves contemptible by frauds in
trade ; they feduced and carried off the Indian
women, which, among thefe people, is a very
great crime ; for they never pardon fuch forts of
robberies. All the irregularities of thefe bad
Frenchmen irritated the Mijfouris againft them ^
and therefore, during M. de Bienville's govern-
ment, they malTacred the Sieur Dubois, and the
little garrifon under his command \ and as no
foldier efcaped, we have never been able to know
who was right and who was wrong*

The ftory I fhall tell you will convince you,

that thefe people are only nominally favages, and

Vol. L L that

■^^*i

146 TRAVELS THROUGH

that the French, who endeavoured to impofe
Upon them, have deceived themfelves. About
forty years ago, when thefe Americans did not
yet know the Europeans, a traveller or hunter
penetrated into their country, made them ac-
quainted with fire-arms, and fold them mufkets
and gunpowder : they went out a-hunting, . and
got great plenty of game, and of courfe many
furs. Another traveller went thither fome time
after, with ammunitions ; but the Indians being
flill provided, they did not care to barter with
the Frenchman, who invented a very odd trick,
in order to fell his powder, without much trou-
bling his head with the confequences that might
refult from his impofture to his countrymen. He
thought he had done a great action in deceiving
thefe poor people.

As the Indians are naturally curious, they
were defirous of knowing how powder, which
they called grain, was made in France. The
traveller made them believe, that it was fown in
favannahs, and that they had crops of it as of
indis;o or millet in America.

The MiJJouris were pleafed with this difcovery,
and fowed all the gun-powder they had left,
which obliged them to buy that of the French-

man,

LOUISIANA, 147

man* who got a confiderable quantity of bea-
ver-fkins, ctter-fkins* &c. for it, and after-
wards went down the river to the Illinois^ where
M. de Tonti commanded.

The Mtjfouris went from time to time to the
favannahj to fee if the powder was growing :
they had placed a guard there, to hinder the
wild beads from fpoiling the field ; but they
foon found out the Frenchman's trick: It muft
be obferved, that the Indians can be deceived
but once, and that they always remember it %
accordingly thefe were refolved to be revenged
upon the fir ft Frenchman that mould come to
them. Soon after, the hopes of profit excited
the traveller to fend his partner to the Miffouris,
with goods proper for their commerce ; they
foon found out, that this Frenchman was afib-
ciated with the man who had impofed upon
them ; however, they dhTembled the trick which
his predecefTor had played. They gave him the
public hut, which was in the middle of the vil-
lage, to depofit his bales in • and when they
were all laid out to view, the Miffburis came in
confufedly, and all thofe who had been foolifn
enough to fow gun-powder, took away fome
goods • fo tive poor Frenchman was rid of all
his bales at once, but without any equivalent

L z fronx

143 TRAVELS through

from the Indians. He complained much of
thefe proceedings, and laid his grievances be-
fore the great chief, who anfwered him very
gravely : That he mould have juflice done him,
but that for that purpofe he muft wait for the
gun-powder harveft, his fubjects having fown
that commodity by the advice of his country-
man-, that he might believe upon the word of a
fovereign, that, after that harveft was over, he
would order a general hunt, and that all the
Jkins of the wild beads which mould be taken,
mould be given in return for the important fe-
cret, which the other Frenchman had taught
them.

Our traveller alledged, that the ground of the
Mijfouris was not fit for producing gun-powder,
and that his fubjecls had not taken notice, that
France was the only country where it fucceeded
in. All his reafoning was ufelefs ; he returned
much lighter than he came, and afhamed of
having been corrected by favage men.

This leffon did not prevent others from going
to the Mijfouris \ one of them intended to play a
good trick there \ he got ready a piragua, which
he loaded with trifles; and, being informed of
x\t preceding adventure, he filled a little cafk

with

LOUISIANA.

149

with allies and pounded charcoal, at the top of
which he put forne gunpowder. When he ar-
rived, he put all his goods in the great hut, in
order to tempt the Mijfouris to rob him ; it
happened as he expected. The Frenchman
made a great noife, gave the Indians abufive
language/ and, running to the cafk of gun-
powder, he opened it, took a burning match,
and cried out, I have loft my wits, J will blow
up the hut, and you fhall come with me to the
country of the fpirits. The Indians were fright-
ened, and knew not what to do ; the other
Frenchmen who came with him were out of
doors, and cried out, our brother has loft his
fenfes, and he will not recover them again, till
he gets his goods back, or till he gets paid for
for them. The chiefs went through the village,
to exhort the people to pay ; thofe who had any
relations in the hut joined them ; the people
were moved, and every one brought all the
furs he had into the hut ; the Frenchman then
faid he had found his fenfes again. The chief
prefented him with the.calumet, he fmoked, and
poured water upon the gun-powder to make it
ufelefs, or rather to hide his fraud from the In-
dians. He brought home fine furs to the value
of a thoufand crowns. The Indians have ever

L % fince

I^O TRAVELS THROUGH

fince held him in great efteem, giving him the
name of a true man^ or man of courage*

I mall finifh my letter with the defcription of
a very odd and extraordinary ceremony, per-
formed by the Mtffonris, who came hither as am-
baffadors, at the time when the Chevalier de
Boijbrlant commanded here. This tragic ftory
will at the fame time ferve to teach officers,
who, through a noble ambition, afpire to mili-
tary commands, that both the theoretical and
the practical part of geography ought abfolutely
to be understood by them ♦, and that it is necef-
fary they mould carefully ftudy the interior fitu-
ation of a country where they are at war, in or-
der to avoid all furprifes of the enemy, and to
preferve the lives of the men who are under
their care. What I fhall now tell, will fuf-
ficientjy convince them of this neceffity.

Spain faw, with great difpleafure, during the
regency, our fettlements on the Miffifippi : The
Englilh too, on their fide/ fpared no intrigues to
ruin this growing colony, as they do (till in re-
gard to thofe upon the banks of the river Ohio,
which they fay belongs to them ; and they have
iikewife laid claim to the Miffifipp.

In

LOUISIANA.

I51

In 1720, the Spaniards formed the defign of
fettling at the Miffouris, who are near the Illinois,
in order to confine us more to the weftward >, the
Miffouris are far diftant from New Mexico, which
is the moft northerly province the Spaniards
have.

They believed, that in order to put their
colony in fafety, it was necefTary they mould
entirely deflroy the Miffouris -, but concluding
that it would be impofTible to fubdue them with
their own forces alone, they refolved to make an
alliance with the Ofages, a people who were the
neighbours of the Miffouris, and at the fame time
their mortal enemies, hoping , with their aflift-
ance, to furprife and deflroy their enemies.
With that view they formed a caravan at Santa-
Fe, confuting of men, women, and foldiers,
having a Jacobine priefl for their chaplain, and
an engineer-captain for their chief and conduct-
or, with the horfes and cattle necefTary for a per-
manent fettlement.

The caravan being fet out, miftook its road,
and arrived at the Miffouris, taking them to be
the Ofages. Immediately the conductor of the
caravan orders his interpreter to fpeak to the
chief of the Miffouris, as if he had been that of

L a. the

-T

—

152, TRAVELS THROUGH

the Of ages y and tell him that they were come to
make an alliance with him, in order to deftroy
together the "Mi/Jour is their enemies.

The great chief of the Miffouris concealed his
thoughts upon this expedition, fhewed the Spa-
niards figns of great joy, and promifed to exe-
cute a defign'with them which gave him much
pleafure. To that purpofe he invited them to
reft for a few days after their tirefome journey,
till he had affembled his warriors, and held
council with the old men : but the refult of this
council of war was, that they fhould entertain
their guefts very well, and affect the fincereft
friend fhip for them.

They agreed together to fet out in three days.
The Spanifh captain immediately diflributed fif-
teen hundred mufkets amongft them, with an equal
number of piftols, fabres, and hatchets ; but
the very morning after this agreement, the Mif-
fouris came, by break of day, into the Spanifh
camp, and killed them all except the Jacobine
prieft, whofe lingular drefs did not feem to be-
long to a warrior : they called him a mag-pie^
and diverted themfelves with making him ride
on one of the Spanifh hqrfes, on their days of

affembly.

The

LOUISIANA. 153

The prieft, though he was careffed and well
fed, was not without uneafinefs, fearing that
thefe jokes would end in facrificing him to the
Manitou, di deity of the Indians ; therefore, one
day, taking advantage of their confidence in
him, he took his meafures to get away before
their faces. All thofe transactions tne Mtffouris
themfelves have related, when they brought the
ornaments of the chapel hither. They were
dreffed out in thefe ornaments : the chief had
on the naked fkin the chafuble, with the paten
fufpended from his neck, having driven a nail
through it, and making ufe of it as a breaft*
plate ; he marched gravely at the head of all
the others, being crowned with feathers and a
pair of horns. Thofe that followed him had
more chafubles on ; after them came thofe who
carried the ftole, followed by thofe who had the
fcarfs about their necks ; after them came three
or four young Indians, fome with albs, and others
with furplices on. The Acolothiits, contrary to
order, were at the end of this procefBon, not
being adorned enough, and held in their hands
a crofs or chandelier, whilft they danced in ca-
dence. Thefe people, not knowing the refpect
due to the facred utenfils, hung the chalice to a
frgrfe'sneck, as if it had been a bell.

Reprefent

TRAVELS THROUGH

Reprefent to yourfelf the ridiculous fight
which the lingular order of this proceflion muit
offer to the eye, as they arrived before the houfe
of M. de Boifbriant the King's lieutenant,
marching in cadence, and with the great calu-
met of peace difplayed according to cuftom.

The firft Frenchman who faw this mafquerade
arrive, ran laughing to give M. de Boifbriant
intelligence of it 5 this officer, who is as pious
as he is brave, was overcome with grief at the
fight of the Indians, and knew not what to
think of the event ; he feared they had deftroy-
ed fome French fettlemem -9 but when he faw
them near by, his fadnefs vanifhed, and he had
much to do to keep himfelf from laughing with
the reft.

The Mijfouris told him, that the Spaniards
intended to have deftroyed them ; that they
brought him all thefe things, as being of no
ufe to them, and that, if he would, he might
give them fuch goods in return as were more to
their liking. Accordingly he gave them fome
goods, and fent the ornaments to M. de Bienville,
jwho was then governor-general of the province
of Louifiana*

As

LOUISIANA. 155

As the Indians had got a great number of
Spanifh horfes from this caravan, the chief of
the Mijfouris gave the fineft to M. de Boijbriant.

They had likewife brought with them the
map which had conducted the Spaniards fo ill,
who came to furrender themfelves, by confefling
their intention to their enemies.

I mail profit pf the permiffion which I have
obtained to go down to New Orleans. If I find
our general, and a letter from you there, it will
be a double pleafure to me,

I am» S I R, &c.

/It the Illinois, the i$th
of May 1 753- "

LET-

' —

156 TRAVELS through

•«^:

w%^miF$mw%%

LETTER

VIII.

fp the fame.

The Author leaves the Country of the Illinois y and
goes to New Orleans, Arrival of Monfieur de
Kerlerec. Departure of the Marquis de Vau-
dreuiL The Author's fecond Voyage to the Illinois.
Heroic Aclion of a Father ', who facrificed himfelf
for his Sqk.

SI R,

^S&s^ N June I arrived at the Capital of
fg I £T Louifiana^ where I found a letter from

!£jIH£^ you> which gave me rea^ pleafure, by-
informing me that you continue to enjoy your
health, and it made up for the lofs I had of our
dear governor's prefence ; when I came hither I
heard he was already gone to France ; and to
compleat my misfortunes, Mr. Michel- de la
Ruevilliero was dead of an apoplexy •, he had

wrote

LOUISIANA.

*37

wrote to me that he had with forrow heard of
the lofs of my boat, and that notwithstanding
it was not the king's cuftom to re-imburfe fuch
expences, yet he would repair this lofs with plea-
fure for my relief: that I mould make an exact
account of all I had loft, and join to it a certifi-
cate from M. de Macarty, the commander of the
convoy : this was, he faid, an indifpenfable ne-
cefiity, that this article may at lead have fome
appearance, and thus be entered in the accounts ;
he promifed that as loon as he fhould have this
paper, he would fettle what I was to receive.
TheMarquis de Vaudreuil had recommended me
at his departure to his fuccefTor M. de Kerlerec,
who has not paid any attention to his recom-
mendation •, his qualities are quite the reverfe of
thofe of his predecefTor -, but this new governor
alledges, that he is not come fo far, merely for
the fake of changing the air. He kept me at
New Orleans, and only allowed me to rejoin my
garrifon in 1754, with the convoy which M. de
Faverot commanded. I could not find any
room to embark my provifions for the voyage,
on account of the number of goods every one
was allowed to take as a venture, and which
filled the king's boats : I made my juft repre-
fentations on this fubjecl: to M. de Kerlerec, who
made me fuffer ail kinds of difagreeable circum-

ftances

158 TRAVELS THROUGH

fiances on this occafion. After which, having
afked me what venture I took with me, I an-
fwered, that I underftood nothing of commerce -9
that being a foldier, his majefly had fent me to
Louifiana to ferve him, and that I placed all my
glory in that fervice, at laft M. deKerkrec gave
me leave to join my garrifon.

I left New Orleans the feventeenth of Auguft,
but the boats, as I have already faid, were fo
much laden with ventures, that being overtaken
by the froft, we could not get to the Illinois^ but
• were obliged to winter on the road ; and the
convoy only arrived in January, 1755* which
occafioned extortions and immenfe cods for the
king's account. The fatigue of fo long a
voyage ruined my health fo much, that I was-
reduced to the utmoft extremity. I was con-
dueled on foot by Indians, and when I was tired,
they carried me in a dreffed ox hide, made in
the form of a hamock, hung upon a great
pole, as a litter. They changed fucceflively,
and in this manner I came once more to the
old fort Chartres, where I lay in a hut, till I
could get a lodging in the new fort, which
is almoll: rmifhed. It is built of free flone,
flanked with four baftions, and capable of con-
taining a garrifon of three hundred men. I

afked

LOUISIANA. 159

afked M. de Macarty's leave to go to change the
air at the Kaokias, who are a day's journey from
Fort Ckartres, and the road to it is either by
water or by land. In this poll there is a little
fort on the left fide of the MiJJifippi, it is the
great road of the Illinois to Canada, and the cen-
ter of commerce of New France, or Louifiana,
which is confiderable in furs.

The priefts of the order of St. Sulpicius, to
whom the ifle and town of Montreal belong,
have eftablimed a miflion here under the name
of the Holy Family^ of Jefus. There are but
three , priefts. I have been particularly ac-
quainted with the Abbe Merrier, a Canadian by
birth, and vicar of the whole country of Illinois.
He was a man of probity, whofe friendihip
could not fail of being of ufe to me, by the
knowledge he had acquired of the manners of the
Indians, who were edified by his virtue and dif-
intereftednefs. He fpoke the language of the
country, and on account of the fluency with
which he exprefFed himfelf in it, he was highly
eftecmed among the Indians, who confult him
in all matters. He has fpent forty five years in
cultivating the Lord's vineyard in thefe diftant
countries, and the Indian nations of thefe parts

have„

TRAVELS THROUGH

have always refpe&ed him. A man of his cha-
racter could never have lived long enough for
the happinefs of thefe people. This worthy
apoille of Louifiana, fell into a confumption in
Lent, and he died of it one Friday at half an
hour after eleven at night, expiring as a Chriftian
hero. He had an admirable prefence of mind,
and I have regretted him very much. The
French and the Indians were inconfolable •, the
latter fent their deputies according to their cuf-
tom to lament him on his tomb. They came
in fwarms, and as foon as they arrived near the
houfe of the late Abbe, they cried out aloud and
made doleful lamentations. Thefe poor people
were in a great confirmation, and grief was
painted on their faces. Thefe people, whom
we call favages, know the true virtue in man ;
this man had worked almoft during his whole
life for their welfare •, they called him their fa-
ther and the chief of the prayer.

What a difference is there between this mif-
fionary and another anterior to him, who falfely
attributed to himfelf the difcovery of Louijiana ;
I mean the father Hennepin, & Recollet friar, of
whom 1 mall fpeak to you. In 1683, he pub-
liihed a relation, the title of which is not right :

for

L 6 V I S t A N &. i6i

for the country which die Recollet, and the Sieur
t>ecan difcovered in going up the MiJ/ifippi from
the river of Illinois to the fall St. Anthony ', dees
not belong to Louijiana, but to Canada. The re-
lation of a fecond voyage of father Hennepin, in
the Recueil des Voyages du Nord, bears a title which
is equally falfe : voyage to a country greater
than Europe, between the frozen ocean, and
new Mexico ; for though they have gone very
far up the MiJJifippi, they have ftili been at a
great diftance from the frozen ocean. When
the author publifhed this fecond relation he had
quarrelled with M. de la Salle ; it feems that he
was actually forbid returning to America, and
that the difpleafure this reftri&ion gave him,
prompted him to retire to Holland, where he
publifhed a third work, intitled a new defcrip-
tion of a very great country, fituated in America
between new Memo and the frozen ocean, with
reflections on M de la Salle's undertakings and
other things concerning the defcription and hif-
tory of Worth America.

The author there not only vents all his ill-na-
ture on M. de la Salle, but likewife throws it
upon France, pretending to have been ill-treated
by the nation. He means to fave his honour by
declaring that he was born a fubiect of the Ca-

Vol. L

M

tholic

TRAVELS THROUGH

tholic king * ; but he ought to reflect that it
was at the expence of France that he travelled
in America, and that it was in the name of his
mod Chriftian majefty, that he and the Sieur
Decern took pofTefllon of the countries which
they had difcovered. He did not fear
to advance* that it was with the confent of
his Catholic majefty, his firft fovereign, that
he dedicated his relation, to William the
Third, king of Great Britain, in which he
folicits that monarch to conquer thefe vaft regi--
ons, and to fend Miflionaries thither, to teach
the Indians the Chriftian religion -, a proceeding
which excited the ridicule of the Catholics, and
fcandalized the Proteftants, who were furprized
t<5 fee a prieft who called himfelf a miffionary,
exhort a Proteftant fovereign to found a Roman
church in America. All his works are befidea
written in a pompous flile, which fhocks the
reader, and offends him by the liberties which
the author takes, and hy his indecent invectives,
Father Hennepin thought he might malie ufe of
the privilege of a traveller -, but he has likewife
been much" cried down by his fellow-travellers,
who have often declared, that he was very un-
faithful

,

* Father Henneppin was 2 native of Douaj*.

LOUISIANA. ffl

faithful in all his accounts. It appears that
there was more vanity in his undertaking,
tharf true zeal in making profelytes in A-

mtrka.

Whilft I was at the Koakias, fome Indians of
the nation of O/ages arrived there ; their MM-
ton, or falfe deity, was a dried ferpent, of a
monftrous fize* Thefe people faid that this
prodigious animal had committed great devas-
tations in their country ; that it fwallowed a
tyger-cat all at once ; that confequently they had
declared war againft it> and were gone to attack
it. They followed it by the track, but neither
balls nor arrows could penetrate its body, which
was covered with very hard (bales, like thofe of*
a crocodile. They Succeeded at laft in putting
it to death by mooting balls and arrows at it,
which blinded it. He that had killed it carried
the mark or impfeffion of it on his body, in the
fame manner as the Akanzas imprinted the
roe-buck on my thigh. They make this Jail-
ing mark in the following manner. They firft
draw with black, or with 'gun-powder the
figure of the animal or objett they mean to re»
prefent, on the flefli ; after which theyfting the
flcin in the out-line, with one or more needles
to the blood 5 the figure is then nightly warned

M 2 OVer

TRAVELS THROUGH

.*

over with a fine fpunge dipt in a folution of rock
fait, which mixes the blood with the black, con-
tracting the fkin which has been flung, and ren-
ders the figure indelible. This is not done with-
out fome pain •, but as it is a kind of knighthood
to which they are only intirled by great actions,
they fufter with pleafure, in order to pafs for
men of courage. Thefe marks of diflinction
multiply in proportion to the fine actions they
do in war.

If one of them mould get himfelf marked*
without having previoufly diflinguifhed himfelf
in battle, he would be degraded, and looked
upon as a coward, unworthy of an honour*
which only belongs to thofe who generoufly ex-
pofe their lives in defence of their cduntry. The
Indians only value the fons of Caciques, in as
much as they are brave and virtuous after the
example of their fathers and anceftors.

I faw ?.n Indian, who, though he had never
fignalized himfelf in defence of the nation,
however chpfe to get a mark on his body, in
order to deceive thofe who only judged from ap-
pearances. He would pafs for a man of courage
with a view to obtain one of the prettieft girls
of the nation in marriage, Who, favage as fhe was,

was

L O U I S I A N

A. 165

As he was

was however not without ambition.
on the point of concluding the match with her
relationsD the warriors, full of indignation on
feeing a coward boaft with a mark due only to
military merit, held 'an affembly of chiefs of
war, in order to punifh fuch audacioufnefs,
The council agreed, that, to obviate fuch an
abufe, which would confound brave men with
cowards, he who had wrongfully adorned him-
felf with the figure of a club on his fkin, with-
out ever having {truck a blow at war, mould
have the mark torn off, that is, the place mould
be flayed, and that the fame fliould be done to
all who would offend in the fame cafe.

As there was no pardon to hope for, his con-
demnation being pronounced by an act of this
Indian fenate, who is jealous of maintaining the
honour of the nation, I offered, in commifera-
tion of the poor wretch, to cure him in the
French manner ; I faid I would take off the (kin
and the mark without hurting him, and that my
remedy would change the blood into water. The
Indians, ignorant of my fecret, believed I jett-
ed with them: therefore, counterfeiting their
jugglers, I gave the pretended bravo a calabam
full of fyrup of the maple-tree, into which I had
put a dofe of opium ; and, whiltt he was afleep,

M 3 I ai-

i£6 TRAVELS through

I applied Spanifh flies to the figure of the club
which he bore pn his breaft, and oyer them
fome plantain leaves, which caufed. tumours j
the fkin and the mark went off, and a watery
matter came out. This method of proceeding
furprifed. the Indian jugglers, who were ignorant
of the Spanifh. flies, or Cantharides, which are
very common in North America. They give a
light in night-time ; and even the fmalleft types
can be read, by holding the infect pear to the
letters, and following the lines.

There is often a fimilarity in the manners of
the Indians and of the Europeans, though they
may appear ever fo different amongfl themfelves.
The following example is a proof of it. An
officer belonging to the regiment of the IJle de
France^ having fallen in love with a young lady at
Paris in 1749, the mother of the lady told him,
that (he would willingly give him her daughter,
provided he was adorned with the crofs of St.
Louis. In order to accelerate his marriage, love
infpired him with the thought of taking that
diftinclion from himfelf, which the King alone
can give away. The lady already looked upon
him as her fon-in-law ; but a few days after, the
falft chevalier is met by an officer of his regi-
ment, who, being before him in the fervice, is

furprifed

LOUISIANA. 167

furprifed to fee him obtain the crofs before him-
felf. The new chevalier told him, that, with
protections, one could get at every thing. The
officer, who knew nothing of the other's
views, goes immediately to M. d'Argenfon, and
reprefents to him the injuftice done to him, by
giving the order of St. Louis to his junior offi-
cer. The minifter denies it, and fends for the
lift of promotions, in which the officer is not
comprifed : accordingly he is taken up, and
brought before the tribunal of the Marfhals of
France. A court was held at the hofpital of
invalids, wherein Marfhal Belk-ijle preiided.
The falfe chevalier was fentenced to have the
crofs taken from him, to be degraded, and to
be confined in a fortrefs during twenty years.

The Indian women are allowed to make marks
all over their body, without any bad confe-
quences ; I have feen fome of them who had
marks even on their breafts, though that part
be extremely delicate; but they endure, it firmly,
like the men, in order to pleafe them, and to
appear handfomer to them.

To return to the Manitou of the Ofages, I
wimed to have this pretended relic in my pof-
feffion, in order to adorn your collection of na-

M 4 tural

TRAVELS THROUGH

tural curiofities with it; I was willing to treat
about it with the Indian prieft who ferved it
offering him European goods in return, and re-
preferring to him that the adoration of this ani-
mal was an abufe -, that he ought, as we do,
to worfhip the Great Spirit^ or Author of Na-
ture ; but this cunning prieft of the devil, in
Owning that his fuperftitious countrymen adored
every thing uncommon, told me, that he ex-
pefled to make a great profit of his Manitou ;
that, being a phyfician, and a juggler beddes, he
could eafily make them believe that his deity eat
with the evil fpirit at night, and that they muft
bring him victuals into his hut, and fine furs to
drefs him out.

Thus this impoftor,. by his artful difcourfes,
gives weight to the errors and prejudices of thele
ignorant people. Thefe fellows make them be-
lieve, trjat they co.nverfe with the devil at night,
whom the Indians are much afraid of, becaufe
he can only do harm -, whereas they fay the Great
spirit, being good, can do them no hurt.

I mall finifh my letter by an account of the
tragic death of an Indian of the nation of Golla-
pijfas, who faciinced himfelf for his fon ; I have

admired

LOUISIANA. 16*9

admired this heroic deed, which raifes human
generofity to the higheft pitch.

A ChaEiaWy fpeaking very ill of the French,
faid, that the Collapijfas were their dogs, i. e.
their flaves ; one of thefe, vexed at fuch abufive
language, killed the Chaftaw with his gun. The
nation of ' Ckaffaws* which is the greater!: and
moft numerous on this continent, armed imme-
diately, and fent deputies, to J<few Orleans to afk
from the governor the head of the murderer,
who had put himfelf under the protection of the
French. They offered prelents to make, up the
quarrel, but the cruel "nation of CJiaffaws would
not accept any ; they even threatened to deftroy
the village of Collapijfas. To prevent the effa-
fion of blood, the poor -unhappy Indian was de-
livered up to them. The Sieur Ferrand, com-
mander of the German fettlement on the right
fliore of the Mifftfipph was charged with this
commiffion. The rendez-vous for this purpofe
was given fpetween the village Collapijfa and the
fettlement of the Germans •, and the facnfice
was performed there as follows :

The Indian was called Tichou Mngo, i. e. Ca-
cique's fervant. Pie flood upright, and held a
fpeech, according to the cuftom of the people,

faying,

IjO TRAVELS THROUGH

faying, " I am a true man, that is, I do not
" fear death ; but I pity the fate of a wife and
" four children, whom I leave behind me very
u young, and of my father and mother, who
** are old, and for whom I got fubrtftence by
4t hunting *. I recommend them to the French,
u becaufe I die for having taken their part."

He had hardly fpoken the laft word of this
iriort and pathetiG fpeech, when his good and
tender father, penetrated with his fon's filial
love, got up; and fpoke to the following effect :
Ai Itris through courage '«f- that my ion dies ; but
" being young, and full of .vigour, he is more
4C fit than myfelf to provide for his mother, wife,
-" and four little children ; it is therefore necef-
p; fary he mould ftay on earth to take care of
* them. As to myfelf, I am near the end of my
■M career, I have lived long enough, and Iwifh my
" fon may come to the fame age, in order to
u educate my little children. I am no longer fit
"for anything, fome years of life more or
46 lefs are indifferent to me. I have lived as a

<<

man,

•

* He was the jbeft hunter in the nation.

f Courage is a word which, in their language, fignifies
ibmething great or extraordinary.

LOUISIANA.

171

*c man, and will die as fuch ; therefore I go to
** take his place V

At thefe words, which expreffed paternal af-
fection in a very ftrong and moving manner,
his wife, his fon, his daughter-in-law, and their
little children, fried tears round the brave old
man ; he embraced them for the laft time, and
exhorted them to be faithful to the French, and
to die rather than to betray them by any mean-
nefs unworthy of his blood : at laft he told them,
that his death was a neceffary facrifice to the na-
tion, which he was contented and proud to
make. With thefe words he prefented his head
to the relations of the dead Chattaw, and they
accepted it r after that he laid himfelf on the
trunk of a tree, and they cut off his head imme-
diately with one ftroke of a hatchet.
■

Every thing was made up by this death ; but
the young man was obliged to give them his fa-
trier's headf ; in taking it up, he faid to it,
lm "Pardon

* Thefe nations follow the lex talionis, death is avenged
by death ; and it is fufficient to fubftitute any one of the na-
tion, if even he were not a relation of the criminal ; flavei
only are excepted.

3 f They put it on a pole, and carried it as a trophy into
their tribe. '* '

TRAVELS THROUGH

" Pardon me thy death, and remember me in
H the country of fpirits." All the French wha
affifted at this tragic event were moved to tears,
and admired the heroic conftancy of this vene-
rable eld man, whofe virtue is equal to that-
celebrated Roman orator, who, in the time of
of the triumvirate, was hidden by his fon. The
latter was cruelly tormented, in order to extort
from him the place where his father was con-
cealed, who, being no longer able to bear that
fo tender and fo virtuous a fon fhould fuffer fa
much, came to prefent himfelf to the murderers»
and begged the foldiers to kill him, and. to fave
his fen's life •, the fon conjured them to kill
bim, but to fpare his father ; the foldiers, more
barbarous than the favage Indians, killed them
both together, at the fame time, and in the
fame place.

- M. Ferrand, my fellow-traveller in my Iaft
voyage to the Illinois^ fell into the MiJ/lfippi in
the fevered feafon,: v/hilfl his foldiers were exer-
cifmg ; and, at the very moment that the rapi-
dity of this river carried him into an abyfs, an
Akanza hunter, who was happily on board his
boat, faved him from the precipice. The offi-
cer told him, that he hoped to rccompenfe him
geneioufly for this piece of fervice > but the In-
dian

L O U 1 S. I A N A.

*73

dian immediately anfwered, that he had only
done the duty of a brother, who ought to flic-
cour the unhappy in time of danger -, that, as
the Great Spirit had taught him to fwim like a
fifh, he could not employ his fkill better than
to fave the life of his fellow-creature*

All the Indians, both men and women, learn
to fwim from their infancy. I have often ft^n
the mothers put their little children into pools of
frefh water, and I took great delight in feeing
the little creatures fwim naturally. Would not
fuch an education be better than thofe methods
which people are fo fond of in Europe ? The
queflion I fpeak of here is of the utmoft confe-'
quence, efpecially in a country where almoft eve-
ry body goes by water, and on fea-voyages. I
fhall not enter into thefe details, which might
prove tirefome : I fhall only fay, that, accord-
ing to found reafon, the firft thing which it is'
necefiary to know in nature, is how to preferve
one's exitlence ; and that it is to be wifhed, that
the European mothers would imitate the Ame-
ricans in that particular, and likewife in fuck-
ling their own children. This action, which
is dictated by nature, would prevent many acci-
dents with regard to children fuppofed to be
legitimate; and, without quoting many fads

to

174 TRAVELS through

to this purpofe from the Caufes Cekbres> I have
a recent example before my eyes of the conf u-
fion often caufed in families by thofe mercenary
nurfes. A gentleman, who was an officer of
the fame detachment which I was in, had long
been fuppofed to be loft by his riurfe. As foori
as he was born, he was fent down into the midft
of Normandy -, and his relations have only found
him out, when he was twenty-two years old,
through mere chance, after he had gone through
a feries of miferies and dangers during that
time.

■

I remember, that, in 1749, upon the road
between Paris and Arpajon, I was witnefs of an
accident which happened to one of the little vic-
tims which parents put from them, in order not
to be importuned by their cries. The nurfe
who was trufted with this child, had put it in
her apron \ as fhe was ftepping into one of thofe
carriages deftined for thefe journiesj her apron*
which was tied behind, got untied, and the
child fell upon the pavementa and expired.

Give me leave to fay, that there is an entire
difference between the way of thinking of the
European and the Indian women. The latter
would think themfelves abufed, if they were to

leave

L O U I S I A N A. 175

leave their children to the care of a woman far
from their own infpe&ion : they are not afraid,
as fome European women, that their hufband's
tendernefs will diminifh, becaufe they have borne
the tokens of their mutual affection; on the
contrary, the flame increafes on both parts, and
the pleafure of feeing their race perpetuated, and
to fee another felf grow up in a little creature
which they brought into the world, amply re-
pays the trouble they have of fupporting them.

-

The white women, whom we call Creoles, fol-
low in America the European cuftom, difdaining
to fuckle their own children ; they give them,
as foon as they are born, to a tawny or red (lave,
without reflecting, that her blood may be cor-
rupted. Many able phyficians have demonftra-
ted, that the milk has an influence on the incli-
nations of the children. I have often feen many
an innocent fall a victim to the irregular life of
their nurfes in America \ which is a circumftance
fatal to the propagation of the human fpecies.
I leave this fubjecl: to the gentlemen of the fa- •
culty, who will certainly handle it better than

« -

I conclude, by affuring you that I am, <&,

P.S, An

ij6 TRAVELS througi*

P. S. An Indian courier has juft brought us
the agreeable news of the taking of Choaguen,
and the places dependent on it, upon the famous
lake Ontario.

The garrifon of that place, to the number of
fifteen hundred regular troops, have furrendered
prifoners of war \ and have accepted the articles
of capitulation which M. de Montcalm has grant-
ed them -, that general immediately fent the five
pair of regimental colours which he found in the
place to Quebec.

M. Rigaud*, the governor of Trois RiviereJ,
commanded the Canadians and Indians ; he had
taken poiTeffion of an advantageous poft, in or-
der to oppofe all fuccours, and cut off the re-
treat of the enemy*

The land troops, thofe of the colonies, the
Canadians, and the Indians, have all equally
diftinguifhed themfelves : we know not yet the
number of men which the enemies have loft ; all
we have heard is, that their general was killed

at

* brother of the Marquis of Vaudreuil, who returned into
America with the title of Governor- General of Canada and
JViw Frame.

&*.

LOUISIANA. 177

at the beginning of the attack : we, on our
fide, have loft but three foldiers. M. de Bour-
lamaque, a. colonel of foot, has been (lightly
wounded, together with feven or eight Cana-
dians •, but unhappily M. Becomble^ the engineer,
was fhot by one of our own Indians, who took
him for an Englifhman, on account of his uni-
form, which was different from that of the other
French officers.

The Marquis de Montcalm is now employed in
deftroying the forts of Choaguen* and in fending
the provifions and ammunition, and a hundred
pieces of cannon which have been found there*
to Frontenac.

At the Illinois , the 2 \fi
of July 1756. ,

Vol. L

N

LET

178 TRAVELS THROUGH

LETTER

IX.

To the fame.

r

The Author fets outs from the Koakias for Fort Char-
ms. His Obfervations on the Population. Ac-
count of a Caravan of Elephants arrived in the
Neighbourhood of the Ohio.

S I R,

K£s£"^Ccording to all appearances, this is the
^ A j¥* laft letter I fhall write to you from the
kJIRL^ Win™ y I prepare to fet out by order
of the phyficians, who have judged it necerTary
that I ihould return to France, to ufe the baths
of Bourbon, in order to prevent the bad confe-
quences of a mot I received, many years ago, at
the affault of Chateau Dauphin *.

Yefter-

* This is a fort in Piedmont, at the top of a mountain of

the

LOUISIANA, i79

Yefterday an exprefs arrived here from Fort
du Qume to our commander, who informs us,
that the Englifh make great preparations to come
to attack that poft again. M. de Macarty has
fent provifions to vi&ual the fort. The Cheva-
lier de Villiers commands it in my flead, my bad
Hate of health not allowing me to undertake
that voyage ; it would have enabled me to exa-
mine the place on the road, where an Indian
found fome elephant's teeth, of which he gave
me a grinder, weighing about fix pounds and a
half.

*n *735> the Canadians who came to make
war upon the Tchicachas (Chickfaws) found,
near the fine river or Ohio, the fkeletons of fe-
ven elephants ; which makes me believe, that
Louifiana * joins to Afia, and that thefe ele-
phants came from the latter continent by the
weftern part, which we are not acquainted

N 2 with :

the Alps. It was taken the 19th of July 1744, under the
command of the Prince of Conti.

The brigade of Poitou, commanded by the brave M. de
Cfovert, diftinguifhed itfelf in this aftion by an uncommon
valour, which has been admired by all Europe.

* The French fet no bounds to the weftward to Louifi-
ana, F?

iSo TRAVELS theo^Pk

with : a herd of thefe animals having loft their
way, probably entered the new continent, and
having always gone on main land and in forefts,
the Indians of that time not having the ufe of
fire arms, have not been able to -deftroy them
entirely \ it is pofTible that kveh arrived at the
place near the Ohio, which, in our maps of Loui-
Jzana, is marked with a crofs. The elephants,
according to all appearance, were in a fwampy
ground, where they funk in by the enormous
weight of their bodies, and could not get out
again, but were forced to fray there *-.

In 1752, the Baron Pomeuf9 who command-
ed Fort Franfois in the country of the Mijfonris*
received the fkin of an animal from the Indians,
which was hitherto unknown in America, That
oiicer lent it to the Marchioncfs de Vaudreuil%
who made a muff of it : this creature w>s abouE
twice as big as an European fox, and its hair as

fine

* It appears from modern geographical obfervations, that
our author's fuppofition of a migration of elephants is im-
probable and it is further confirmed by the examination of
the teeth of thefe animals, which are very different from thofe/
of the common elephant, and confequently they cannot be of
the fame fpecies. See Kalm's Travels, vol. I. p. 135.
Philofoph. Tranf. vol. LV1II, and Pennant's Synopfis of
Quadrupeds, p. 91. F.

L O U I S I A N A. i8f

line and foft as velvety mottled with black and
pearly white.

•

Many authors pretend, that it is poftible that
people went through Nova Zembla, (fituated
northward of the ancient continent) over the ice
to Greenland \ they think, that this is the track
on which thofe went who firft peopled America^
and that the flreights which feparate it from the
continent, has high mountains of ice on its
eaftern more : but all thofe who have tried to
go to India through this northern part, have
been eaten by white bears, or have perifhed
amidft the ice.

This is my obfervation on the fubjecl: : if men
did go through thofe parts to inhabit North Ame-
rica, they probably would have preferred Cana-
da^ New England^ and Louifiana, the northern
parts of which are analogous to their country";
whereas it is known, that when the French and
Englifh difcovered North America, there were
but few inhabitants in it ; but, on the contrary,
the Spaniards who conquered Peru and Mexico,
found kings and emperors, who fet on foot great
armies, and who annually facrificed twenty thou-
fand. captives to their falfe deities. Therefore
there is reafon to believe, thrtt men went from

N 3 die

iSz TRAVELS THROUGH

the weft to Mexico and Loufiana *. The ele-
phants who came thither are a proof which con-
firms my obfervations-}-. Further, when I afk-
ed the Indians called Sioux des prairies ', who are
a nomadic nation, they told me, that they had
h£ard other Indians fay, that, to the weftward
of their country, there lived a nation of clothed
people, who navigated on great fait- water lakes
with great piraguas J •, that they inhabited great
villages built with white ftones-, that the inha-
bitants obeyed one defpotic grand chief, who
fent great armies into the field.

The Mexicans adore idols as the Indians do ;
the Natches Indians had a temple, and a kind of
fervice •, . in their language intelligent people
have found Chinefe words. Some Indians cut
off their hair, leaving only a tuft as the crown

; of

* Louifiana formerly touched Canada on the north-eaft, Flo-
rida and the Englijh colonies on the eaft, and New Mexico on
the weft fide. Its north-weft boundaries were not determined.
See more on this fubjeft in a note to Kalm's Travels, vol. III.
p. 125. F.

f But this proof does not hold good. See the note on
p. 180.

J The Indians call the fea a great lake, and the mips
great piraguas.

LOUISIANA.

183

of a friar, to which they fallen feathers of va-
rious colours. They never cut their nails •, and
among the Chinefe it is a mark of nobility to let
the nails grow very long.

- If we fuppofe that men went over from our
continent to America, they would have kept their
white colour, fince we fee, that, during two cen-
turies and a half after Columbus difcovered this
new, world, the Europeans who fettled in it pre^
ferve their white complexion from generation to
generation. The animals which have been
found there are entirely different from ours, and
neither Pliny nor any other old naturalifl fpeak of
them. We muft be contented with admiring
the works of the Creator, without defiring.to
dive into his myfteries *.

N 4 I fhall

* This way of arguing is very ftrange, and greatly pro-
motes barbarifm. Man has gotreafon for the purpofe, that
truth mould be the object of his enquiries 5 and if he mould
carry them no further, out of fear to dive too deep into the
myfteries of the Creator, this would patronize ignorance
and barbarifm. Many a thing, which feemed too abtfrufe,
has been difcovered by an indefatigable application. The
way in which America was peopled, and the manner in
which the fceletons of* great bulky animals approaching to
the kind of elephants came to the river O/7/0, are now a my-
ftery, but may one day or other be difcovered by. a lucky ac*

cident, or a great* and original genius. "F."

.....

j?4 T.R A V E L S through

Ifhall acid here, by the way, that when the
Spaniards difcovered the ifles of #. Domingo and
Cuba,, they found them well peopled with In-
dians, whom they murdered under pretence of 2r
religious principle, but really in order to get
their gold. Therefore a Cacique or petty king
of the ifland, efcaping from the Spaniards, gave
his people to underftand, that gold was the
deity of their enemies, fince they came fo far,
and expofed themfelves to fo many dangers, in
order to get poileffion of it y and that it was ne*
ceffary they fhould abandon every thing, in or-
der to be left in quiet. Another Cacique being
condemned to be burnt by the inquifition, was
folicited by a Jefuit to become a Chriftian, in;
order to go to Paradife ; but he openly dedarecj.
fie would npt go there, if there were any Spa*
niards in it. Thefe unhappy Indians abhorred
the Spaniards fo much, that they did not even
converfe with their wives for fear of begetting
(laves to fuch matters : and whenever they eat
of their flefh, it was more through revenge than
any appetite ; for they plainly faid, that the flefh
of a Spaniard was good for nothing.

I forgot to tell you in my laft, that I have
been invited to the feaft of war, given by the
grand chief of the Illinois? in order to raife war-

L O U I S I A N A. iSs

riors, and march with the Chevalier Villiers.
This gentleman obtained leave from the gover-
nor to raife a party of French and Indians, and
lo go with them to avenge the death of his bro-
ther, M. dejumonvilki who was killed by the
Englilh before the war broke out.

The grand chief of the Illinois is called Papo-
pe-changouhias •, he is related to feveral French»
men of diftinclion, fettled among thefe people.
This Cacique fucceeded Prince Tamaroas far-
named Chikagou, who died in 1754, He wears
the medal of the late Cacique: this Illinois
prince has convinced the French, that he is
worthy of wearing it, by his friendship for our
nation. The detachment of the Chevalier de
Villiers * being ready to fet out, Papapi-cHangou-

hias

% The Chevalier de Villiers^ who commanded this detach»
anent, muft not be confounded with M. de Villiers, called
the Great Villiers^ who went to avenge the death of Jumon-
<mlle immediately after his murder in 1753. See the poem
which the famous M. Thomas wrote on this fubjeft.

Of the feven brothers who compofed this family of Villiers^
•fix were killed in Canada in defence of their country. The
Chevalier de Villiers is the laft ; he was taken prifoner in the
action at Niagara in 1759, being in the party of M. Aubry :
this officer had defeated a body of Englilh troops at Fort dm

TRAVELS THROUGH

hias defired to ferve him as a guide with his war-
riors. They left Fort Chartres on the firft of
April 1756, and arrived, towards the end of
May, on the boundaries of Virginia, where the
Englifh had a little fort furrounded with great
pales- The Indians came near it in the night-
time, each having a fafcine of refmous combuf-
tible wood, which they fet on fire clofe to the
pales of the fort. The Englifh commanding
officer, appearing to give orders for putting out
the fire, was aimed at by an Indian, who killed
him on the fpot. The fame Indian called
out in their language : " Surrender, you Eng-
lifh dogs, or elfe you fhall be burnt or eaten."
The foldiers, intimated' by his threats, and be-
ing without a commander, furrendered at dis-
cretion the next morning ; the Indians then
bound them two by two, like captives, except
the ferjeant, whom one of the Indians found out
to be the perfon who had beaten him with a
ftick in time of peace. The poor ferjeant be-
came the victim of the refentment of thefe bar-
barians, who burnt him without any mercy. I
have already faid, that the Indians never forgive,
and that they think themfelves free and inde-
pendent : therefore one muft take care not to
ftrike them, for they revenge themfelves fooner
ox later,

The

LOUISIANA. 187

The Englifh prifoners, to the number of for-
ty, . taken in the fort, were divided among the
French and Indians, who ftripped them accor-
ding to their cuftom, plucked out their beards
and hair, and, at the requeft of the French,
they only made them flaves. But the French
officers, and the humaneft among the French in-
habitants of the Illinois, joined together, and re-
leafed them, by making a prefent to that nation
who treated their prifoners like dogs, only be-
caufe they were our enemies, and becaufe they
thought of making themfelves great with us H

From the village of the Koakias we arrived
at the Peorias9 allies of the Illinois, through a
fine large meadow, which is twenty-five leagues
long. The favages who were with me, killed
fome little birds with Hicks, and called them
ftrawberry-bills. Thefe birds, whofe plumage
is varied with many colours, are as good to eat
as the beccafigos in Provence. The Indians told
me, that they are birds of flight or of pafTage,
and that they aflemble in flocks every year like

fparrowSj

. * From a natural kind of antipathy between the two na-
tions, the French take every opportunity to deprefs the Eng-
lifh, and to raife themfelves above them, fometimes at fine
expence of truth, F.

iSS TRAVELS through

fparrows, to feed on the ftrawberries in this
meadow, which is red all over with them in the
feafon. The village of the Peorias is fituated
on the banks of a little river, and fortified after
the American manner, that is furrounded with
great pales and polls ;

When we were arrrived there, I enquired for
the hut of the grand chief; they brought me to
a great hut, where the whole nation was afTem-
bled, on account of a party of their warriors,
who had been beaten by the Fom% their mortal
enemies.

I was well received by the Cacique and hisr
firft warriors, who came one after another to
fqueeze me by the hand in fign of friendfhip,
faying, hau9 hau ! which fignifies, you are weU
come, or I am glad to fee you. A young Indian
or a (lave, lighted the calumet of peace, and the
chief gave it to me to fmoke out of, according
to the common cuftom.

After the firft ceremonies were over, they
brought me a calebafhfull of the vegetable juice
of the maple tree. The Indians extract it in
January, making a hole at the bottom of it, and
apply a little tube to that. At the firft thaw,

they

L O U I S I A N A. 189

they get a little barrel full of this juice, which
they boil to a fyrup : and being boiled over again,
it changes into a reddifh fugar, looking like Ca-
labrian manna ; the apothecaries juftly prefer it
to the fugar which is made of fugar canes. The
French who are fettled at the Illinois have learnt
from the Indians to make this fyrup, which is an
exceeding good remedy for colds, and rheuma-
dims.

At the end of the feflion of this anembly,
they brought a kind of bread which they call
Pliakmine^ bears paws, and beavers tails-, I
likewife eat of the dog's rlefh through complai-
fance, for I have made it a rule to conform oc-
cafionailyto the genius of the people, with whom
I am obliged to live, and to a'fFecl: their man-
ners, in order to gain their friendfhip : they
likewife brought in a dim of boiled gruel, of
maize flour, called Sagamite, fvveetened with fy-
rup of the maple tree v it is an Indian dim which
is tolerably good and refrefning. At the end of
the repaft, they ierved a defert of a kind of
dry fruits which our Frenchmen call bhiets, and
which are as good as Corinth raifms ; they are
very common in the Illinois country.

The

RAVEL S THROUGH

The next day I faw a great croud in the plain ;
this afTembly was for making a dance in favour
of their new Manitou \ the priefts were dreiled
in a remarkable manner : their bodies were co-
vered with a clay in which they had made
burlefque drawings, and their faces were painted
red, blue, white, yellow, green and black. The
high pried had a bonnet of feathers, like a
crown on his head, and a pair of horns of a
wild goat, * to fet the feathers off. I own the
appearance of this prelate tempted me to laugh ;
but as thefe ceremonies are ferious, one muft
take care, not to burfl out, becaufe it would be
reckoned a want of religion, and an indecent
action amongft them : nor do the Indians ever
interrupt the Roman Catholics, in the exercife
of religion. But what a fight prefented itfelf
to my eyes •, I faw a living monfter confidered
as a divinity : I was at the door of the temple
of this falfe deity •, the matter of the ceremo-
nies begged me to go in ; I was not yet fufrki-
ently acquainted with their cuftoms, and fhewed
fome reluctance, but one of the Indians who ac-
companied me, perceiving it, told me, that if I
did not go in, the people would take it as an of-
fence,

* Thefe animals are found at the Mifouris, their horns are
of a fine black, and bent backwajrds*

L O U 1 S I A N A. igi

fence, or at leaft as a contempt. This difcourfe
determined me and I went in * : this is the pic-
ture of their Manitou ; his head hung upon hia
ftomach, and looked like a goat's, his ears were
like a lynx's ears, with the fame kind of hair,
his feet, hands, thighs and legs were in form
like thofe of a man: this falfe divinity feemed
to be about fix months old, the Indians found
it in the woods at the foot of a ridge of moun-
tains, called the mountains of Saint e Bark,
which communicate to the rich mines of Santa
Fe in Mexico. The general affembly was called
together on purpofe to invoke the protection of
this monfter againft their enemies.

I let thefe poor people know, that their Ma-
nitou was an evil genius, as a proof of it, I
added, that he had permitted the nation of
Foxes, who were their moil cruel enemies, to
gain a victory over fome of their countrymen ;
that they ought to quit him as foon as poffible,

and

* The matter of the ceremonies, or prieft, that U Ap-
pointed to guard the temple, before he made his offerings,
anointed his body with rofin ; he then flrewed the foft fea-
thers of a fwan, or the hair of a beaver all over this melted
gum, and in that ridiculous plight he danced in honour of
the falfe deity.

TRAVELS THROUGH

and be revenged on him. They anfwered, fika-
Iai?e\ hone ' nigue, i. e. we believe thee, thou art in
the right. They then voted that he fhould be
burnt, and the great prieft pronounced his fen-
tence, which, according to the interpreter's ex-
planation, was conceived in thefe terms : u Mon-
46 fter, arifen from the excrements of the evil
fpirit, to be fatal to our nation, who has
wrongfully taken thee for her Mam ton ^hou
haft paid no regard to the offerings which we
*c have made thee, and haft allowed our enemies,
*l whom thou doft plainly protect, to overcome
a party of our countrymen, and to make
cc them flaves : therefore our old men arTembled
" in council. have unanimoudy decreed and with
<c the advice of the chief of the white warriors,
*c that to expiate thy ingratitude towards us,
<c thou fhalt be burnt alive." At the end of
this fentence all the aflerribly faid, hcu, houy
hoiiy hou.

As I wifhed to get this monfter, becaufe I
could not get that fnake I fpoke to you of be-
fore, I took the following method : I went to
the prieft, made him a fmall prefent, and bid
my interpreter tell him, that he mould perfuade
bis countrymen, that if they burnt this evil ge-
Bius, there might arife one from his allies which

would

LOUISIANA.

*93

could prove fatal to them ; and that I would go
on purpofe a-crofs the great lake in order to de-
liver them of it. He found my reafons good,
and by means of the little prefent I gave him,
he got the fentence changed, and he was ordered
to be killed with clubs : As I defired to have
the rnoniler, without being mutilated, I inform-
ed them that they miift deliver it to my people,
who would ftfangle it t, for if any of their na*
tion killed it, fome misfortune or other might
happen to him from it. They ftill approved
my reafons, and delivered the animal to me, on
condition that I mould carry it far from their
Country. It was accordingly ftrangled j but
having neither fpirits of wine nor brandy to pre-
ferve it in, I was obliged to get it differed, in
order to be able to bring it to France, to fatisfy
your curiofity in regard to fubjects of natural
hiflory *,

I fhall rinifh this letter by another account
of the fuperftition of thde people, and of the
divine fervice they give to horrid animals. In

Vol. L O 1756

* The fkeletcn of this moniler, or falfe divinity, is now
in the natural hiflory cabinet of M. de Fables, clerk of
the office of the American colonies belonging to. ths
French.

194 TRAVELS through

1756 there arrived a deputation of Indians at
Fort Chartres* of -the nation of MiJJburis* ;
there was an old woman among them, who
paffed for a magician •, fhe wore round her naked
body, a living rattle fnake, whofe bite is mor-
tal, if the remedy is not applied the moment
after.

This prieftefs of the devil, fpoke to the fer-
pent, which feemed to underftand what fhe faid :
I fee, faid lhe, thou art weary of flaying here •,
go, then, return home, I fhall find thee at my
return : the reptile immediately ran into the
woods, and took the road of the Mijfouris. If
I had been inclined to be fuperftitious, I mould
have told you that I had feen the devil appear
to thefe nations under the figure of a fnake.
Many MifTionaries have been willing to perfuade
us in their relations and edifying letters, that the
devil appears to thefe people, in order to be
adored by them, but it is eafy to fee, that there
is nothing preternatural in it, and that it is a
mere juggle.

You

* A nation living to the weftward of Louijiana, on a ri-
ver which bears their name, and falls into the Mijjifippi,

LOUISIANA.. |$J

You know befides, that all animals, even the
moft ferocious, are tamed by man, I do not pre^
tend to fay that the make of the pretended
,witch went into her country. All I can tell you
is, that I always had a very great antipathy
asainft thefe animals, and that when I meet
with them* I take a pleafure in crufhing their
heads.

I remember, that in the village of the Pidn-
guic/iias, a nation allied to the Illinois, one of
our ibldiers was very near getting into a very
bad fcrape. He went into an Indian hut and
found a live fnake, which he killed with a
hatchet, not knowing that the mailer of the
hut had made his Manitou of it. The Indian
arrived at the fame time in a terrible paflion to
find his deity dead ; he afferted that it was the
foul of his father, who died about a year be^
fore-, he having {hot two ferpents which were
pairing upon the point of a rock, fell fick and
died foon. after.

The imagination of the old man being; trbit-
bled by the height of the fever, he thought he
faw the two makes coming to reproach, him with
their death ; he therefore recommended it to his
fon in dying, never to kill any of thefe ani-

O a mals*

io6 TRAVELS through

<

mals, fearing that they would likewife be
the caufe of his death*. Knowing the
genius of thefe people, I advifed the fol-
dier, whom the Indian looked upon as one
who had flain a deity, to pretend to be
drunk, and to do as if he would kill me
and his comrades. The Indians, not know-
ing that it was only a farce, were the
firft to cry out, that the white warrior \ had
loft his wits. I afked for cords to tie him ;
and as I feemed very angry with him, the
chiefs and the warriors came to intercede for
him, faying . that it was a man who had loft
his fenfes by drinking ; that the fame often
happened to the red men: in order to give
more colour to the impofture, I waited yet for
the Cacique's wife to beg me, and appeared
pacified in deference to her fex, which I re-
fpetted very much.

I prefented the matter of the fnake with
a bottle of brandy, to drown his grief. The

Indians

* I have feen a peafant in France, who had killed an owl
on his neighbour's roof; and his father dying fome time af-
ter, he believed that his death was caufed by that bird of ill
prefage.

f So they call our foldiers..

LOUISIANA.

m

Indians are excefTively fond of this liquor, and
grow furious when they have drank too much
of it. After their drunkennefs is over, they fay
that they have neither fpoken nor done any
thing, and attribute all their follies to the brandy
believing to juftify their conduct by acknow-
ledging that they had loll their wits. When a
drunken Indian kills another, the death is not
revenged. But thefe people take care feldom or
never to drink all at once, thofe who are fober
keep in bounds the reft, and the women hide
both offenfive and defenfive weapons. Brandy
may be reckoned among the pernicious things
which have contributed towards the depopula-
tion of North America : this liquor makes men
brutes, and often kills them. I have fometimes
feen drunken Indians kill each other with
hatchets and clubs.

I am now ready to leave the Illinois, and ex-
pect to be in New Orleans in January 1757.
This letter fets out in a piragua, which M. de
Macarty fends with difpatches to the governor.

I am, &c.

At the Illinois, the 10th
November 1756.

o3

LET-

TRAVELS

JV w& ww -ww Ttfvr -w"nr t*

ja it j& &r1fc *" % &

THROUGH

F

,^«»

R

X.

To the fame.

the Author leaves the Illinois: His Navigation down,
the Mijfifippi : he encamps in an Ifland formed by:
that River. His, .Soldiers make him Governor
of it.

^H??OU inquire, whether the Indians have
$A Y m captains amongft them, and whether
K3r*5Bfil they are governed by a king ? The
time I have fpent among them procures me the
pleafure of fatisfying your currofity on that head.
You rhujt know, then, that they are divided in-
to tribes or nations, each of which is governed
by a petty king or Cacique, who only depends
on the Great Spirit :, or Supreme Being-, thefe
Caciques reign defpotically, without making their
authority odious, and know how to make them-

felves

LOUISIANA.

199

felves refpe&ed and beloved. They likewife
have the fatisfadtion of being regarded by their
fubjects almod as demi-gods, born for the hap-
pinefs of this world ; for they have the tender-
nefs of fathers for the people of their tribe ; and
that name flatters them much more than all the
pompous titles of the Grand Signior or the Great
Mogul. Thofe Afiatic emperors are often expo-
fed in their extenfive dominions to revolutions,
by which their life is endangered \ for often tri-
butary kings rebel againft them, and kill them
with their whole family.

The crime of high treafon is unknown among
the Americans •, the chiefs and Caciques go every
where without fear. If any one mould be bold
enough to attempt any thing againft their lives,
he would be punimed as a horrible monfter, and
the whole family of the murderer would be ex*
terminated without mercy.

As to the captains or chiefs of war, who com-
mand their armies againft their enemies, this
poft is occupied only by fuch as have given fig-
nal proofs of courage in defence of their coun-
try in fevera] combats \ and as the generals go
naked, as well as the other Indians, the marks
of wounds they bear upon their body are fuffi-

O

cienr

■_*

too TRAVELS through

cient to diftinguim them from the reft, and ferve
inftead of teftimonials to them.

The old men, who cannot go to war any
more, are not ufelefs to the nation. They hold
fpeeches, and the people hear them as oracles.
Every thing is done as they advife it ; and the
young men fay, that they having lived longer
than themfelves, mull of courfe have more ex-
perience and knowledge. When I admired the
countenance which thefe old men enjoyed, they
told me, that fince they could no longer fight
for their country, they taught others to defend
it. The warriors, when they return from an
expedition, never fail to -throw part of the booty
into the huts of thofe old men, who have ex-
horted them, and excited their courage. The
priibners of war are always given to the oldelt
people in the nation, who make them their
ilaves. The old warriors who cannot go to war
any more, harangue the foldiers. The orator
begins with finking againfl the poll: with a club,
and mentions all the fine actions he has done in
war, that is, how many fcalps he has taken from
different nations. The hearers aniwer, hau, hau,
h c that is true. The Indians abhor lying,
and fay that; a liar Js not a true man,

LOUISIANA. 20I

The old fpeaker begins his difcourfe, and
fays : " If I were younger and more vigorous,
" to conduct you againft our enemies, as I have
" formerly done, you mould fee me go on the
" tips of my toes. Go my comrades, as men
" of courage, and with the heart of a lion * ;
cs never fhut your ears, fleep like hares, go
" like the roe-buck, do not fear the cold, nor ,
*' hefitate to go into the water like ducks \
" when you are purfued, hide well your retreat.
<6 Above all, do not fear the arrows of your ene-
" mies, fhew'them that you are true warriors
*€ and men. Laftly, when you find an oppor-
*c tunity, ufe all your arrows on the enemy, and
"after that break in upon them with your clubs
" in hand; .ftrike, flay, and extirpate y it is
" better to die fighting than to be taken and
" burnt."

At the end of this harangue, the old warrior
prefents the calumet to the Tacha-Mingo^ that is,
the general or chief of war, and to all his omV
cers, who fmoke it, each after their rank ; and
all thofe who have not yet been to war come to

fmoke

f' An hyperbole no Indian in America would make ufe of,
not knowing that creature, which is not to be met with in
Jthat country. F.

TRAVELS THROUGH

fmoke it, by way of en lifting themfelves •, they
dance the dance of war, and, after that ceremo-
ny, they diftribute dog's flelh, which, as I have
already obferved, is a difh principally appropri-
ated to warriors'**

M. du Tijfemt told me of an accident that hap-
pened to his father, who was one of the firfl orH-
cers that came to Lmiifiana with M. de Bienville.
M. du Tifjenet being at an Indian nation, toge-
ther with iome Frenchmen who came to barter
goods -y the Indians wanted to fcalp them ; M.
du Tijjenet had learnt their language, and heard
their difcourfe, and as he wore a. wig, he took
it from his head, and" threw it on the ground,
faying from time to time, You will have my
fcalp, take it up, if you dare to do it. The
aftonifhment of thefe people was inexpreflible,
for M. du Ttjfcnet had got his head fhaved a little
before this happened ; he told them afterwards,
that they were very much in the wrong to at-
tempt to hurt him, for he only came to make

an

* It is very remarkable, that, when the ancient kings of
Macedonia performed the luftration of their armies, a dog
was killed, and divided into two parts, and the whole army,
with the king at their head, went through the two halves of
the dog. F,

,.

LOUISIANA.

203

W alliance with them ; that, if they compelled
him, he would burn the water in their lakes and
rivers, to hinder them from failing,- and fet fire
to their forefts i he got a little pot, and put
fome brandy in it, and kt it on fire with a
match \ the Indians, who were not yet acquaint-
ed with brandy, were amazed; at the fame
time he took out of his pocket a convex: <*lafs
and fet fire to a rotten tree by meafts of the fun.
Thefe people really believed, that the officer
had the power of burning their rivers and their
woods; they earefTed him, loaded him with pre-
fents, andfent him home well efcorted, that no
one might do him any harm. Since that time
M. de Bienville has made ufe of M. dn Tijfenet in
feveral negociations towards making alliances
with the Indians.

M. du fijfmefs adventure puts me in mind of
that of an Italian, who was in the fuite of M.
Tonty, the then governor of Fort Louis among
the Illinois. This Italian fet out from thence by
land, to join M. de la Salle, to whom he could
have been very ufeful, by teaching him the road
which he was to take in order to come to the
Mijftfipfh if he could have been with him in
time ; he likewife faved his life by a lingular
ftratagem. Some Indians being willing to kill

him,

204 TRAVELS through

him, he told them they were much in the wrong
in attempting to deftroy a man that bore them
all in his heart. This difcourfe amazed the Bar-
barians •, he affured them, that, if they would
give him time till the next morning, he would
convince them of the truth of what he had af-
ferted -, adding, that if he deceived them, they
fhould do what they pleafed with him. Then,
fixing a little mirror on his breaft, the Indians,
who were much fuprifed to fee themfeivcs, as
they imagined, in the heart of this man, grant-
ed him his life.

I have commanded the convoy in defcending
the river, which M. Auhrl brought up : M. de
Macarty truited the Englifh prifoners to my care
to bring them to New Orleans -, they are the
fame which the Chevalier de Villiers and the In-
dian chief PapkhangQuhia took. I have made
hafte to come to the capital before the thawing
of the ice, which breaks loofe in the northern
rivers, and follows the current ; I ran the rifk
of being ftopt by it, if I had not given orders
for rowing as hard as pofiible; I even made ufe
of the Englifh prifoners to relieve my foldiers :
as every one has an equal right to his life on fuch
pccafions, the officers likewifc lent a helping-
hand, to encourage the crew.

.

After

LOUISIANA.

20$

After pafllng the rocks at Prudhomme *, there
are no others in the Miffifippi •, and when there
are feveral boats, they are fattened together,
and go down with the current day and night.
There is only one man at the helm, and one at
the head of every boat, to take care of the
floating trees. It is a pleafure to go down this
fine river: the fame diftance which, in going
up, takes three months and a half, in defcending
is performed in ten or twelve days, when the
water is high in the river.

I muft not forget to mention, that on the
firft of January the foldiers come in the morning
to wifh their officers a happy new year , who ge-
nerally return the civility by a prefent of bran-
dy. I was juft encamped on a little ifland about
two leagues in circuit, fituated on one of the
branches of the Miffifippi, which I was defcend-
ing. This ifle was furrounded with very tall
trees. A facetious gafcoon foldier, as thofe of
this nation generally are, gave his comrades to

under-

.

-

* Thefe rocks form the fhores of the Miffljippi, which are
on both fides like walls of five hundred feet high. Formerly
there was the Fort Prudhomme in this place, fo named from
a fellow-traveller of M. de la Salle, who died there, and
occafioned the fort to be called after him.

T R'A-V ELS THROUGH

underftand that they might get an extraordinary
new year's gift if they would perform the cere-
mony of receiving me governor of the ifland.
The ferjeant approved this droll thought, and
immediately gave his orders for it. He began
with graving my name on the bark ofa tree, or-
dered the fwivels to be charged with powder,
and made the troops appear in arms. The
drummer beat a whirl, and the 'ferjeant as maf-
ter of the ceremonies, taking off his hat, faid
in the king's -name % ye tygers, wolves, bears,
" oxen, flags, roe-bucks, and other animals of
" this ifland, m-all acknowledge our commander
-" as your governor, and obey him in all that he
" he ilia 11 command you for his fervice £* one
'of the foldiers then fired the fwivels of t*fee.
boats, which were accompanied with a general
falute from the -fmall arms. The fudden ejc*-
plofion of thefe fire arms, > frightened the wild
oxen, who went into the river in order to fwrni
through it and to gain the continent : the fol-
diers went after them in a piragua and killed
four of them, together with two roe-bucks that
juft reached the more, and prefcnted them to
.me as my property, which obliged me to flay
here in order to dry the flefli for confumption,

during

* De par h Roi.

LOUISIANA.

20?

during the remaining part of our voyage. In order
to take advantage of the fun of myfoldiers, which
I took good care to reward immediately, I had
a mind to vifit the interior parts of my govern-
ment : but I was hardly gone half a league,
when I faw a bear, who was quietly eating
acorns under a great oak : I fired my piece at
him, but the ball only went into the lard rof the
animal, which was monftroufiy fat; as foon as
he felt the wound, he wanted to come up to
me, but he was too heavy to run; then feigning
to run from him, I drew him towards my fol-
diers, who foon furrounded and killed him as
guilty of felony and rebellion. They held -a
court martial, where the ferjeant prefided. The
corporal, who acted as the king's attorney-ge-
neral, gave it as his opinion, that in order not
to ruin the fine coat of the bear, who had re-
volted againft his matter, he mould only be
fhot in the head, which was punctually ex-
ecuted.

He was then flayed, and I have taken his
(kin, which is a very black one, and which I
fhall not relinquifh, any more than Hercules did
that of the Nemean lion which he conquered.

Th<

208

TRAVELS THROUGH

The foldiers melted the fat, and got above
one hundred and twenty pots of oil from it*»
luft know that the bears come out of their
ac loon as the fruits begin to ripen, and
they do not go in again till they are all eaten up,
They then Hay in their retreats till the next fea-
fon, ana neither eat nor drink during that in-
terval; their greafe is the only thing they feed
upon, by fucking their paws. It is dangerous
to meet a lean one without company. The In-
dians make a great trade with bears' (kins, and
treat their friends with their paws and tongues ;
they have often regaled me with them on my
voyages, and I found t-hem extremely good.

I direct this letter to Campeachj to M. de Arra-
gory, the agent of the French marine, who will
fend it to Cadiz, from whence it will come fafer
to you than by our vefTels, as Spain is not at
war with England : I do not write duplicates of
this letter, befides, I hope to fet out for Europe
next April.

I am, SIR, &c. &c.

At New Orleans , the 2$th
of February 1757.

L E f-

T"

7 Bears oil is very good to eat, in Louifiana they make ufe
of it for fallad, for frying, and for fauces, and prefer it Go
hog's lard. The pot holds about two quarts Englifh.

LOUISIANA.

269

LETTER XL

To the Same.

The Author feis out for Europe. He fights an
Englifli Privateer. He embarks at Cape Fran-
cois on a Vejfel belonging to a Fleet of twenty-fix
Merchantmen* which were almofi all taken ifi
his Sight by Privateers. Taking of a little
Vejfelfrom the Enemy. Arrival at Breft.

SIR,

|*p3£3C^AVING found no veflel here to re*
H H H turn to France* I was obliged to go on
Sl^MM board tne brigantine Union fitted out
as a floop of war, and commanded by captain
Gau-Jean who is well know for having taken
live Englifh fhips during the War, on his voyage
from France to Louifiana.

Vol. h

We

T R A V ELS THROUGH

We fet fail from the Balife on the firfl of April
1757, for Cape Franpis. On the 20th of April
being in fight of Turk's ifland *, we per-
ceived a iTiip, which we fuppofed to belong to
the enemy; fhe chafed us at night, and be-
ing a prime failer, came up with us in three
hours' time : the Engiifh privateer faluted ug
with a bullet from his cannon, and called out to
us to furrender to the king of England; to
which we returned a broadfide, and a volley of
the fmali arms; after -which I haled him to
ftrike his colours for the king of France, or
elfe he mould be funk j the privateer finding
that he had to meddle with a dealer in bullets,
macje off, and got. among the rocks near
Turk's ifland, hoping to draw us nearer to the
fhore, where we might have been loft. But our
captain, who was very prudent, and a good ma-
riner at the fame time, faw the fnare which was
laid for him ; therefore, inftead of following the
privateer, he continued his voyage, and we hap-
pily arrived in the harbour of Cape Francois on
the flrft of May. There we found the fquadron
of M. de Beaufremont^ deftined for the fuccours of
Canada^ having on board M. de Bart,, whom the
king had appointed governor and lieutenant-ge-
neral

L'ifle Turoue.

L O U I S I A N A. 2ii

neral on the ifle of St. Domingo. My firft care
on going on fhore was to pay my refpects to
him. That general, who is always ready to
ferve unfortunate officers, prevented my cares,
by difpatching me four days after my arrival,
and fparing me the expence I mould have been
at if I had flayed on this ifland, he procured me
a free paiTage at the king's expence, as a fleet of
twenty-fix merchantmen were ready to fail for
France, under the convoy of M. de Beaufremont^
who brought them as far as the Cayques iflands,
where he left them, in order to proceed on
his deflination according to the orders of the
court.

.1 muft tell you that I preferably chofe a Bor-
deaux veffel, called the Sun, captain Odouoir ;
(imitating the Indians, who indeed make a divi-
nity of the fun). But the event has fhewn that
I was very happy in my choice ; for almoft all
the veffels which compofed the fleet have been
taken in my fight. Only four arrived in France,
the Sun was the firft : fhe came to Breft in forty»
five days, after taking an Engiifh fhip in the la-
titude of the Newfoundland bank. I landed at
Breft the fifteenth of June 1757, and immedi-
ately waited on the Count da Gttai, commander
•of the marines in this port ^ I then paid a vifit to

p 2 M.

TRAVELS through

M. Hocquart, the counfellor of flare, and in-
tendant of the marine in this department, whom
I informed of the death of M. Auberville, who
had fucceeded for a time to M. Michael de la
Rouvilliere, as commifiary general of the marine,
and regulator of the provifions of* Louifiana.
M. Hocquari was known for his probity when he
was intendant of New France ; it is certain that
he came back from thence indebted forty-thou-
fand livres, which the king, contented with his fer-
vices, has made him a prefent of; a fine example
for M. Bigot 9 his fucceflbr -y but if he has not
brought back treafures from his adminiftration,
he has at leaft the fatisfaclion of pafling for one
of the gallanted men of his rank : he has been re-
gretted by all the Canadians, and even by the
Indians, who, as I have already faid, know how
to diftinguifh merit.

On owning to this gentleman, that I had no
money to go to court with, he was fo kind as to
ordepM. Gaucher, clerk of the treafurer of the co-
lonies to give me fome. He likewife offered me
his table during my {lay in this town, which
I intend to leave the twenty-fecond cf this month.

You

Ordonneteur.

LOUISIANA.

213

You will, perhaps, be amazed to hear, that
in the fpace of eight months, I have feen two
winters, two fu miners, and two fprings •, I (hall
now explain it to you. I wrote to you, that I
left the Illinois at the end of December, 1756,
when the Mijj/ippi began to freeze, and defcend-
ing that great river, I came to New Orleans in
January 1757, the climate of which is comparable
to that of the Hierian i (lands, where our regi-
ment was in 1 744. That is, it was the feafon
of gardening or fpring. I left Louiftana the
firft of April 1757, and came to Cape Francois
the firft of .May, and found fummer there: I
embarked for Europe on the fourth, and after
coming out of the Bahama Channel 'we met with
fpring •, continuing our voyage to the great
fands of Newfoundland^ we faw on the twenty -
fecond, at fun-rifing, a floating mountain of
ice, which at firft we took to be a fail ; but
the keen air coming from it convinced us at
laft that it was a piece of ice from the frozen
ocean. On the fifteenth of June 1757, we
came to Br eft * where we found fummer. This
therefore is a pretty extraordinary cafe,

I am, S I R, &c.

At Breft, the Xith
of June 1757-

L I:

■

214- TRAVELS THROUGH

*** nn f^ && f^

hM MM k.M MM teM

g F^ MM J*-*

« kj«{ MM kj*

LETTER XII.

£0 the Same,

The Author arrives at Court, receives a Gra-
tification from the King, and an Order

to go to Rochefort. He embarks there for
Louijiana.

S I R,

FMM^AM now once more at Rochefort

M l ic fr0m whence l failed for Louiftana,
\&M$£j£ eigfa years ago. I come from the
court, where I prefented to the comptroller
general and minifler of the marine, M. de
Moras, the governor's letter, which explains
the motives of my voyage. He was fo
kind as to fpeak with me in his cabinet,
in prefence of M. de la Porte, chief of

the

L O U I S I A tf A. 215

the board of plantations. He queftioned
me on the prefent ftate of LGuifiana. I
aflbred the minifter that I had left in our
intereft all the nations of that vaft con-
tinent, which I had vifited, and that the
Cherokees were come to treat of peace with
the French. He likewife afked me, whether
I thought the colony could be attacked. I an-
fwered that there was little probability of the Eng-
lim attempting to attack it, on account of the
difficulty of coming; in through the mouth of
the Mlffifippi at the fort of Balife ; and that
the coiony wanted no other fortifications, than
thofe which nature had provided it with.

M. de Moras obtained for me from the
king a gratification of a thoufand livres in order
to enable me to go to the waters which my
health required I mould take •, after which I re-
ceived an order from his majefly to go back to
Louifiana, and continue my fervices there;
therefore I came hither without lofs of time
in order to embark y we intend to fet fail as
foon as the convoy will be fitted out for Cape
Breton.

M. Druis xImhuto fucceeds M. Normant de
Mefi, as Intendant of the marine. The king

P 4 could

TRAVELS THROUGH

could not choofc a better perfon both on ac-
count of his abilities, and of his integrity,
and likewife on account of his zeal for the
king's interest in this important place. This
intendant made me the fame offer as his pre»
dccefTor-

I am, S I R, &c.

At Rochefort, the^zth
of September iJ$J.

LET-

LOUISIANA.

217

LETTER

XIII.

To the fame.

■ * •

ttfre Author leaves Rochefort ; he meets with three

Englijli Merchant-Ships, taken by M. de Place,

of which one was burnt and another funk. He

flops at the Ifle of Grenada. Navigation along

Jamaica.

5 I R?

jJS^?* Wrote to you from Rochefort, that we
fc§ l &? intenc*ed to fet out in December 1757;
SkuHTjh! but the convoy deftined to fuccour
Cape Breton having in part been taken by the
Engliih fleet, we were obliged to fit out ano-
ther. During that time a fquadron of ten great
Englifh men of war having alarmed the coaft of
jfunis, that has retarded us till the month of
May. This fquadron difappearing, we fet fail
on the tenth of the fame month.

I was

2i8 T R A V E L S through

I was on board the King's frigate La Fortune^
together with M. de Rochemore, commhTary-ge-
neral of the marine, and ordonnateur of the pro»
vince of Loutfiana, M. de Place, a captain of a
man of war, commanded the Eopalme frigate of
thirty guns, deftined for our convoy : we met
with three Englifh veffels on our voyage, which
only coll us three cannon-fhot* M. de Place
funk one of them, and burnt the other, after
taking the crew and the goods out of them. As
to the third, it came from the coaft of Guinea,
was richly laden, and had on board four hun-
dred and forty negroes, who were in part fold
to the ifle of Grenada, The Baron de Bonvouft,
who has juft been appointed governor of this
ifland, entertained us very generoufly and po-
litely during our ftay there. We remained
there till the twenty-fecond of July, when" we
failed for Loutfiana, keeping alongfide of Jamai-
ca9 to avoid the great fhips of the enemy, which
never come to thofe ihores : we took that courfe
in order to deceive the fpy, and we arrived hap-
pily at the mouth of the Miffltppi on the twelfth
of Auguft.

M. de Rochemore *, an honed ordonnateur, who
is very zealous for the intereft of the King, will

have

* The brother of a M,.Rochmore who is now commodore.

LOUISIANA.

2x9

have a great deal of trouble in reforming the
abufes that have crept into the management of
the colony's affairs, fince the war ; and during
our voyage, I foretold him, that he would be
much diflurbed in his adminiftration : what I
forefaw.realry happened ; and by the fame mips
which brought us hither, the court has been
prejudiced againfl him, with a view to deprive
him of his place. I was but juft arrived at New
Orleans, when the governor gave me orders to
prepare to go with a detachment to the Mibamons,
an Indian nation two hundred and fifty leagues
from the capital. I take advantage of the op-
portunity of the King's mips, which will fail for
France at the end of the year; and I write
to you by duplicates, that if one mip be taken,
you- may get the letter by the other. When 1
mall be informed of the manners of the nations
which I fhaJl pafs through, and which are fitua-
ted to the eaft of New Orleans, I fhall defcribe
that country to you, which is reckoned very fine
and very good.

At New Orleans, the loth
pj November 1758,

L E TV

110 TRAVELS THROUGH

« If tf 33»£jre ^fff 5 Jfff

LETTER

XIV.

2* Xfo fame.

the Author departs from New Orleans for the
Allibamons. His Navigation gu the Lake Pont-
chartrain. Short Defcripion of Mobile.

FQHC?S Left New Orleans on the fourteenth of
fifj I jfi December, according to M. *fe J&rfe-
kt&sSLifi! m's orders, and fet out for the Jlli-
bamons. I failed from the little creek of St. Jean,
which is fituated in the lake Pont char 'train.
There is a portage of about a quarter of a mile
from New Orleans to this creek *, which is about
two leagues long *, the winds were favourable to
us, and on the twentieth of December I arrived

at

;
* Bayouc , a fmall inlet where the tide goes up.

MS

L O U 1 S I A N

A. 221

at the bay and fort of Mobile, which is fifty-
leagues diftantfrom the capital.

The Mobile was formerly the chief fettlement
in Lou/tana, and the refidence of the governor,
ordonnateur, and of the chief officers. The fu~-
perior council held its fittings there likewife.

There is a pretty regular fort, capable of re-
fitting a whole army of Indians •, but European
troops could foon take it. It is fituated on a
bay where the tide comes up •, and between two
rivers, one of which is fmall, and is called the
river of the Chaff aw s, the other is more confi-
de r able than the Seine before Rouen, is called
Mobile river, and rifes in the Apalachian moun-
tains ; it is the rendez-vous of all the Indians
who live to the eaftward. They come there to
receive the prefents which the King annually dis-
tributes to them by his governor. The foil"
about Mobile is gravelly; however, the cattle
fucceeds exceedingly well there, and multiplies
very much. The inhabitants are very laborious,
and trade with the Spaniards ; they go to the
fort of Penfacola, which is near Mobile, and get
fait beef, wild fowl, maize, rice, and other eat-
ables from thence. The inhabitants of Mobile
likewife carry on a trade with tar. As to the

fur-

TRAVELS through

fur-trade with the Indians, the officers carry k
on exclufively of all others, contrary to the
King's intention.

About this place, there are white and red
bays * and wild cherry-trees f * There are like-
wife white and red cedars J ; the latter is very
line, and very good for inlaid work ; its fmell
expels infects, and the wood indeed is incorrup-
tible. There are feveral forts of trees in the fo-
refts hereabouts, which are unknown in Europe,
and fome which abdund with a gum like tur-
pentine. There are likewife cypreiTes § of fuch •
a fize, that the Indians make piraguas out of
one piece, which can contain fixty men.

Before the French came into Louifiaha, the
Indians conftrueled their boats in the following

I manner.

.

* The bays are probably the Laurus afikoalis Linn, which
have white flowers ; and the Lauras Borbc?iia Linn, which
lias red flower-cups, and black or purple berries. F.

f The wild cherries of this country grow in clufters, and
there are chiefly three kinds of them growing in America,
Viz, Prunus Virglniana, Canadenjis, and Lufitanica, Linn.

% The red cedar is the Juniper us Firginiam Linn, and the
White cedar is the Cupreffm Thjoides Linn.

§ Or cedars,

V

?

L O U I S I AN A.

223

manner. They went to the banks of forne ri-
vers, which are very numerous in this vaft re-
gion, and which' by their rapidity tear up by
the roots the trees which ftand on their banks.'
They took their dimenfions for length and
breadth, and accordingly chofe fuch a tree as
they wanted ; after which they fet fire to it, and
as the tree burnt on they fcraped away the live
coals with a flint or an arrow : and havino- faffi-
ciently hollowed it out, they fet it afloat. They
are very well (killed in conducting thefe little
vefTels upon their lakes and rivers. They em-
ploy them in time of war, and likewife load
them with the furs and dried flefh which they
bring back from their hunts.

Their inftruments and their weapons were
made in the following manner ; they chofe a
young tree for that purpofe, in which they
made an incifion with a Hint, or pebble as
fharp as a razor, and they put a Hone cut in
form of a hatchet into the incifion ; therefore,
as the tree grew up, it enchafed the flone, which
by that means became infeparable from it, and
they afterwards cut it off in order to make ufe
of it ; their lances and their darts were made in
the fame manner. They had clubs of a very
hard wood.

As

F

2Z4 TRAVELS through

As to their inftruments of agriculture, they
only made ufe of the bones of animals, or of
fpades of a very hard wood. The ground
throughout America is very fruitful ; the grafs
there grows high and clofe ; and after the froft
has dried it up, the Indians fet fire to it; then
they dig the ground with their fpades, fow it,
and reap three months after their crops.

They plant maize, millet, beans, and other
leguminous plants, potatoes, piltachios, and
water-melons ; gourds are likewife very common
there, and the French inhabitants call them gi-
romonds.

Their kitchen-utenfiis were dimes and pots of
earthen ware, and deep wooden dimes. They
made cups of calebafhes, and 4poons * of the
horns of wild oxen, which they cut through the,
middle, and form into the proper fhape by
means of fire.

As fopn.as we {hall have got ready the provi-
fions for our voyage, and for the garrifon of the
fort, we mall fet out, M. Aubcrt and myfelf in
a boat armed with fbldiers and Mobile Indians^

whom

* Which they call Micousns.

2 2

L O U I S I A N A.

whom we have hired to row during the voy

age.

M. Aubert, though he is adjutant of the fort
at Mobile, has been appointed, by M. de KeAe-
rec, to command Fort Touloufe at the JUibamons,
t which is contrary to the King's order, forbid-
ding all majors and adjutants to do other func-
tions than thofe of the place they belong to.

•4

If any mips arrive from Europe, I mall per-
haps receive letters from you. M. de Velle, who
commands here, will be fo kind as to fend them
to me with the firfl convoy.

I am, S I R, &c<

At Mobile^ the 6th of
January 1759.

Vol. h

LET

226 TRAVELS through

T T E R XV,

To the fame.

The Author fets out from Mobile for the Alliba-
mons. Defcripion of the Manners of this N a*
tion, Their Way of punijhing Adultery.

K^M^ AM at laft arrived at Fort Touloufe
I I | among the Allihamons. I have been
??)S9&Aj ^ty ^aYs a-coming ; becaufe, taking
boat in the rainy feafon, the water in the river
was often fwelled to twelve or fifteen feet y this
fudden increafe was caufed by the heavy rains,
which are frequent hereabouts, and by the high
hills that run along this river.

We have been obliged to work hard againil
the rapidity of the current, and there were
<Jays during which we fcarcely advanced a

league.

LOUISIANA. 227

league. It is impoffible to fail, on account of
the woods, the hills, and turnings of the river •,
and therefore we could do no otherwife than go
alone the fhores. One day I had the misfortune
to fee my boat hemmed in by the branches of a
tree * that was fet under water : we were be-
nighted in this difagreeable fituation, and obli-
ged to wait for the break of day. But as this
river rifes and falls by the floods, I found my-
felf now quite in the air in my boat. We were
twenty-five leagues from the mouth of the river,
and the Mobilian favages that accompanied me,
comforted me by the hope that the next tide
would fet me a-float again ; and really the tide
mounting up the river from Mobile bay delivered
us from our uncomfortable fituation. You fee
by this, dear Sir, what a difference it makes in
navigating an European and an American river.

M. Aubert fell fick on the way, and I prevail-
ed on him to ftay at Mobile for the recovery of
his health •, and fo he came from thence hither
on horfebacks by crofling the fir- woods, which

Q^2 are

* There are hereabouts cedar-trees of fo prodigious a fize,
that ten men can fcarcely clafp them ; which eafily accounts
for the goodnefs and fertility of the country, and be£des-t&&
its climate is one of the mofl healthy.

2l8

TRAVELS THROUGH

are very thin. M. de Montberaat is to o-ive him
up the command of this port by order of the
governor, after having inftru&ed him durino-
three months, of its fituation, environs, and
many other articles. This latter gentleman*
has a high reputation among the Indians of this
country, who call him the man of valour •, i. e.
the hero.- He was remarkable for the fpirited
lpeeches which he delivered, in a manner ana-
logous to the way of thinking of thefe nations.
This officer had a quarrel with the Jefuits^ and
therefore afked to be recalled -9 and was fuceeed-
ed by M. Aubert, the brother of Father Aubert,
a Jefuit miffionary in Louifiana. M. Month eraul
is a declared enemy to thefe mimonaries. Whilft
Father Lc Roi was at Allibamons, he wrote to the
governor to difcredit this officer, to whom the
foldier who was to carry the letter delivered it.
The commander faw after this the Jefuit, who
mewed him many civilities, according to the
political principles of thefe good fathers : The
officer afked him, whether he had written fome-
thing againft him. The Jefuit, not fufpecling
his letter to be in the officer's hand, affiured him
by all that was facred he had not. Then M.

Montheraut

* He is the brother of the Count de Montaut, who be-
longed to the houfchoM of the Dauphin..

L O U I S I A N

A.

229

Montberaut called Father Le Roi an impoftor and
a cheat, produced the letter, and fixed it at the
gate of the fort, giving it in charge to the fen-
tinel to take care of it j and fince that time
there were no Jefuits among the Allibamons.

Whilft I am here going to fpeak of the Alii-
bamons, I frail have an opportunity to treat like-
wifc of the Tafiikis, the Ottajhepas, the Tonkas, the
Kawuytas, the Abekas, theTalapoafias, the Conjha-
hs, and the Paianas, whofe manners are all near-
ly related to one another. All thefe nations put
together can raife about four thoufand warriors
They are all well-lhaped men, live commonly
along the river fides, and no fooner are you arri-
ved among thefe well-behaved men, whofe wo-
men are of the fame charafter, and for the neater
part beautiful, but they come to receive vou at
the landing-place, fhaking hands with you, and
prefenting you with the calumet. After hav-
ing fmoaked, they afk from you the caufe of
your coming, and the time you foent on the
road i what flay you intend to make among
them, whether you have a wife and children *.
_ ___ _____^_ They

* The politenefs of the Indians £oes even fo far as to offer
to the Europeans their girls, and for that purpofe the ehiefs

Q-3 fpeak

z%o TRAVELS through

They likewife inquire the particulars of the war
in Canada* and afk how the King their father
does. They then bring you a difh made of
maize or Indian corn, which they coarfely pound,
and boil in water, generally together with fome
venifon P. They likewife ferve up bread made
of the flour of the fame corn, baked in hot afhes,
roafled young turkies, broiled venifon, pan-
cakes baked with -nut>6il, chefnuts when in fea«
fon, boiled with bears greafe or oil, roebucks
tongues, together with hen and turtle f eggs.

The foil of Lcutfiana refembles, in the lower
parts of the colony, that of Egypt after the Nile
has overflown the country y it is excellent, and
chiefly fo in the country of the nations I now
fpeak of.

The melons are here prodigioufly large, full
of juice, and in great plenty : the water-melons

are

fpeak the next morning in the following manner in the vil-
lage : Young men and warriors, do not be foolifh, love the
matter of Jife; hunt for the fupport of the French, who
bring us our wants £ and you young girls, do not be hard-
hearted, nor ungrateful with your body in refpeft to the
white warriors, for to get their blood ; by this alliance we
mail get wit like them, and be refpefted by our enemies.

$ This is called Sagamite.

f Sea-tortoife,

LOUISIANA. 231

are fo delicious, that they are given to the fiek
to quench their third during the burning fits of
the fever. Potatoes are plentiful here 5 and the
Europeans are very fond of this kind of root,
which taftes like chefnuts roafted in hot afhes.

The Indians are generally contented with one
wife, of whom they are jealous to excefs. When
an Indian lies at a village where he has no wife,
he hires a girl for a night or two, as he pleafes,
and her parents never have any objection to it ;
they concern themfelves very little about their
girls, faying their bodies are free : the Indian girls
do not abufe this liberty ; and they find it their
intereft to keep up an appearance of modefty, in
order to engage their lovers to afk them in mar-
riage : but in regard to wives the Indians main-
tain, that they have fold their liberty by marry-
ing, and that they mull not be ferved by other
men than their hufbands. The men keep the
privilege of having feveral wives, and they can
leave them whenever they pleafe-, but this
feldom happens. When a woman is caught in
adultery, the leaft punifhment is being repudia-
ted. The hufband then leaves the hut -5 and if
they have any children, he takes the boys, and
the wife the girls ; fhe mud remain a widow for
one year ; but he can marry again immediately.

Q^4 He

23Z TRAVELS THROUGH

He can likewife take his wife again, therefore
fhe mud not enter on a fecond .marriage till a
whole year be pail.

The marriage of the Indians is quite fimple,
as I have already obferved -, the mutual confent
of the parties is the only tie which joins them.
The future hulband makes fome prefents of furs
and victuals in the hut of his bride's father j if
they be received, afeitival is made, to which the
whole village is invited -, after the meal, the ex-
ploits of the new hufband's anceftors are fun*
and a dance enfues. The next day one of the
oldeft men in the village prefents the bride to
the relations of her hufba'nd ; and thus the whole
ceremony of marriage is concluded. All the In-
dians deduce their lineage from the women, al-
ledging that they may be fure of their origin oh;
that fide, and accordingly of their having their
mother's bipod in their veins : but that chimin»
their defcent from the men was uncertain. The
great warriors and the bell huntfmen chufe the
prettier! girjs ; the others have only their refufe,
and all the ugly ones Ml The girls, know-
ing that they cannot be miftrefTes of their hearts
after they are married, know how to difpofe of
them to the greater!: advantage : for when once
iheyhaye a-hufband, all coqne try mult ceafe ■>

they

L O U I SI A N A.

233

they muft apply themfelves to their duties in
their houfes, fuch as preparing their hufbands
meals, dreffing the fkins, making fhoes, fpin-
ning the wool of the wild oxen, and making
little bafkets in which they are very well {killed
and induftrious.

The manner of pnniiliing the infidelity of, their
wives is as follows: the hufband mufc ftrft be
perfectly convinced of his wife's mifbehaviour
by his own eyes, and then fhe is watched by his
relations and her own. The hufband is then no
longer allowed to keep his wife, though he
mould wifh it ; becaufe the Indians fay, that it
is unworthy and beneath a true man to live with
a wife who has failed fo effentially in her duty to
him. In this cafe, the hufband goes to the Ca-
cique, and tells him" his flory. The chief im-
mediately orders fome people to go and cut little
fwitches, and all keep a profound fecret. The
chief then gives orders' for a grand dance, which
every man, woman, boy, and girl in the village
is obliged to attend, unlefs they will expoie
themfeves to be fined ; but there are hardly ever
any abfent : in the midfl of the dance the guilty
woman is extended on the floor, and beaten on
the back and ftomach without mercy,, and her
ieducer undergoes the fame ceremony.

When

1

^— — — —

234 TRAVELS THROUGH

When thefe wretches have been well flogged,
a relation on each fide comes and lays a flick
a crofs the criminals and the executioners. That
moment they ceafe to beat ; but then the huf-
band comes and cuts off all his wife's hair clofe
to her head % and reproaches her in prefence
of all the people, that is, he reprefents to her
how much (he has done wrong to act as fhe had
done with him, that he had let her want for no-
thing, but that fmce fhe had however tranfgref-
fed, fhe might now go with her feducer ; whofe
hair they likewife cut on his forehead, and tell
him, pointing to his paramour, There, that is
thy wife. He is at liberty to marry her that in-
ftant, but he mufl go to fettle in another vil-
lage.

When a married woman debauches a married
man, the women meet together among them-
felves each with a flick of an arm's length, and
go to the criminal woman, whom they beat
without mercy, which creates great mirth and
laughter amongft the young people ; the women
would kill the guilty wretch, if the men did not
(hatch away the flicks.

Phyfic,

* The Indian women have long hair in treffes.

ta^^-

L

GUIS

i

ANA. 235

Phyfic, war, hunting and riming are the only
arts which the Indians are ambitious of knowing.
They educate their children very hardy, and
make them bathe and fwim in winter time at
day-break j which done the young men come of
their own accord before their chief warrior, who
holds a fpeech to them, telling them never to
fear the water % that they may be purfued by
their enemies ; and that if they are taken they
are burnt alive-, that they mull: on this occafion
prove that they are true men, by Uttering no

complaints *.

- ■' ■ ' i ' - 1

When the harangue is finifhed, the chief fca-
rifies their thighs, breail and back, in order to
ufe them to pain, and he then gives them great
blows with leather (traps \. The young men
are then allowed to take place among the war-
riors ; and when they have done fome great ac-
tion in the wars, they are marked with needles,

in

* The Indians are obliged to fupport bad luck with heroic
conftancy, in order that their valour may defcend to their
poilerity.

f Thefe leather ftraps are of the breadth of three fingers.
The Indians ufe them for carrying their bundles when they
|et put on a journey.

236 TRAVELS THROUGH

in the manner I have explained to you when I
fpoke of the Illinois.

Their children whilft they fuck their mother's
milk, are daily bathed in cold water during win-
ter ; and when they grow up, the earth is their
bed. As the Indians love their children very
much» they accuftom them very early to fa-
tigue ; and indeed as their whole body is naked,
it is no more fenfible to the cold than the face
and hands.

The old men, that cannot follow them,
whenever they make a retreat, defire to be killed
with clubs, both to fpare them the wretchednefs
of a decrepit condition, and to avoid falling
into the hands of their enemies, who would cer-
tainly burn or eat them 5 .for the Indians in their
wars kill men, women and infants at the breaft,
which together with the ravages of the fmall
pox, is a caufe of the depopulation of America.

It will not be amifs Sir, to obferve that
it is merely an ad of humanity on cer-
tain occafions when a fon puts an end to his fa-
ther's life. The Indians have a great veneration
for their old men ; they regulate their conduct
by their advice, for they undertake nothing

with-

LOUISIANA. 237

without their confent. They likewife take great
care of the old men, and I have ken their chiefs
on their return from a hunting party, before they
ihared the game, lay afide the mare of the old
people, which is likewife appropriated to the ufe
of widows and orphans, whofe hufbands and fa-
thers have been killed in defence of their country.
The Indians are very hofpitable towards ftrano-ers
with whom they are in peace, and kind to their
allies and friends, but cruel and unmerciful to
their enemies. They are furprifed and even
fcandalized to fee a number of Englifhmen at
New Orleans^ drawn thither in time of war,
for the fake of trading under the fpecious pre-
tence of coming to exchange prifoners * A
cacique lately returned from New Orleans freely
owned to me, that he had a great mind to
break their heads for killing the French m
the north, that is, during the fiege of Quebec,
and that he was tempted to take his revenge
upon thofe that were at New Orleans. He

added,

* Here our author inferts a long invedive againfi the Eng-
lifli who come in veffels to New Orleans with prifoners of
war on board, which they offer to exchange, and that under
this cloak, they get information of the flrength and fix-
ation of the colony, and buy up all the furs they can get,
Some allowance mull be made for national prejudice and
French pertnefs. F.

238 TRAVELS through

added, that in his country they {poke to their
enemies with the club in their hands, as foon as
the hatchet is dug up\ a phrafe which denotes,
that nobody ought to have any commerce or cor-
refpondence with the enemy, directly or in-
directly, under any pretence whatsoever, after
war is declared, uniefs he will prove a traitor
to his country, and be punifhed accordingly.

When peace is concluded they bury the
hatchet or the club under ground, fignifying
thereby that all their hatred towards their ene-
mies is buried in oblivion, that the horrors of
war are at an end, and that friendlhip and
good understanding are growing again between
them and their friends, like the white flowers of
their tree of peace, (which is the white laurel),
that ought to fpread its branches over the white
ground-, which is a metaphorical exprefllon
which means the ground of peace.

The cacique 1 mentioned before, is called
Tamathlemingo^ and he, is very warm in the
French intereft. I know that he has fcornfully
rejected the prefents which fome Englimmen
would have loaded him with, and he had a great
mind to break their heads for making him fuch
a propofition. He wears ajilver medal fattened

round

LOUISIANA. 239

round his neck by a leather thong. He often
told me, he would be buried together with the
image of his father (that is, the king's portrait)
which he wears on his breaft; and having al-
ways been faithful to him he hoped to fhake
hands with him in the land of the fouls, where
he expeded to fee him one day. After this wor-
thy chief had fhewn me thefe fine fentiments
which parted from his heart, I gave him a bot-
tle of brandy to drink the health of his father
and mine. Such little douceurs when given on
proper occafions, have a great efieft upon thefe
people ; thus they were greatly moved when I
pulled ofFmyfhirtand gave it them in the name
of their father, telling them that he pitied them,
becaitfe he knew by means of the /peaking fab-
fiance f that his children were naked

Thefe nations have no idea of the political
fyflems which are known among the European
powers. In their opinion, the allies of a nation
muft affift them, when they are in war, and have
no correfpondence with their enemies. I have
had a long and ferious conference with one Allexi
Mingo, who is a juggler and Iikewife the chief
of a diftria among them, and pretends to have

been

Paper, or letters .

240

T R A V EL S- THROUGH

been abufed by fome S-panijli foldiers of the gar-
rifon of Penfacola : this Indian owned that he had
formed a defign in order to be revenged of them,
to make a general incurfion with his warriors
into Florida, to the very gates of Penfacola*
This Indian would pay me a compliment, and
make me approve of his defign, by telling me,
that he was partly drawn into it, becaufe the
Spaniards lay ftill upon their mats ; i. e. they
were at peace with the EngUfh,, whom they re-
ceived into their ports, though at that time, they
were our enemies. \

I anfwered this^.difcourfe of the Cacique in
cxprefs. terms and fuch as were mod capable of
making him defift from his enterprize, as I was'
willing to prevent a maffacre of the Spaniards .
who were our allies and neighbours : accord-
ingly I fpokc to him in a manner analogous to
the genius and character of the nation,

Alexi Mingo; faid I, prepare thy heart, open
thy ears to hear» the force of my words, for it
will bring back to thee thy wits, which thou
haft loft to-day.

I tell thee, then that the grand chief fove-
reign of the Spaniards, who lives on the other

fide

.

LOUISIANA. 241

tide of the great falt-water fake, in the old
World that fwarms with inhabitants is the bro-
ther * of the father of the red men* i. e. of
the king of France, and accordingly* I muft
fay, I difapprbve very much of thy bold
defign. I fairly declare to thee, that if thou
perfifteft in it* thou can ft do no better than
to begin tvith breaking my head. The Ca-
cique anfvvered, " Thy blood is as dear to me
" as my own , befides, the French have never done
u me any harm, and I am ready to give my
" life for them > thou canft allure our father of
" that. Oh that I had the fpeaking fubftance
" which thou haft, to let him know my words*
" but no, 1 rather wifli I had a hundred mouths
" which he might hear f . "

After this proteftation of frieridmip he o-ave
me his Calumet, and when I had fmoked a little
I returned it to him, as having made peace for
the Spaniards, by whom he pretended to have been
ill-ufed 5 and as a ratification I gave him a bot-
Vol. L R tte

* The Indians call their allies brothers.

I Some time after the author's departure, the Indians of

thefe parts maffacred feveral fengliflimen, that were come

within two leagues of fort Touloufe, where M. de Grand-Mai*

/on then commanded, who is now Major of the troops ac

New Orleans*

242

TRAVELS throuch

*

tie of the fiery water, that is of brandy, faying,
this I give thee to clean thy mouth, that it
may not utter any more bad words againft the
Spaniards our allies : and to ftrengthen my dif-
courfe I gave a great roll of tobacco, for his
warriors to fmoke out of the great Calumet of
peace. After my harangue was at an end, the
young people came one after another to fqueeze
me by the hand, as a mark of friendihip, which
is cuftomary among them.

I wifhed, however, to perfuade this Cacique,
who was piqued at the Spaniards, who receive
Englifh. veffels at TenfacoJa, becanfe they are at
peace : for he faid they came to inform them»
felves of the fituation and ftrength of thefe
coafts.

By way of appearing the Indian, 1 told him,
that the governor daily waited for the arrival of
a great piragua *, which mould bring him fome
of the fpeaking fubflance, wherein the great
chief of the Spaniards mould order him to dig up
the hatchet of war, and to lift up his club
againit the Englilh,

This

An European fhip.

L O U I S I A N A.

243

This difcourfe fatisfied my Cacique ; and as
he had drank a good portion of brandy, he was
very talkative, and I took the opportunity of
queftioning him concerning the grudge he bore
the Spaniards in Florida. He told me, that he had
heard by tradition, that the firft warriors of fire*
who came into this country had committed hof-
tilities in it, and violated the law of nations $
and, that ever fince that period, the anceftors of
his nation had always recommended it to theif
pofterity to revenge the blood which had been
unjuftly fhed. I told the juggling Cacique, that
the Lord of life had revenged them fufficiently*
by the death of Ferdinand Soto, and almoft all
his warriors*

I added, that they had no further reafon to
hate the Spaniards ; that Philip II. grand chief of
the Spaniards , had difa vowed all the mifchief
which his generals had done in thefe climates, as
being contrary to his intentions.

R 2

X told

* Hiftory inform us, that in 1544, Ferdinand Soto made
incurfions into this country; the Indians there, who had
never feen any Europeans, called the Spaniards warriors of
£re, becaufe they were armed with guns and piftols : tfe/
faid, that the cannon was thunder, and that it caiifed the
earth to tremble, by killing people at a great diftance,

TrtROtTGrf

H4 TRAVELS

I told this American prince part of the ftory
of Don Francis de. -Toledo, viceroy of Peru, who
publicly hanged the ■ preemptive heir to the
Crown, and ordered all the princes of the royal
family of the Tncas to be killed, not even ex-
cepting the Spaniards, who from their mother's
fide were defcended front Atahualipa. Don
Francis, after fuch an execution, expected
to- be raifed to the greateft dignities of
the ftate on his return to Spain; but he was
Very ill received by the grand chief of. the na-
tion, who ordered him with a harm voice to get
out of his prefence, faying, I have not ap-
pointed thee to be the executioner of princes*
but to ferve me and aflift the unhappy. Thefe
words ftruck the viceroy dumb, and caufed
him fuch an illnefs that he died a few days
after. The fame king caufed the death of
One of his minifters that had impofed upon
him, merely by faying the word Hoolabe,
which in the Indian language, fignifies,
What, doft thou lye? The Cacique very
gravely replied, " But if the grand chief
" of the men of fire, appeared, as thou
" fay eft, fo angry at the viceroy, on account
" of the cruelties which he had com-
" mined againft his will, why did he not put

sc hirn

LOUISIANA. a,,
t him in the frame* \ or why did he not cut off
'his head, and fend it back to Peru? This
' example of feverity and juitice would in part
" have fatisfied the people whom this general
'< had ill-treated, by hanging on a gibbet, like
« a th»et, the heir of a great empire, who de-
' pe-nded only from the Lord of life, or the Su-
" preme Being. Thus we red men, whom the
« Europeans call favages and barbarians would
'act towards the wicked and the murderers
'.■.who. ought to be treated like the fierceft beads
" of the foreft."

w

u

;t

I again replied fq this Indian chief in the fol
lowing terms, «Thou muft know that the
grand chiefs of the white men that live in the
old country, are defpotic and abfoiute, and
that when they drive from their preience their
' generals or warriors, who have abufed their fub-
" je&s without caufe, this affront is much more
"fenfibly felt bythofe proud chiefs, who are
' hated by the Great Spirit, or by God, on ac-
count of their mifdeeds, than the punimment

" of

R

► A pumJhment which the Indians adjudge to thofe that
^committed cruelties, and are taken at war: they are put
in* ..:, lend of frame, compofed of two pods, and a pole
laid acrofs them, and burnt alive.

246 T R A V ELS THROUGH

" of the frame, or a hundred blows with the
" club upon the head, would be by a red

^ man.1

At lafl I fucceeded in foftening the ha-
tred which thefe people had conceived againft
the Spaniards, and I imagine every hoftile inten-
tion is fuppreffed now; for my explication was
very fatisfaclory to my juggler.

I believe I have already obferved to you, that
the Indians are very fenfible of injuries, and that
they generally remember thofe that have out-
raged them when they are in liquor. I have of-
ten been the mediator in order to terminate the
quarrels between two Indians ; I told them
that they ought to live together as good bro-
thers, forget the pail, and employ their courage
in the common defence of their country only. I
further affured them that if they did not give
ear to my words, the Great Spirit would be dif-
pleafed with therri> and make their crops of
maize fail. The Indian women ran quickly to
me, whenever any two were ready to fight,
that I might judge between -them, and I always
did all I could to reconcile the parties ; which
pkafed th.5 women very much, who have nothing
AVild about them, but the name -which people

give

give them, and whofe features are very regular.
In a word, in this new world, as well as in the
old, that lovely fex is born to populate and
not to deflroy.

What I have Hill to fay of this nation is fo
ample, that I am obliged to divide it; I fhall,
therefore referve their mourning and their fune-
ral cuftoms for another letter.

I am, S I R, &c. &c.

Among the Allihamom the
%%th of April 1759.

248 TRAVELS through

u<>

.

LETTER

11
XVL

i

5o the fame.

Mourning and Manner of burying the Dead among the
Allibamons ; Jufiice done to the Chevalier d'Er-
neville, for a Soldier killed by, a young Indian s
their Religion ; their Means. of catching Jhe Roe-
buck and the wild Turkies.

■
■

S I R,

F?^^^ H E day before yeflerday I received
M T:S one of your letters, which informs ma

W*2£3j£ij tna^ you are *n g00^ n^a^n3 and that
you continue to give me marks of your remem-
brance of me. In my preceding letter, I fpoke
to, you of the marriage of the Indians -9 I fii-all
now proceed to defcribe their mourning. When
vl grand chief of the nation dies, this mourning
con fills in not warning nor combing themfelves ;
the men daub their whole body: with foot, mixed

up

L O U I S I A N A.

-49

up with bear's oil ; and in a word, they re*
nounce all forts of diverfions. When a woman
lofes her hufband, fhe is obliged to be in mourn-
ing for a whole year, and to lay afide all her
ornaments.

All the Allibamom drink the Caffine * \ this is
the leaf of a little tree, which is very fhady 5
the leaf is about the fize of a farthing, but dcn-
tated on its margins. They toaft thefe leaver
as we do coffee, and drink the infufion of them,
with great ceremony. When this direutic po-
tion is prepared, the young people go to prefent
it in calebafhes formed into cups, to the chiefs
and warriors, that is the honourables, and af-
terwards to the other warriors, according to
their rank and degree. The fame order is ob-
ferved when they prefent the Calumet to fmoke
out of :- whilft you drink they howl as loud as
they can, and diminifh the found gradually;
when you have ceafed drinking, they take their
breath, and when you drink again, they fet up
their howls again. Thefe forts of orgies fome-
times laftfrom fix in the morning to two o'clock

. in

* This is the Prinos glaher of Linnaeus. Sp. pi. p. 471,
and Cajfena 'vera Floridanorum. Catefb)£s -Carol. 2. t. 57«

250 T R AT ELS through

in the afternoon. The Indians find no incon-
veniencies from this potion, to which they at-
tribute many virtues, and return it without any
effort.

The women never drink of this beverage,
which is only made for the warriors. In fuch
affemblies, where they are never admitted, the
Indians tell their news and deliberate on politi-
cal affairs, concerning peace or war. However
the Chevalier d9Erneville9 fays that he faw a wo-
man, who was the grand chief's wife, go in,
becaufe me was a female warrior, and had a
quick, penetrating mind. Her opinion fome-
times prevailed in the conclufion of treaties.

The Allibamons love the French very much ;
there is an agreement on both fides, that if a
Frenchman kills one of the Indians, he muft die,
and the fame if an Indian kills a Frenchman , the
lafl accident happened whilfl the Chevalier d'Er-
neville commanded the fort at the' Allibamons , a
young Indian fhot a foldier of the garrifon, and
difappeared immediately. As the officer did not
know where the criminal was, he applied to the
chiefs of the nation, faying, they muft do him
juftice. They anfwered, that the young man
had taken refuge with another nation ; the Che-
valier

LOUISIANA. 251

valier d'Emvilk did not put up with this excufe ;
he told them that the dead man called for ven-
geance, and that blood ought to be avenged by
blood, as is their expreffion ; that the murderer
had a mother, and that fhe ought to fuffer in his
ftead. They anfwered, that fhe had not killed
the man ; but the officer replied, that he fpoke
like the red man, who when fomebody killed a
perfon of their nation, and they had not juftice
done them for it, were revenged upon fome
perfon of the nation of the murderer. He
laftiy reprefented it to them, that in order to
keep the good underftanding between the white
and the red men, they ought not to oppofe the
punifhment of the criminal. They offered him
a great quantity of furs, and even horfes loaded
with booty. This officer who is known for his
zeal in preferring the king's intereft to his own,
and the honour of the nation to his fortune, re-
fufed all thefe prefents. He added, that he had
not been able to deep BBSS the death of his
warrior, who called every night to him, avenge
my blood. The poor Indians, feeing they could
not move him, held a council and fent out eight
men, conducted by a young chief of the war-
riors. He went immediately with his men to
the murderer's mother, and told her that fince-
Jier fan was not to be found, fhe mull die in his

ftead.

252 TRAVELS THROUGH

flead. The poor woman fuffered herfelf to be
led away, and was all in tears -y her relations
followed her with very fad countenances-, one of
them feeing there was no pardon to be hoped

for, faid to the chief of the troop, " My mo-
" ther -in-law dies through courage^ as flie has not ■
" ftruck the blow'' He propofed they fhould
wait whilft he went to fetch the murderer ; he
actually brought him into the afTembly, where
the Chevalier d'Erneville was, and faid, See,
there is the guilty man, do what you pleafe with
him. The officer anfwered, that they ought to
do him jufiiees and they immediately killed
him f .

J u ft ice

* Thus the Indians execute juftice ; there is -.no need of
drawing up cafes ; all thefe forms are unknown ; the law is,
that he who has killed mud be killed again, unlefs it be
by accident, as in a drunkennefs, in a fit of madnefsj or iiji
their exercifes.

f The relation of this ftory, is by no means favourable
to the French. They a&ed upon a barbarous and cruel
principle, by bringing the mother of the guilty man
to a punifhment which fhe did not deferve ; and had not her
/on on this occafion preferred filial duty to felf-prefervation,
the French Chevalier would have committed an inhuman
•&ian, by inflicting death on an innocent perfon. The /*-
... dian$

_ ■

LOU IS I A N .Ai 253

Juftice being thus done, the chief harangued
the young people, and recommended it very
fifongly to them, to keep their hands from the

French^

dians a& upon principle, by avenging the death of their
countrymen upon any other perfon of the nation to which
the murderer belongs ; for, on account of their confined idea*,
and ignorance, they think the fame conftitution and manners
take place among the Europeans, as are ufual among them-
felves ; and as they look upon their whole nation as a body of
brethren, and a fingle family, they are, therefore, of opi-
nion that all the Europeans mufl be anfwerable for the death
of one of their brethren. But as the Europeans boaft to be
civilized, inftru&ed and Chriftians, they ought to a& ac-
cording to the principles of their religion, the knowledge
and inftru&ion they enjoy, and their own conftitution ;
all thefe oblige them to fhew the Indians» by their example*
the fuperiority of their religion, knowledge and conftitution 5
make them fenfible, that if they afted like Indians they would
commit an open injuftice ; and to enforce the return of
fuch a&ions in fimilar cafes. The Europeans inftead of in-
Hilling principles of humanity into the minds of the poor
Indians, very frequently fcandalize them by their uncharita-
ble and barbarous manners ; and thus the high refinements' o£
our manners, our boafted civilization, our pride,, founded
upon the fuperiority of our knowledge, and that real greaC
advantage of being inftru&ed in a religion founded upon
reafon and charity, inftead of bringing our immortal minds.
to tiiat pitch of excellence they are capable of, according
to the true intention "of thefe advantages, prove only our .
deep corruption, and the wilful depravity of our hearts, and
I may fay, the barbarity of our manners. F,

254

TRAVELS THROUGH

French \ and added, that as often as they mould
iofe their fenfes and kill our people, they would
do us the fame juftice again.

The Chevalier d'Ernevilk held a fpeech to the
afferably in his turn, and made the nation a pre-
fent which the governor had lent him. The In-
dians gave him the great calumet of peace to
fmoke, all the foldiers and French inhabitants
likewife fmoked it, in fign of a general amnefly*
afterwards they drank the Co/fine, which is the
potion of the white wordy i. et the potion of ob-
livion and peace,

Since that time this nation has never offended
The Aliibamons offered, in 17 14, to build

us

upon their ground* and at their expence, a fort,
which was afterwards called Fort Foulmfe, and
they introduced the French into it. M. de Bien-
ville, who was then governor, went to take pof*
feflion of it in- the King's name*.

Th«

y

* This governor is in fuch great eiteem with them, thar
they always mention him in their harangues. His name is
fo deeply graved in the hearts of thefe good Indians, that his
memory will always be dear to them. As foon as they faw
me they inquired after him ; I anfwered, that he was at the
great village, or Paris, in good health, with which Aiy
were highly pleafed.

LOUISIANA.

255

They never would permit the Englifli to do the
like ^ they pay no regard to the menaces of the
King of England-, every Cacique or chief of a
village thinks himfelf a fovereign, who only de-
pends upcn the Mafier of life, or the Great Spi-
rit.

The Mibamons have called their country the
white country, or land of peace -> and repofe on
their mats, that is, they attack no body -> which is
a kind of allegory by which they feem to tell all
the nations on earth, that the murdering hatchet
is buried, and that they may come to trade with
them in fafety.

The following is an harangue which I heard
one of the chiefs of this nation hold : " Young
" men and warriors, do not difreo-ard the Ma-
"fteroflife; the fky is blue, the fun is with-
" out fpots, the weather is fair, the ground. is
" white, every thing is quiet on the face of the
" earth, and the blood of men ought not to be
" fpilt on it. We muft beg the fpirit of- peace
" to preferve it pure and fpotlefs among the -na-
" tions that furround us. We ought only to
" fpend our time in making war with tygers, '
" bears, wolves, flags, and roe-bucks, in order
" to have their fkins, with which we may trade

'M with-

i56 TRAVELS THitoudH

a with the Europeans, who will bring us what
u we want, in order to maintain our women and
" children."

The Americans in general have no knowledge
of letters. The art of writing is unknown to
them. They are furprifed to fee that one can
converfe with another at a great diftance by a
paper •, and they look upon the mifiive letters
with admiration* When they are trufted with
letters, they bring them very exa&ly to the per~
fons they are directed to § and though it fliould
tain ever fo hard, and they had a great many
rivers to pafs, thofe letters are never wetted;
The Allibamons trade with the French, Engtifh, and
Spaniards, but they do not love the latter much;
they make war upon them fooner than upon
any other nation, on account of their cruelties
towards the Mexicans-, their memory is admira^
ble, they always remember the wrong which is
done to them.

Thofe whom I fpeak of here acknowledge a
Supreme Being, whom they call Soulbiechc. I
afked them what they thought of the other
world •, and they aniwered, that if they have
not taken another man's wife, or if they have
not robbed nor killed any one during their life*

they

LOUISIANA;

Z57

they (hall go after their death into a very fertile
country» where they fhall want neither , wives
nor proper places for hunting, and that every
thing will be eafy co them there ; but that on the
contrary, if they have behaved themfelves fool-
ifhly, and difregarded the great Spirit, they will
come into a barren land full of thorns and
briars* where there will be no hunting, and no
wives. This is all. I have been able to learn
concerning the belief of thefe people of another
life.

The Allibamons bury their dead in a fitting po~
frure ; in order to juirify this cuftom they fay/
that man is upright, and has his head turned to-
wards heaven, which is to be his habitation.
They give to them a calumet, and fome tobacco
tofmoke, that they may make peace with the
inhabitants of the other world. If the corpfe be
of a warrior, he is buried with his arms, which
are a mullet, fome powder and bullets, a qui-
ver full of arrows, a bow, and an hatchet or club \
and befides thefe a mirror*, and fome vermilion
with Which they may drefs therafelves in the
other world.

Vol. I. s When

*<. The young Indians are never without a little hatchet of
a mirror hung on their wriit,

■

258 TRAVELS THROUGH

When a man kills himfelf, either in defpair
or in a ficknefs, he is deprived of burial, and
thrown into the river, becaufe he is looked up-
on as a coward.

I have already faid, that the Indians muft fup-
port misfortunes with heroic conftancy. Their
enthufiafm prompts them to make fongs of death
when they are taken prisoners, and deftined to
be burnt -, on fuch an occafion an Indian fays :
y I fear neither death nor fire, make me fuffer
« ever fo much, becaufe my nation will revenge
" my death." This occafions his enemies either
to accelerate his fate, .or fometimes adopt him,
faying he is a man of courage.

When there is a difturber of public peace

amongft them, the old men fpeak to him thus :

xc Thou art at liberty to go away ; but remem-

u ber, , that if thou art killed, the nation fhall

" difown thee ; we fhall not weep for thee, nor

" avenge thy death." So irregular a life is pu-

nimed with the greateft contempt among thefe

people, as among all others *.

The

'*. The young Indians fometimes ramble into the neigh-
bouring villages* and carry off the women*; thefe kinds of

rapes,

LOUIS! A N A.

*W

The Indians generally fet out a hunting to-
wards the end of October. The AUibamons go
fixty, eighty, and fometimes* an hundred leagues
from their villages, and they take their whole fa-
milies with them into their piraguas : they do
not return till March, which is the time of (ow-
ing their corn-grounds. They bring back many
furs, and a great quantity of dried flelh. -When
they are returned into their villages, they regale
their friends, and make prefents to the old men,
who have not been able to go with them, and
have kept in the huts during the time of the
great hunt.

Thefe nations have lingular methods of catch-
ing the roe-deer -, an Indian takes the head of a
roe-buck, and dries it ; he then carries it with
him into the woods, where he covers his back
with the fkin of this animal* he puts his hand
into the neck of the dried head, taking care to
put little hoops under the fkin to keep it firm on
the hand $ he then kneels down, and in that at-

S a titude,

, . .•■■.. -,

rapes occafion the wars among the different tribes ; for they
fight not for land, having more of that than they can cultie*
vate. It is a capital crime among the Indians to carry off
another man's wife; if it is the Cacique's wife, the whole
nation is obliged to avenge the affront offered to their chief.

1

260 TRAVELS through

*

titude, mimicking the voice of thefe creatures,
he fhews the head •, the roe-deer are deceived by-
it, and come very near the hunters, who are

lure to kill them.

-

There are Indians who, by means of this ftra-
tagerri, have deftroyed four hundred roe-deer in
one winter's hunting. They employ very nigh
the fame trick to get the wild turldes' in the
woods-, fome of them put the fkins of thefe
birds oh their moulders, and on the heads a bit
of fcarlet or other red cloth, which is agitated
by the wind, and whilft the birds look at them,
their comrades kill them with arrows ; they do
not ufe fire-arms, for fear of frightening them,
and whilft there are any turkies on a tree, they
continue to fnoot them with great dexterity,
thefe birds are commonly fooliih enough to ex-
pect the return of their fellows who fell down ;
the Indians have often treated me with thefe
birds, and I found them excellent during au-

tumn.

The Indians are likewife very dextrous fimer-
men -, they neither employ hooks nor nets \ they
take reeds, which are very common along the
fides of rivers, dry them near the fire, or in the
fun-mine, fharpen one end like a dart, and fatt-
en

LOUISIANA.

261

en a cord made of the bark of a tree, to the
other end ; when they are upon the lakes in
their canoes, they throw this dart or harpoon
into the water at the fifh, and draw it up again
by means of the cord ; others moot the fifh with
a bow and arrows, and when they have wounded
a fifh, it comes to the furface of the water.

Before I have done with the Allibamon^ I
mould not forget to tell you, that in July, when
their harveft begins, they have a great feaft.
That folemn day they pafs without eating; they
light a new fire for phyfic, as they call it, or jug-
gling, after which they take a purge, and offer
to their Manitou the fhftlings of their fruit:
they finifh the day in religious dances.

This nation has likewife jugglers or quacks ;
I mail relate to you a very droll adventure which
happened to me with one of them. As I was
going up the river of Allibarnons, a quack and
juggler came to fee me with feveral Indians,
men and women. He afked for fome brandy,
I gave him a bottle full of it, which he drank
with his companions. He afked me for fome
more, but I told him I had no more < he would
not believe me, and feeing that he could not
get any tiling, he thought he would intimidate

s 3 mc.

z6z TRAVELS through

me, by telling me he was a magician, and would
praftife phyfic f againft me, if I gave him no
brandy \ i.e. he would enchant my boat, fo
that it could not proceed. I told him I feared
him not •, that I was a phyfician myfelf. This
word aftoniftied my adyerfary.

This pretended magkian told me to fhew him
the effe&s of my art •, I anfwered, that he ought
to begin, but he replied that I mould do it be-
ing a flranger ; at laft, after many debates, I
began to make ridiculous geftures, and looked
into a book which the juggler imderftood no-
thing of j I bid him retire, and leave me alone,
it being the cuftom of the jugglers, by which
means they conceal their impoftures from the
other Indians. I had the ikin of a tyger-cat,
the flefh and bones of which had been extracted
through an incifion in the neck ; I gave this
fkin to the Indian quack, telling him to reflore
its fight, and make the creature go about. He
anfwered, that he could not do it ; I fee, faid I,
thou art a mere novice in this art, I mall per-
form it,

I muM

* This is an cxprefiion which the Indians make life of, de-
noting the application of their flight- of-hand tricks, and
grimaces intended for to make their countrymen believe that.
they are magicians or conjurors.

L O U I S I A N A. 263

I muft previoufly inform you, that, in my laft
voyage, I brought with me from France enamelled
eyes, which perfectly imitated the natural eyes ;
a thing which the Indians here had never feen ;
I fattened them with the refin of firs, in the
place of thofe which were wanting in the fkin,
into which I afterwards put and confined a li-
ving fquirrel, with its head towards the neck of
the tyger-cat ; a foldier whom I had inftructed
was quite ready with a club •, every thing being
thus prepared, I opened the door of the cabin,
and the Indians advanced, with the juggler or
quack doctor at their head. I held the cat in
my arms, and the fquirrel jumped about in it,
which immediately furprifed my pretended ma-
gician -, he cried out that I was a true phyfician
or forcerer, becaufe I had brought to life, refto-
red to fight, and made dead cats walk. When
the other Indians had well confidered it in my
arms, I let it go on the ground, pricking the
fquirrel with a pin, which made it run with the
cat's fkin towards the fpectators, who thought
it would devour them ; they went backwards,
and the women, through a natural fear, ran
from my boat, declaring that I was a forcerer.
I then ran to my tyger-cat, feeming to be ve-
ry angry with it, I quickly took out the fquirrel
and the giafs-eyes, then prefling the teeth in the

S 4 cat's.

T R A.V ELS through

cat's head againft my ftomach, I cried out as if
the creature had bit me, flinging it on the ground
immediately -3 the foldier whom I had armed
with a club, ftrikes at the revived tvcer-cat, in
order to kill it for having revolted againft its
mailer, and for having been willing to attack
red men, who were our friends and allies.

After this comic fcene, I gave the fkin to the
Indian juggler, and defired him to make it re-
vive as I had done. He owned, that my art
was above the reach of his. I then bid him en-
chant my boat to prevent its going on ; but he
anfwered, that one phyfician againft another
could do nothing ; that I was his m after in the
art, and he an ignorant fellow * All the fa-

vages

* The Indians repofe a great confidence in their doflors ;
the juggler's hut is covered with furs, with which he covers
and drefles himfeif. He goes in quite naked, and begins
with pronouncing fome words which no body underflands ;
they are, as he fays, to invoke the Spirit ; after that he
rifes, cries, agitates himfeif, appears quite frantic, and
gets into a profound fweat f.

The hut makes, and the fpeclators believe it is done
through the pre fence of the Spirit ; the language which he
.(peaks on this occafion, has nothing in common with the or-
dinary Indian language ; it is nothing but. the ravings of a

hot

L O U I S I A N A. 2%

yages who were out upon the winter hunt along
the river, brought me provifions of roe-deer
and turkies, that I might begin again to play
off my trick ; but for fear of being difcovered,
and to preferve . my reputation, I faid I could

not

hot imagination, which thefe quacks have impofed upon
their countrymen as a divine language ; thus the moll cun-
ning people have always deceived the reft;

f The heathen nations in the Ruffian empire have exaclly
fuch jugglers or conjurors as are here defcribed. In the go-
vernment of Cazan are the TcheremiJJcs, the 'Tchwwafhes, and
the Wotiaks, three nations • the firft of which call their con-
jurors Mujhan, the fecond Tommas or Tymmas, and the third
T^na or Turn ; they are cf both {exes, and make the fame
grimaces as thefe American jugglers. In Siberia the Tun-
gufi, the Yakuti, and the By rati, call their conjurors $ha-
manT, and they perform the fame tricks, and make many
antic geftures at their pretended conjurations. Their drefs
is on thefe occafions likewife very remarkable, fometimes
ornamented with the fangs and talons of beafls and birds of
prey, fometimes hung with fach a terrible quantity of feve-
ral pieces of iron, as will both make the robe very heavy,
and caufe a great rattling noife at the leaft motion of the
conjuror's body. The more we go eaft in Siberia, the more
common is this kind of conjurors, and the more linking is
the likenefs between the favage inhabitants of North America,
and the favage Nomadic nations of the north-eaft parts of
Af,a, Some more hints of this fimilarity are pointed out in
a note to Kahns Travels into North America, vol. III.
p. 126. Fo

TRAVELS THROUGH

not do it over again, left fome one of them
fbouid be devoured by the revived creature, and
the better to convince them, I mewed them the
marks of the animal's teeth on my flomach.
They then approved very much of what I had
faid, and thanked me for interefting myfelf fo
much for them, as to expofe myfelf generoufly
to prevent the furious revived tyger-cat from
killing their women and children -, they added,
that I had done well to reduce it to its lifelefs
flate, in order to make it an example to others,
becaufe it was an evil fpirit ; thefe poor people
regard the French as fupernatural men.

It is fometimes dangerous to be a doctor , for
if fome one dies among the Indians, they attri-
bute his death to the phyfic, and not. to the in-
curable difpofition of the patient ; therefore I
would never advife any body to abufe the cre-
dulity of thefe people. I likewife told them, that
fince 1 had been bitten I had abjurated the office
of a magician, and that I knew no other phyfi-
cian than the Mafier of life, whofe aid they ought
to implore > that he was as much the father of
the red men as of the white men, who are their
elder brotherB,

■

The

L O U I S I A N A. 267

*&■

The pretended refurrection of my tyger-cat,
however, gave me great reputation among the
quacks or jugglers of this "country, and even
among thofe of Spanim Florida, whofe natural
curiofity led them to pay me a vifit ; they join-
ed the Allibamons doctors, and begged me to
perform the fame piece of legerdemain which I
had done on my voyage : I told them, I was
forry that I could not fatisfy their curiofity, be-
caufe I had ftruck the poll * ; however, that I
might not fend them away difcontented, I told
them, that their prefence was very agreeable to
me, that the Grand Chief 'of the French and the
father of the Indians was contented with their
nation, and with them in particular ; that the
doctors having more knowledge than the others,
both in the art of curing the fick, and in their
zeal towards infpiring their countrymen with fi-
delity and friendfhip for the French, it was on
that confideration I come on purpofe to bring
them a prefent, which was the word of their
father, and that M. Aubert had orders from the
goyernor to divide it among them.

,1 further told them, that as 1 was glad to get
acquainted with them, and to converfe with

them,

' * The Indian manner of ("wearing is to flrike againil a po£
with a club,

TRAVELS THROUGH

them, I wifhed they would tell me the;** proper
names. As thefe people are neither baptifed
nor circumcifed, they commonly take t hename
of fome animal, fuch as bear, wolf, fox, &c.
The gravity which I affecled, in order to com-
mand the refpecl of thefe Indian doctors, made
them afk me, whether I wrote their names in or-
der to give an account of them to their father,
by means of the fpeaking paper ? to which I
anfwered, that it was for that very purpofc.

When I had written down their names, I
fometimes made ufe of them in order to pafs for
a fortune-teller.

I fhut myfelf up in the hut of one of the doc-
tors, and a foldier, to whom I had told the
number of letters which compofed each name,
put his hand on the moulder of the juggler,
and with a little rod {truck him as many times as
there were letters in his name ; I being within
eafily gueffed what man my foldier laid his hands
upon ; and fo on with all the reft. They could
not comprehend how I could guefs fo well with-
out feeing them, and they owned that it went
beyond their imagination.

The

LOUISIANA. z69

The Sieur Godeau, chief furgeon and keeper
of the magazine at the fort of Al/ibamons, had al-
ready before me praclifed'phylic in the prefence
of the Indians, who were looking at a. little
phial full of mercury -, after looking at it with
attention, they told him they wilhed to have it.
He faid he would give it them, but that he
wanted the phial ; he poured out the quickfilver
immediately on the ground, and bid them take
it up 5 they could never do it, for it rolled
away on all fides •' the aftonimed favages called
it a fpirit which divided itfelf into feveral parts,
which being collected together formed only one
body; but their aftonifhment was much greater
when the Sieur Godeau took up all the mercurv
with a card, and put in the phial again, in their
prefence, which none of them had been able to
do. This furgeon did more, he poured aqua*
forlis upon it, which diffolved it, and made it
difappear entirely •, fince that time the Indians
have revered him as a great doctor.

M. de Montberaut has put the command of the
fort of the Allibamons into the hands of M. Au»
hert^ who is adjutant of the fort Mobile. I. take
the liberty to write to the governor, in order to
reprefent it to him with all refpeft, that being
the fenior officer of that gentleman, I could not

Hand

2 JO TRAVELS THROUGH

and here under his orders 5 that he might not
be further obliged to do any fervices foreign to
his function *, the King's order concerning that
particular being very explicit ; that as our infti-
tution is founded upon honour, I mould think
I would derogate from that which I had acqui-
red in the King's fervice, if I did not make the
obfervations of a foldier, whofe zeal for the fer-
vice he knows -, that it v/as very natural for me
to think, that by this confideration he would
think himfelf obliged to let me enjoy the emolu-
ments annexed to my place, otherwife I mould
beg him to recall me to New Orleans^ that I
might feize the nrft opportunity of fetting out
for Europe, where I mould have the pleafure of
alluring you that I am, SIR, &c.

At the Mibamons^ the id
of May 1759.

P. S. I

* I muft, however, do M. Auhert jufKce ; he has had
the command of the fort at the Allibamons to my prejudice,
but I muft praife the regard he has had for me, in offering
to divide the authority, and to live upon the footing of 3
-friend with me.

L O U I SI ANA.

27

P. $. I have forgot to mention to you a vifit
which the emperor of the Kawytas has paid us
fome time after M. ds Month eraufs departure.
As we had advice of it by a courier, I went to
meet his Indian majefty in order to receive him
at fome diftance from the fort. I had polled
fome foldiers, who fired their muikets by way
of fignal to the gunners to fire the cannon at
the moment, when the prince fhould put his hand
in mine * : he was mounted on a Spanifh hoffe,
with an Erigliih faddle, and with a houfing of a
tyger's fkin-j-.

This emperor marched gravely at the head of
his attendants ; I could hardly keep from laugh-
ing, on feeing tall well made naked men,
painted with all kinds of colours, follow each
other in a file, according to their rank, like fo
many Capuchin friars.

The Indian prince appeared enraptured with
the honours that were fhewn him ; he had

never

* The Indians are without' compliments and ceremonies,
they laugh at our bows, or method of faluting with the
body bent, and the foot advanced forwards or retreated
backwards.

f American leopard.

ftjjl TRAVELS THROUGH

never feen cannons, and called them great
niufkets*

He wore on his head a crefi of black piumes ;
his coat was fcarlet, with Englijh cuffs on it,
and befet with tinfel lace -, he had neither waift-
coat nor breeches, but only ah apron made of a
bit of fcarlet cloth, which v/as taken . up be-
tween the thighs and faftened to his girdle. Un-
der his coat he had a white linen fhirt; his feet
were covered v^ith a kind of. hufkins, of tanned
roe-deer fkins, which were died yellow. As he
was a young man, of eighteen or nineteen years
old, his nation had appointed a noble and wife
old man as a regent •, he held a fpeech in his fo-
vereign's name, and he prefented the calumet of
peace to M. Auhert^ who told him after the firft
compliments were over, that he mould go to reft,
it being the cuflom among the Indians* not to
fpeak of political affairs till the next day, iri or-
der to have time to make reflections.

The Sieur Laubhe, the king's interpreter,
tranflated the difcourfe of the regent, who Iifce-
wife acted as the emperor's chancellor, ; he did
not fail to call to mind the great fervices which
his late father had done to the French, and that

the

LOUISIANA. 273

the fon had always been willing to come to fee
them, in order to renew the friendfhip, which
had never ceafed to exifl between his nation and
ours, and to fmoke the fame calumet with
them.

It is true, his predeeefTor always was inviola-
bly attached to M. de Bienville, and the latter
granted that Cacique the title of emperor on
that account.

The governor likewife defired to bring all the
tribes of Allibamons to acknowledge the emperor
as their grand chief; but they refufed it faying,
that it was quite fufHcient that every village was
fubje£ted to a chief: in a- word, they would
change nothing in their form of govern-
ment.

The emperor* his regent, his chief of war
or general, his doclor or juggler, and his hired
fervant appeared at ten o'clock in the morning
before our commander, where we all were
dreffed in our uniforms in order to compofe a
kind of court for him. As to the emperor, his
imperial habit was no better this day than
that of his attendants, for they all were

Vol, t

1.

T

drefled

2*4 TRAVELS through

drefTed as Adam was in the terreftrial para-
di-fe *-.

This young prince had a noble fhape, and a
handfome appearance ; he was fpiightly and
graceful •, during his ftay here he has been
treated at the king's expence. As he was of
my fize, the governor of the fort begged me to
give him a blue coat, and a gold laced waift-
coat, a hat with plumes, and a fhirt with laced
ruffles.

M. Aubert like wife made fome trifling prefents
to this American prince, and to the officers of
his court, at the king's expence, and fent them
home very well fatisfied. /

Their country is fituated between Carolina and
Eaft Florida, eailward of Mobile •, thefe people
have never been conquered by the Spaniards, who
are become their declared enemies. The empe-
ror always dined at M. Auberfs table, with his
recent. The others had not the fame honour

done

* The coat which the emperor had on when he arrived at
the AJlibamcrs, had been given him by a captain in the
king of Great-Britain's army. He laid it by on this public
day, through political views,- and in order to get one from.
the French.

LOUISIANA. 275

done them, in order to infpire them with a
greater regard for the French officers. I mult
tell you, that the fon of that, noble Kawytas
whom the French had honoured with the pom-
pous title of emperor, was very much at a lofs
the firffc time he dined with us j for he had ne-
ver made ufe of a fork before •, therefore he
looked at us very attentively, in order to imi-
tate our way of eating. His regent had not the
fame patience, he took the breaft and back bone
of a turkey and broke it with his fingers, fay-
ing, that the Mafter of life had made them be-
fore the knives and forks were made.

Towards the end of the repafl we had a
little farce with the hired fervant of the Empe-
ror, who flood behind his Indian majefly dur-
ing dinner •, this fellow obferving that we eat
muftard with our boiled meat, afked M. de Bou-
din what it was that we feemed to relifh f»
much ; as this officer fpeaks the language of the
nation, having lived forty years among them,
he anfwered, that the French were by no means
covetous of what they pofTerTed -, the Indian
immediately took a fpoonful of muftard, which
being very flrong, forced him to make many
ridiculous contortions, which made his mailer
buril out laughing ; his fervant was far from

T 2 laughing

276 TRAVELS THROUGH

laughing ; for he thought he was poifoned j M.
Aubert ordered a bottle of brandy to be brought
and bid him take a good draught, affuring him
that he would be cured immediately.

The Kaivytas are very referved towards
Grangers in matters of religion •, they never
fpeak in public till they have reflected fuffici-
ently on what they are going to fay.

. Thefe people annually hold a general aflembly
in the principal village of their nation •, there is
a great hut for that purpofe, in which every one
takes place according to his rank, and has a right
to fpeak in his turn *, according to his age, abi-
lities, wifdom, and the fefvices he has done his
country.

The grand chief of the tribe opens the feflion
by a fpeech, which concerns the hiftory or tra-
dition of their country ; he tells the military ex-
ploits of his anceilors, who have diftinguifhed
ihemfelves in defence of their country, exhort-
ing his fubjecls to imitate their virtues, in fup-
porting the wants and miferies of human life

with

* The Indians difapprove of the European habit of fpeak-
' in<> ill together in an aiTembly.

LOUISIANA.

277

with patience, and above all, without complain-
ing againft the Great Spirit, who is the Lord of
the life of every being here on earth > and in en-
during adverfity with courage, and laftly in fa-
crificing every thing to the love of their country
and of liberty ; it being a thoufand times more
glorious to die as a man, than to live as a vile
flave.

The chief having ceafed fpeaking, the oldefl
among the nobles rifes, falutes his fovereign,
and harangues with his body naked to his gir-
dle ; he is all over in a fweat, on account of
the heat which his action and declamation throws
him into ; his geflures are natural, and his me-
taphors explain his mind : he perfuades his au-
dience into a belief of all that he fays, by his
eloquence, and the excellence of his difcourfe.
Nothing is more edifying than thefe aflemblies ;
you hear no prattling, no indecency, no ill-
timed applaufe and no immoderate laughter
there. The young men are very referved and
attentive to hear the words of the old men, be-
ing perfuaded that it is for their good.

T3

L E

TRAVELS THROUGH

xvii.

LET T E R

To the fame.

The Author leaves the Allibamons, His Naviga-
tion in the River of Tombekbe. How he ef-
capes the voracioufnefs of an Alligator. He meets
with a Tarty of revolted: Cha&aws, and brings
them to their Duty again. He returns to
Mobile.

I R>

&5K5K?? N S T E A D of an anfwer to the letter
<^ I <f> which I had wrote to the governor, I
Qy£y&*& received an order at the Allibamons to
co to Mobile, and ferve there under the orders
of M. de Velle, the king's lieutenant in that
place ; thus in Head of going to France as I had
told you,. I have got orders to command a con-
voy of provifions and ammunition to the fort

r,

cm-

LOUISIANA.

279

Tombekbe, which is fituated on a river of the fame
name, this flation is about ten legues from the
nation of ChaBaws* I have followed my inftruc-
tions with the greatefl exaclnefs, and to the en-
tire fatisfaclion of my fuperiors | the letters
and certificate which I can fhew up, are proofs
of it.

I left Mobile on the 20th of Auguft 1759,
with three boats, in which were foldiers and
Mobile Indians : the latter offer ] themfelves to
help the French in rowing, for fome trifle or

other which is given them.

You embark in the river Mobile* and after go-*
ing up about fifteen leagues, you come to a place
called la Fourche (i. e. the fork) that is the June-
ture of two rivers which fall into the Mobile,
viz. the river of Allibamons and the river Tom-
bekbe>, I entered into the Jaft on the 27th of Au-
guft, in order to go up to the fort ♦, we were in
the fine feafon, and I had chofen a very proper
place for a camp on the banks of a river ; the
Indians having had good fuccefs in riming there-
abouts, made me a prcfent of a barbel, a fi(h
of about four feet long, which they commonly
dry. The weather being fair, I did not chufe
to pitch my tent, but only fat down by myfelf

1 4 upon

TRAVELS THROUGH

upon a kind of plat-form covered with green
fods, which overlooked the river, thinking that
place the moft convenient for refting : I fpread
the bear's fkin taken in my pretended govern-
ment, and wrapped myfelf up in my tent, cover-
ing my face with it, becaufe the vapours at night
are - dangerous in this feafon -, this little nicety
near coiling very dear to me as you
ihail fee.

I had put my fKla at my feet, led it mould
be ftolen \ but it happened worfe. I had al-
ready flept for a whole hour very quietly, for
the inhabitants of thefe parts are our allies and
friends, when all of a fudden, I found myfelf
carried away by an extraordinary force, I awoke
immediately, believing fome one was playing me
a trick •, I afTure you I never was more fright-
ened, and I believe that a thing of lefs confe-
quence will often have the fame erFecl; I
thought the devil was carrying me off. I called
for help, and the people believed that I was
dreaming, or a vifionary ; but how great was
my furprife when I awoke. I-faw an alligator
^crocodile) of above twenty feet long P ; he was

come

t ■ -■ ' '

His fize frightened me, and I was lifcewife infefted witty
the had finell of muik which that animal carries with it*

LOUISIANA. 281

come out of the river in the calm of night, and
voracious as thefe creatures are, being attracted
by the barbel which lay at my feet, he greedily
fell upon it, and carrying it to the river he took
me along by the corner of the tent in which I
had wrapt myfelf up. I had time enough left
to get out of it, at the border of the precipice,
and fo efcaped with the fright. I only faved the
bear's fkin, which I never leave now. This
ftory, plain as it is, may pafs for a prodigy
among thofe who love the marvellous.

The Collapiffas and Wanchas, two little In-
dian nations, which live above New Orleans^
fight with the crocodiles, or alligators, in the wa-
ter in the following manner.

One takes a piece of hard wood, or of iron,
and fbarpens it at both ends ; he takes hold of it
in the middle, and fwims with that one arm ex-
tended. The alligator advances with his mouth
open, in order to devour the arm of the Indian,
who thrufts in his hand in which he holds the
piece of wood, and the alligator pierces both
his jaws through with it, can neither open nor
fhut his mouth again, and is brought on fhore*
by the Indian ; they often take this diverfion ;

- • and

T Pv A V E L S THROUGH

and the negroes of Guinea or of Senegal do the

After going up about fixty leagues between
forefls and mountains which confine the river,
we met with fuch low water, that we were
obliged to unload all the goods, and hide them
in the woods •, I only left the provifions and am-
munition in the boat, and gave them all my at-
tention. I never was in a more difagreeable fi-
tuation ; we were obliged to draw the boats for
upwards of fifteen leagues ; I put myfelf at the
Jiead of the foldiers and Indians, and drew at
the cord, in order to fet them an example.
You may judge of my'uneafinefs, if you will
confider that during this piece of work, it would
have been eafy to defeat and to plunder us. I
met a party of revolted Chaffiaws^ going to the
Engliih \ I exhorted them to return-, they
croiTed the river in a place, called in their lan-
guage Tajkalouffas, which fignifies the white
mountain f ; their chief, whofe name is Mingo
Howmas, had the infolenoe to pretend he could
oblige me to give him brandy ; he even was au-
dacious enough to lift his hatchet over my head.

On

* It is 2. kind of marie or chdk which y/ould be of peat
value in Europe, m ' • "■■-■• '

LOUISIANA. 283

On this occafion, I told him I was a true man,
that I feared not death, that I had given up my
body *, and was willing to die, being perfuaded
that if he killed me and my warriors, wjio
were but few, the grand chief of the French,
beyond the great lake, would revenge my blood
on their nation, by fending as many warriors
there, as there are leaves on the trees.

Thefe men were furprifed at my refolution;
they faid, " That I was a man of valour ; that I
" made them recover their wits which they had
" loft in forming the deteftable defign of leaving
" their father's hand, but that they hoped I
" would forget what was pafl, becaufe I was
" very good." At the end of this harangue,
they prefented the calumet of peace to me,
which I accepted on condition that I ihould
fmoke with a new fire out of it, to fignify an
eternal oblivion of what had paft, and a reno-
vation of the alliance with the Chaftaws, chil-
dren of the grand chief of the French. To
convince them that I would forget the pad, I
told them that the fire would be produced of
itfelf.

In

*■ Tliart is, devoted myfelf to die for my country.

V E L S THROUGH

In my laft voyage from France I took with
me a little phial of phofphorus ; I put fome of
this powder into the calumet of peace, and
looked up to the iky in pronouncing fome words
addreffed to the Great Spirit 5 in the mean time
the phofphorus being expofed to the air, fet fire to
the tobacco, which furprifed, not only the In-
dians, but even the Frenchmen who were with
me, becaufe they had never feen the experiment

tried with this powder.

-

After this myfterious ceremony, I made thefc
people prefents of fome European trifles, and
gave their chief a bottle of brandy, for it is
cuftomary among the Indians, that when you
treat with them, you muft give fomething to
confirm your words. Then they all fhook hands
with me, and went back to their village.
They told me, they were afhamed if their
foolifh conduct, and we feparated, fatisfied with
«ach other.

Some time after this adventure, the rains were
h frequent, that they fwelled the water m the
river very muchs

As I had difpatched an Indian to M. deCha-
hrt^ governor of Fort Totnbekh^ he fent me a

detachment

LOUISIANA. 285

detachment commanded by M. de Cabaret ', a ve*
ry ikilful officer, who was of great fervice to me
on this occafion, by bringing me refrefhments
for my foldiers, who had hardly any provifions
left.

Our European coxcombs, who carry mirrors*
toilets, night-gowns, &c. with them, would be
looked upon as women by the Indians, and not
as chiefs of the warriors : they would not diftin-
guifh themfelves in thofe campaigns, where they
muft endure the exceffive heats of the fummer,
and the rigours of winter, lie On the bare ground,
and expofe themfelves to all the changes of wea-
ther, in order not to be furprifed by the Indians.
Mr. Braddock, general of New England in 1755,
made the fatal experiment, -when he came to
take Fort du Quene\ he was mafTacred with hisv
whole army at fome diftance from that place, ;
by a fmall number of French, and fome faithful
Indians, led by brave Canadian and European
officers, who did wonders of bravery in this
action.

\

■ •

At laft I happily arrived at Fort Tomhekhe on
the 25th of September,, after going a hundred
leagues by water, without feeing a fingle halpita- I
tion. Every night we are obliged t;o camp in the

woods

2 S6

T R AVE L S THROUGH

woods upon the banks of the river ♦, but the
greateft inconvenience are the Mujkitoes or Ma-
rivgoins, a kind of gnats which are infupportable
in Louifiana. In order to be free from them, we
put gieat reeds into the ground, and bent them
over like arches ; we then covered them with a
linen cloth, and laid down a bear's (kin as a
matrafs. All. the voyages made by people of
the colony are done in the fame manner by wa-
ter.

•

After going on more to camp, the command-
ing officer mould always take care to appoint a
guard, and. to place fentinels in the woods to
prevent furprifes. The officer ought always to
be very careful in chufing an advantageous fitu-
ation for his camp, fuch as an ifle or a cape.

If the, Sieur D * * * had taken thefe precau-
tions, when he was fent to the Illinois by M. de
Bienville^ in 1735, with a boat laden with gun-
powder, in order to carry on the war with the
Chick/aws, he would not have been furprifed, as
he was, by a party of warriors of that nation.
It may be aflerted, that the neglect of that offi-
cer has been no lefs fatal to us, than the mean-
nefs, ignorance, and avidity of the governor of
the fort of the Natchcs ; this boat laden with

powder,

LOUISIANA. 257

powder, being taken by the Chickfaws, ferved
them to carry on the war againft us for above
thirty years, and caufed the death of many
brave men, and the lofs of many millions of
money to the king.

The following is, in a few words, the man-,
ner in which M. Z> * * * was furprifed and ta-
ken prifoner. One day when it blew a north
wind, he was obliged to bring his boat to the
fhore, and fo encamped thereon, in order to
wait for better winds. He went out hunting,
and his foldiers did the fame in imitation of
their chief; but the Chickfaws, who had follow-
ed and watched them for a long while, took the
boat with the gun-powder, and made all the
foldiers in it prifoners. When M. D * * * re-
turned from hunting, he was invefted and taken
as his foldiers had been; but the Indians, con-
tented with their capture, and having loft none
of their people, granted them their lives ; M.
D \ * * had the good luck to efcape, and re-
turned to New Orleans,

When one is on a journey, helhould always
have an Indian fcout to go before him, both for
the fake of reconnoitring the enemy or prevent-
ing furprifes, and likwife for findjng ouc gamc^

h

288

TRAVELS THROUGH

It happened to me as I was going up the river
ol'fontbekbe, that I was in want of provifions,
but Providence fupplied it visibly. The In-
dians,- who are like -ferrets in the woods, came
to o-ive me advice that they- had made a good
difcovery ; they found the neft of a great eagle,
called the royal eagle * ; as the tree on which this

■ neft

•A

* The eagle here called the royal,, is called in EngliCh the
Golden Eagle, Penn. Br. Zool. p. 6\. tab. A. and in 8vo vol.i.
p. 121. Falca chryfaetos, Linn, and Le grand aigle royal,
Planches enhminses, fab. 4 io. Mr, Pamaftt relates, from
Smith's hiflpry of Kerry, " That a poor man in that county
" got a comfortable fubfiftence for his family, during a fum-
" mer of famine, out of an eagle's neft, by robbing the ea-
*■ 6-Iets of the food the old ones brought." This in fome
meafure confirms our -author's account. M. Bttffbn, in his
Mifi. natureUe des eifeaux, 1 2 mo. - edit. vol. i. p. 117. at-
tacks M. Salerne, for having related the account he got from
a friend, who found three jirong eaglets of ihis kind in a neft,
fixed between two rocks. M. de Buffon, though a great natu-
ral hiftorian, is frequently fubjett to have his peculiar opi-
nions, which he defends againft all fa£ls proving the con-
trary : and, by his eloquence, he explains away the ftrong-
eft arguments ; and invalidates even fa&s, in fo much, that
their ftrength in 'proving againft him dwindles quite away.
Our author had no peculiar opinion to favour ; he mull have
known the bird, which is not uncommon in France, and
may be feen in the menageries of the King and the nobility,
and an various cabinets 5 and therefore I think our author's

account

t» G U I S I A N A.

heft was placed, was a very tall one, they came
for hatchets to cut it down; they were indeed
well paid for their trouble, for they found a
great quantity of game of all kinds in the neit*
fuch as fawns, rabbets, wild turkies, grous»
partridges, and wood-pigeons, there were four
eaglets in it, already pretty frrong , thefe the In-
dians took for themfelves, to the great forrovr
of their parents, who would have picked out
their eyes, if the Indians had not been armed
with mufkets ; the poor birds were quite furious*
and the eagle is very juftly called the king of
the birds on account of his intrepidity ; but the
balls did not fpare their feathered majeflies, who
Vol. I. U * fdl

account a flrong proof againft M. Buf0n\ option, that the
golden eagle has no more than two eaglets, feldom three,
never four. This will be a warning to all naturalifts, not
too much to rely upon the affertions of that French natural
hiilorian, who, with all his abilities, indulges too much
his opinions, in fpite of facts that are again!* him. I
know and acknowledge the merit of this able zoologiit, bat
as his fine language, the fine prints, the vanity of the
French nation, and the prefent fafhkm able tafle, have pro-
cured him a high reputation, it is no more than natural that
his authority mould be decide with many, who like rather
light fummer-rccding, than the heavinefs of a critical difcuf.
fioh in natural hiilory; I therefore thought, that fuch ».
feint might be fervieeable to thofe whom WUdt Btfhn wa*U
carry a-flray by his florid Czyte. t\

£oo TRAVELS through

fell the victims of parental love. The Indiana-
told me, that the great Spirit fent us thefe pro-
Viilons- indeed it was to be looked upon as a
manna fent by Providence, which favoured us
in thefe defarts.

I have received news here from New Orleans,
from whence my friends write, that every thing
is in great confufion there, on account of an
Eno-lifh fhip which is arrived from Jamaica as a
fmup-o-lins; veilel, commonly called there an in-
terloper.

This fhip is called -the Texel, commanded by
Captain Bias- Arias, a Jew, born an Englifh
fubject.. The Ordonnateur having found, that it
ouo-ht to be confifcated according to the orders
of the marine, has feized k for the King's ac-
count •, M. de Belkijle, who is fort major, and
the governor's locumtenens, has been requeftcd to
aflift with the military for that purpofe •, but M.
de Kerier.ec returning from Mobile, has fufpended
M. de Belkijle in the performance of his func-
tions ; that governor afterwards has had M. de
Rochemorc's fecretary taken up at three o'clock
in the morning, by a detachment of foldiers,
who, after breaking the doors and windows,
dragged him out of bed, and put him on board

a vef*

LOUISIANA.

291

a vefFel, the deftination of which remains un~
known : upon this M. de Rochernore has lent to
the minifter, Monfieur de Ffatenetle* counfellor
in the iuperior council.

When I mail be better informed of all that
has happened there, I mall impart it to you ; I
write to the governor to grant me my recall td\

New Orleans.

I am; S I R, &c.

At TombekVe^ the igth rf
September 1759,

U 2.

LET

292 TRAVELS THROUGH

f~*e mm p* mm w* mm jr* mm f*

k^ MM fejtf MM fcjtf MM kj£ MM k.

LETTER XVIII.V

21? M* Same,

Defcription of the Country of the Chactaws. Their
IVars \ their Way of treating their Sick ; their
Superjlition ; their Commerce j their Plays of
Exercife. Country of the Tchicachas or Chick-
faws, our Enemies,

S I R,

F^MM"^ Thought of fetting out from hence in
I S two days, but the defire of knowing
kMMj^ tne mofc warlike and moft numerous
nation of Louifiana made me change my mind ; I
employ my leifure hours to defcribe what I have
feen and heard of them. The Chaclaws are en-
tirely the friends of the French -, they have given
proofs of it under the government of M. Perrier>
when they were made ufe of to punifh the Nat-

ches

L O U I S I

N A.

293

dies who mafTacred the French that were fettled
among them. The court likewife annually
makes them prefents to keep them in our intereft.
This nation can bring four thoufand warriors in-
to the field, who would march with pleafure. It
would be very eafy, if it was managed as care-
fully as it ought to be,, to make them fmg their
fongs of war, and ftir them up to revenge us
againft the Englijh, who are committing hoftili-
ties in our pofTefTions in Canada ; thefe people
might on occafion ferve us to great advantage,
if they made incurfions into the Britifh colonies,
efpecially the provinces of Georgia and Carolina,
which are quite empty, all their troops and the
national militia having been fent to the fieo-e of
£%uefot. Many brave officers of this colony,
who fpeak the language of the Indians, fuch as
M. de Rouville, du Tiffenet, and others, are eager
to head fome parties of this nation, who could
deflroy the crops of our enemies, would pillage
and burn their habitations, and give the alarm
even to the walls of Charles-town, which might
make a diverfion in favour of Canada.

The Chaftaws love war, and are acquainted
with ftratagems. They never fight in order, or
Hand their ground, they only harrafs and teaze
their enemies much, without being cowards -

V 3

TRAVELS though

for when they come to elofe engagement, they
fight very coolly . Some of their women are fa
fond of their hufbands as to go into the wars
with them. They ftand by their fides in the
battle, with a quiver full of arrows, and encou-
rage them continually by telling them, they
ought not to fear their enemies, but die as true

The Chaffaws are very fuperltitious ; when,
they go to war they confult their Manitcu> who,
is carried by the chief. They always expofe him
to that fide where they are to go towards the ene-
my, and place fome warriors as fentinels round
him. They have fuch aveneration for him, that
they do not eat till the chief has given him firft
his mare.

During the continuance of the war, they obey
their chief very exactly > but as foon as they re-
turn, they only confider him according to the
liberality with which he difpofes of his pro-
perty.

It is a cuftom among them, that when the
chief of a party of warriors has got booty from
the enemy, he mull diftribute it to the warriors,
and to the relations of thofe who have been kill-
ed

L O .U I S I A N A. 295

cd in battle, in order, as they fay, to dry up their
tears. The chief keeps nothing for himfelf, ex-
cept the honour of being the fupport of the na-/
tion.

Intereft, which is the caufe of fo many crimes"
in the old world, is unknown in the new world ;
it is not without reafon that the Cuba Indians
iaid, Gold is the true God of the Spaniards, and
we muft give it them in order to have peace. In
America we do not fee any of thofe men, whom
we call favagesj kill their brothers in cool blood,
or make ufe of falfe witneffes to undo them, in
order to get their eftates. Thofe intrigues are
unknown there, which are made ufe of to ac-
quire riches, by means unworthy of a human
beinp\ No wife poifons her hufband there, as
is done in Europe, in order to marry again.
There are no women lafcivious or audacious
enough publicly to declare the impotence of
their hulbands, as the European women do;
nor does any Cacique's wife get her hufband
flrangled, as that Neapolitan princefs did with
her's, becaufe he would not fatisfy her brutal
pafiion *, no girls there deilroy their own off-
spring, in order to appear chafte in the eyes of
men. The Indian women abhor the Chrifdan
girls who fall into that cafe-, they oppofe the

U 4 fierceft

£96 T R A V E L 5 THROUGH

nerceft wild beafts to them, becaufe they take
great care of their young.

If the chief of a party of Chaftaws does not
fucceed in the war which he has undertaken, he
lofes all his credit •, nobody has any truft in his
command, and he is obliged to come down to
the rank of a mere warrior. However, admire
the variety of opinions among -the different na?
tions. It is no fhame, if, among thefe warlike
people, a man turns his back upon the enemy.
This deferrion is attributed to a bad dream ; if
the chief of a great party, having dreamt that
he will lojfe fome men, tells his warriors that he
has had a bad dream, -they return immediately
to their village \ as foon as they arrive there,
they have recourfe to phyfic, /. e. to juggler's
tricks, which they employ on all occafions ;
then they march towards the enemy ; and if they
meet him, they kill five or fix of his men, and
come home as content as if they had fubdued a
cr'^at empire,

A general who mould gain a victory with the
lofs of many of his men, would be ill received
by them ; becaufe they do not value a victory
when it is bought with the blood of their friends
f.nd relarions: their chiefs are always careful u.

prefer

B O U I S IAN A. 297

preferve their warriors, and never attack the ene-
my unlefs they are fare of an eafy victory, either
on account of their numbers, or their advantage-
ous Tit nation ; but as their adverfaries are like-
wife cunning, and evade all the fnares that are
laid for them, it depends then upon fuperior
finefTe; therefore they hide themfelves in the
woods in day-time, and only walk at night ; if
they are not difcovered, they attack by break
of day. As they are generally in a woody coun-
try, he that goes firfl fometimes carries a very
thick bum. before him, and as they all follow
each other in a file, the lafc hides the marks of
their feet, by putting the leaves on the ground
on which they went in order again, fo as to
leave no veftiges that might betray them.

The chief things by which they difcover their
enemies are the fmoke of their fires, which
they can frnell to a very great diftance, and their
tracks or footfteps, which they can diflinguifh
in an incredible manner. One day an Indian
fhewed me, in a place where I had feen nothing,
the footfteps of fome Frenchmen, Indians, ' and
Negroes, and the time when they had gone that
way ; I own that this knowledge is amazin^ • it
may well be faid, that when the Indians apply
to any fmgle thing, they excel in it.

Their

29S TRAVELS THROUGH

Their art of war confifts, as you fee, in vigi-
lance, attention to prevent furprife, and to at-
tack the enemy unprepared, in patience and
fhength to fupport hunger, thirft, the rigours
of the weather, and the labours and fatigues in-
feparable from war.

He that has done a fine action carries the
fcalp of his dead enemy as a trophy, and gets
the mark of it made on his body, then he
mourns for him, and during that time, which
lafts a month, he mud not comb himfelf; and
when his head itches, he is only allowed to fcratch
it with a little rod, which he ties to his wrift for
that purpofe.

The Chactaws and their wives are very un-
cleanly, living chiefly in places at a diftance from
overs. They have no kind of religious fervice,
they live without troubling their heads with fu-
turity, and however believe that they have an
immortal foul. They have a great veneration
for their dead, whom they do not bury. When a
Chaffavs dies, his corpfe is expofed upon a bier,
made on purpofe, of cyprefs bark, and placed
on four polls fifteen feet high. When the
worms have confumed all the fiefh, the whole
family affembles -, forne one difmembers the ike-

leton,

LOUISIANA.

299

lcton, and plucks oft all the mufcles, nerves
and tendons chat ftill remain ; they bury them
and depofit the bones in a chefl, after colouring
the head with verm il lion. The relations weep
during this ceremony, which is followed by a
feait, with which thofe friends are treated who
come to pay their compliments of condolence ;
after that, the remains of their late relation are
brought to the common burying ground, and
put in the place where his anceflor's bones were
.«Jepofited. During the performance of thefe
fad ceremonies, a deep filence is obferved, they
neither fing nor dance, and every one goes
home weeping.

In the firft days of November they celebrate
a great feail, which they call the feail of the
dead, or of tlie fouls ; all the families then go
%o the burying-ground, and with tears in their
.eyes vifit the chefls which contain the relics' of
relations, and when they return, they give a
great treat, which fmilhes the feaft,

It may be faid in praife of thefe Americans^
jthat the friend (hip fubfifling among the relations,
a thing uncommon in Europe., is worthy of imi-
tation. I have mentioned fome inftances of it
which exceed thofe of antiquity. The mutual

love

3©q TRAVELS through

love of the Indians towards each other, inclines
them to aflift each other when they are infirm.
This fincere love particularly fhews itfelf in the
laft duties which they pay to their friends and re-
lations by their tears and grief, even then, when
they exifl no more.

The Indians in general have a great vene-
ration, for their doctors or jugglers, who are
real quacks, that impofe upon the people, and
live handfomely at their expence. They have a
great authority among the Indians, and the. latter
go to them upon every occafion for their ad-
vice ; they confult them as oracles. When a
Ckaffaw is fick, he gives all he has in order to
be cured by them •, but if the patient dies, his
relations attribute his death to the phyiic, and
not to his indifpofition ; and can confequently kill
the doctor if they have, a mind to do it % ; how-
eve^ this cafe fcarce ever happens, as they ge-
nerally have an excufe at hand. Thefe doctors
are, however, acquainted with feveral excellent
plants for curing the difeafes common in their

country ;

* There are, likevvife, people in France, who lay the
death cf their relations to the charge of the phyiician, and
referable the Indians very much in fiheir thoughts on this

L O U I S I A N A. 30*

country «, they know a certain remedy for the
bite of rattle fnakes, and other poifonous
animals.
-

When the Indians are wounded with a bullet
or an arrow, the doctors or jugglers begin with
fucking the wound of the patient, and fpitting
out the blood : they never employ lint, or tents,
in their chirugical operations 1 but they have
the powder of a root, which they blow into th^
wound, to accelerate its fuppuration, and they
make ufe of another which dries and heals it ;
they preferve wounds from mortification, by
bathing them with a decoction of fome roots,
which they know *.

When they are tired and exceflively fatigued,
after returning from a war, or from a hunt,
they ufe fweating in ftoves \ , as a reflorative.

In

* M. de Boffu would have very much obliged all the
world, by making ufe of his influence over the Indians,
which he repeatedly mentions, in order to get from them the
knowledge of fuch plants as they employ in their feveral dif-
eafes and aliments : this would have been really ufeful, and
a proof of his humanity and curious inquiries. F.

f Thefe ftoves are round huts, built like ovens in the

middle

302 TRAVELS tSROucrf

In thefe baths they boil all fores of medicinal
and odoriferous herbs, whofe elTences and falts
rifing with the fteam of the water, enter into
the body of the airlifted perfcn, and reilores his
loft forces. This remedy is equally good for
abating and deftroying all kinds of pains ; of
courfe you fee no Indian affected with the gout,
the gravel, and other diftempers which we are
fubject to in Europe •, but this may likewife be
attributed to their frequent bodily exercifes.
You fee no great Dutch bellies there, nor any
great tumours under the chin, fuch as the Pied-
montefe wens.

The Chactaws put a firm belief in enchanters
and magicians, and when they meet with one
fuch pretended forcerer, they cut oif his head
* without any ceremony.

I faw an Indian of the nation of ChaffawSy
lyho had lately been baptized : as he had no

luck

middle of the villages j they are kept in order by an Alexi*
or public doctor.

* In 1752, when I vvifat Mobile^ I faw an Indian whom
the others killed with a hatchet, becaufe he pretended to be
a forcerer. The other Indians attributed to him all thes
misfortunes that happen to their nation \

LOUISIANA.

;03

luck in hunting like his companions, he ima-
gined he was bewitched •, he went immediately
to Father Lefevre the Jefuit * who had converted
him, and told him that his medicine or trick was
good for nothing, becaufe fince he had practifed
it upon him, he could kill no flags or roe-deer;
he therefore defired he would take off his en-
chantment again. The Jefuit, in order to avoid
the refentment of this Indian, did as if he anni-
hilated the baptifmal ceremony. Some time af-
ter, this Indian killed • a roe-deer, either by ac-
cident, or by his own .(kill, and thus thought
himfelf freed from the enchantment, and was
content.

The mind of this nation in general, is very
rough and unpolifhed. Though one tells them
ever fo much of the myfteries of our religion,
they always anfwer, that what we fay is above
their underftanding. They have, befides, very bad
morals, moil of them being addicted to fodomy.
Thofe defiled men, wear long hair, and a little
petticoat like the women, who defpife them very
much.

The

* The Indians call the Jefuits the men with the black
robe; they fay that they are not like other men, and call
them women, in derifio».

-

304 TRAVELS THkoi/GH

- The Chaftaws are very active and merry j
they have a play at ball, at which they are very
expert ♦, they invite the inhabitants' of the neigh-
bouring villages to it, exciting them by many
fmart fayings. The men and women aflemble
in their beft ornaments, they pafs the whole day
in finging and dancing-, they even dance
all the night to the found of the drum and
chichikois.

The inhabitants of each village are diftin-
guiihed by a feparate fire, which they light in
the middle of a great meadow. The next day
is that appointed for the match ; they agree upon
a mark or aim about fixty yards off, and diftin-
guifhed by two great poles, between which, the
ball is to pafs. They generally count fixteen
till the game is up. They are forty on each
fide, and every one has a battledoor in his hand,
about two feet and a half long, made very
nearly in the form of ours, of walnut or chef-
nut wood, and covered with roe-fkins.

An old man Hands in the middle of the place
appropriated to the play, and throws up into the
air a ball of roe-fkins, rolled about each other.
The players then run, and endeavour to flrike
the ball with their battledoors -, it is a pleafure to

fee

LOUISIANA.

305

fee them run naked, painted with various co-
lours, having a tyger's tail fattened behind, and
feathers on their heads and arms, which move
as they run, and have a very odd effect : they
pufh and throw each other down ; he that has
been expert enough to get the ball, fends it to
his party ; thofe of the oppofite party run at
him who has feized the ball, and fend it back to
their fide ; and thus they difpute it to each
other reciprocally* with fuch an ardour, that
they fometimes diflocate their moulders by it.
The players are never difpleafed ; fome old men,
who aflift at the play, become mediators, and
determine, that the play is only intended as a
recreation, and not as an opportunity of quar-
relling. The wagers are confiderable ; the wo-
men bet among themfelves.

When the players have given over, the wo-
men affemble among themfelves to revenge their
hufbands who have loft the game. The battle-
door they make ufe of, differs from that of the
men, in being bent ; they all are very active,
and run againft each other with extreme fwift-
nefs, pufliing each other like the men, they hav-
ing the fame drefs, except on thofe parts which
raodefty teaches them to cover. They only put

Vol. I.

X

rouge

3o6 ' T'HAV'ELS through

rou<ye on their cheeks,; and vermillion, inllead

of powder, in their hair.

After playing well on both fides all the day
long, every one retires with his glory or (hame,
but without rancour, promifing to play again
another time as well as they can : thus the In-
dians both men and women, exercife themfelves -
in running ; they are likewife very fwift, for I
* have feen fome run as fall as flags.

The children exercife themfelves in mooting
with a bow and arrows for prizes • he that moots
beft, gets the prize of praife from an old man,
who calls him an apprentice warrior •, thus they
are formed by emulation, without corporal pu-
nifhment •, they are very expert in (hooting with
an inftrument made of reeds about feven feet
long, into which they put a little arrow, fea-
thered with the wool of a thiftle, and in aim-
ing at an objed, they blow into the tube, and
often hit the aim, and frequently kill little birds
with it.

Almoft all the affemblies of the CkaZaws are
held in night-time. Though they are barbarous
and ferocious, it is rieceffary, in order to gain
their confidence, to take great care to keep your

promiies

L O U I S I A fit A. 30-7

promifes to them, without which, they. treat you
with the greater!: contempt, proudly telling you
that you are a liar, an epithet which, the Indians
have given to the prefent governor, whom
they, call Oulabe Mingo, u c. the lying
chief*

When the women are with child, their huf-
bands abftain from fait, and from pork, for fear
thofe aliments might do harm to their children.
The women never lie-in in their huts •, they go
into the woods to be delivered, without r-eceiv*
ing any afTiftance.

As foon as they are delivered, they wafh their
Infants, The mothers apply a mafs -of earth
to the foreheads of their children, to make
them have flat heads, and as they get more
ftrength they increafe the bulk, it being a beauty
among thefe people to have a fiat head. They
never fwaddle their children.

They never wean their children till they are
difgufted with their mother's milk. I have feen
fomc children grown up to as to be able.to tell
the mother, fet down, that I may fuckk,,wd the
mother immediately fat down. Their cradle is
made of reeds, they put their children into rtf fo

v n that

3o8 TRAVELS through

that their head lies three or four inches lower
than the reft of the body, therefore you never
fee any contracted or hump-backed people
amongft them. The women leave the huts in
their catamenia, which the Indians call marks
of valour. During that time, they are obliged
to prepare their own meat and drink, and they
do not return among men, till they are tho-
roughly purified. The Indians believe, that if
they come near a woman in that date, they
would fall fick, and that if they went to war af-
ter it, they would have bad luck. ^ ]

Though the Indians only value themfelves
upon their origin from the fide of the women,
yet the latter are not allowed to correct the
boys ; they have only an authority over their
daughters. If a mother mould ftrike her fon,
ffae' would be reprimanded and ftruck again ; but
if, the boy diibbeys her, me mull bring him
to, an old man, who inflicts a puniihment
on him, and then throws fome frefh water over
his body.

If a woman commits an infidelity, (he mult
fafi through the meadotv^ i. e. all the young men,
and fometimes even the old ones, fatisfy their
brutality on her, by turns. Such is the puniih-
ment

man.

- ,

L O U I S I A N A. 3c9

ment of adultery among the Ckaftaws. Some-
times the guilty woman, has the good luck,
after this infamy, to find a mean fellow, who
takes her as his wife, under the pretence that
fhe muft be difgufted with a criminal conduct,
that has drawn fuch a punifhment on her, and
that fhe will confequently behave better for the
future. Be this as it will, fhe is always
Jooked upon as a depraved and immoral wo-

■

Before I finifh my letter I muft fay a word of
the Tchicachas, or Ckickfaws. This nation is not
fo numerous as the ChaRaws, but more terrible,
on account of their intrepidity. All the
northern and fouther n Indian nations, and even '
the Frenr/iy have attacked them, without ever
being able to drive them out of their country,
which is the fineft and moft fruitful on the con-
tinent. The Chickfaws 'are tall, well made, and
of an unparalleled courage. In 1752 and
1 151* they attacked MefT. Benoift and de Reggio,
who commanded the convoys from the Illinois
ftation, defending the river Mijffjfippi; thefe
Indians always choofe fome advantageous fitua-
tion, to make an attack in, their moft common
poft is arthe rocks of Prudhomme, the river be- '

A 3 mg

0

>.

310 TRAVELS through

ino- narrow there, they can annoy the boats,
which have no decks.

]t is believed that the Chickfaws killed MefE
Boujfelet and de la Morliere •, thefe two officers,
though they were very brave, fell into an am-
bufcade for want of experience, not knowing
the topography of the country they were in any
more than general Braddock. An officer ought,
therefore, always to apply to that, in order tq
avoid furprifes, or elfe he fliould always be on
the defenfive and prepared,

The EngliJJi have always been in alliance. with
thefe valiant warriors -, they have always, traded
with them, and iupplied all their wants.

The Indians of this nation ride well On horfe-
back : they leave the care of cultivating and fow
ino- their grounds to their women, who are hanoV
fome and cleanly; When- a Ckickfaw has killed a
roe-deer, he tells his wife whereabouts it lies ;
fhe goes to fetch it, dreffes it, and ferves it up
to her hufband: the women never eat with the
men, who fee m very indifferent about them, but
really love them better than any other nation.

The

LOUISIANA.

5 1 1

The Tchicachas, or CMckfazus, only punifti
adultery with whipping the two offenders who
have been caught in the fact, making them run
naked through the village •, after which the huf-
band repudiates his wife.

As thefe Indians gave {belter to the. Hatches,
after the maffacre of the French, the latter armed
in 17^6 againit, and attacked them, with
the united forces of the whole colony, but with-
out fuccefs.

M. d'Artaguette major and governor for the
king, in the country of the Illinois, came to join
M. de Bienville the governor of Louifiana •, he
brought him the troops of the Illinois^ and from
the frontiers of Canada, but the army which
that officer commanded, was furprifed and de-
feated, becaufe he had been abandoned by the
Indians, who were our allies. M. d'Artaguette
was taken, with.feven officers, and about twenty-
fix foldiers and inhabitants, by the Chickfaws,
who burnt them alive; among them was the
Father Senat a Jefuit, who went with M. d?Ar-
iaguette in the quality of chaplain. The detail
of this tragic leene has been related by a ferjeant,.
called Louis Gamoi, who was a fpettator of the
tad fate which his companions underwent ; he

X 4 ^as

41»

TRAVELS THRouer

i

referved to be burnt, laft, but he efcaped by an

odd ftratagem. As he was acquainted with the
language of the Indians, he employed it on this
oceafion to utter mveclives againft them ; and
getting loofe, he threw all he found near him
at their heads, faying, you are dogs, becaufe you
have burnt my chiefs ; I will be burnt toorI fear
neither fire nor death, for I am a true man,
make me fuffer much, becaufe I defire it. The
Chickfazvs, feeing his refolution, looked upon
Km as an extraordinary fellow, and granted
him his life ^ he was afterwards ranfomed bypn
Engtifhman from Carolina, and is now at Charles-
town the capital of that colony.
-. " ■-..■--.?-

-

In another expedition againft the Tchicackas,
which was undertaken on the 26th of May in the
fame year, and commanded by M. de Bienville,
we had not any more fuccefs -, many brave offi-
cers loft their lives in it, and the major-general
of the army, and the adjutant received fuch.
dangerous wounds, that the laft died of them.
I have heard from the Chevalier de Lucer, who .
is of a Swifs offspring, that his father, who fer-
ved as captain in our troops, had been in this,
unlucky expedition-, this officer has likewife
told me the ftory of the Chevalier de Grondel, .
ho now belongs to the garrifon of Mobile, and

commands/

w

LOUIS

I A N A.

3*3

commands the Swiis troop of the regiment of
Halwitt, belonging to the fervice of the marines;
he had then tjie command of a detachment of
grenadiers of the regiment of Karrery in M. de

Bienville's army againft the Chickfaws,

• ■ 7

--

In order to abridge the account of this affair»
I fhall only fay, that this officer, joining fidelity
and bravery natural to his nation, to the impe-
tuofity of youth, received five fhot in his body
during the attack. As he remained on the field
of battle after the retreat, he was juft going to
become the object of the enemy's vengeance and
fury, if feveral foldiers of his troop had not ge/
neroufly expofed their lives to fave his, not-
withstanding the balls and arrows which were
fent at them from the fort of the Chickfaws^
killed hvQ of them one after another.

fir

XT . ,

However, one, without fearing the danger*
returned to the field, and happily arrived in his
troop carrying his officer on his moulders. The i
chief furgeoni of the army tried all he knew to j
cure him, and the general, who values military.
merit, did not fail to give in an account of the
Officer's behaviour at court; and M. de Maure-
pas, in confutation of the wounds M. de Gron*
del hzd received, granted him an extraordinary

grati-

3*4

TRAVELS .through

gratification, till he could get the .crofs of SL

Louis.

. The foldier * who faved him at the peril of his
life, was immediately made ferjeant at the head
of his troop. ' You fee, Sir, by this fhort ac-
count, how worthy of admiration that well-eila-
blifhed fubordination is, among the troops. of
the Helvetic body, that are" fo inviolably attach-
ed to the fervice of our King, and how much
thofe that keep it in force feel the happy effects
of it.

The action of thefe foldiers, which was. really
an heroic one, well defer ves that their names
fliould be tranfmitted to pofterity..

In 1754, the Baron de Forneuf imparted to
me his intention of going upon a diicovery into
the weft of Lonifianay up the Mi0ppi.w&
the river Mijjouns, the fources'of which are un-
known to us. This officer, who is a Ca?icdian^
has the proper qualities for undertaking fuch an
expedition • but the war which arofe between
France and England^ on account of the bounda-
ries

* ills name was RegmJJe*

L O U I S I AN A. 315

-

ries of thefe countries, has been an obftacle CQ
the execution of this project

f .
I can affure you, that I mould have been very
Jiappy to accompany him, both for the honour
of my King and for my own fatisfa&ion •, for,
notwithstanding the fatigues and dangers I have
undergone in my voyages, I have never been
difgufted or tired out of patience. Misfortunes
pals' like dreams, and I fee nothing fo happy as
the life of a traveller-, he conftantly fees new
pbiecls, . which inftrudt and • amufe him at the
fame time. His mind is cultivated in an agree-
able manner, he learns to read the great book of
the univerfe, which cannot be read in a library,
where there are. as many fyftems, opinions, and
contradictions, as authors. If you were in my
place, you would have room to make philofo-
phical reflections. I am, S I R, ,&c.

At the fort ofTombekbe, the
$othof September 17 59.

P. S. As I may perhaps not meet with an op-
portunity of writing to you this good while, on
account of the war, I (hall add here an ab.ftrad
concerning the differences which have arifen be-
tween

3i6 TRAVELS THaotrcw

tween us and the Chattaws: Some time after
the war with the Tehikaehas or Chickfaw-s, the
French had fome quarrels with a party of Ghac-
tawSy who followed the intereft of a prince of
their nation called the Red Shoe, who was info-
lent, and committed feveral hoftilities agairril the
French» M. de Faudreuil, then governor of Lou-
ijiana^ having heard of this action, and what
gave occafion to it, immediately forbid all the
French to go to that nation, and commanded
them not to fell them any arms or ammunition,
in order to flop thefe commotions foon, and
without bloodfhed.

The Marquis de Vaiidreutly after thefe precau^.
tions, fent to the fovereign of the nation, to in*
quire whether he was angry with the French, as
the Red Shoe , the fovereign anfwered, by means
of the interpreter, that he was the friend of the
French, that his general, meaning Prince Red
Shocr had loft his fenfes. -

-• '

After this an fwer, he got a prefentrbut was
much'furprifed to find neither arms nor powder
and-.fnot in it, at a time when he was our friend
as before. This proceeding, together with the
prohibition of felling them arms, which: they
knew had been ifFued out, redoubled their afto-

- V

nifhrnentj

L O U I S I A N A,

Sl7

nilhment* and brought them to an explication
with the governor, who told them, that our
people would not treat with them concerning
arms and ammunition, as long as the Red Shoe
had not found his wits again ; becaufe, if they
got powder, they could not help, being all bro-
thers, to give a Ihare of it to the warriors of
captain or chief Red Shoe. This anftfer deter-
mined them to fpeak to the tribes that infulted
us ; they told them, if they did not foon go with i
the calumet to the French, they themfelves
would go to war againft them as rebels. This
threat made them afk peace, and offer a repa-
ration to the French, who were not in a condition
to fuftain a war againft fo numerous a nation,
pi ffion£
Thus M. de Vaudreuily as a wife politician*
put a ftop to this war, without expences to the
ftate, and without expofing a fingle man ; it was
M. de Grand-pre, a captain of our troops, who
was charged with this important ncgociation •, the
Marquis could not pitch upon a fitter perfbn,
M. de Grand-prS k a Canadian, and ferves the-
King with zeal, bravery, and difintereftednefs.
I was upon the point of going to ferve under
him at -Fort TombeHe among the Chatlaws,
when I Mrft arrived here in 175 i\

: - j

LET-

r •■ I

3i8 TRAVELS through

LETTER XIX.

To the fame.

The Author returns to Mobile. Remarkable Events
which happened in the Cat's Ifle. Tragic Death
of the Sieur Duroux governor of that ifle.

S I R,

PvJOC^ A M now returned from my voyage
M I ^ up the river of TvmbekbL I have ful-
^^^ filled this important and troublefome
miffion, to the fatisfadtion of my fuperiors. In
availing for my recal to New Orleans, my curio-
fity led me to vifit the little iiles on the coaft of
Xaouifiana*

The ifle of Majfacte was the fett where the
French m^t any fettlements. It got its name
becaufe the French, when they landed there,
found a great quantity of human (keletons

but

L O U I % I AN A.

3*9

but could not diltinguifh whether they'were of

Spaniards or Indians..

It has fince been called the DalipMn ifle*. ic

was peopled by degrees •, they built magazines*

a fort, arid barracks there.

, a.
In

__—_—_— — 1 1 1 ■' 1 : ■ ■■ -1 —

* It mult not be confounded with that which is mentioned
In the relation of the firft voyage of the Eall: India company
to the ifle of Madagascar, which they called too precipitate-
ly the Dauphin s iiland.

The author of this relation, who wrote in 1665, and had
done that fame voyage, agrees that the Englifh and Dutch*
who were already eftablifhed in India, were the models
which M, de Colbert propofed to imitate, and afterwards to
furpafs ; but all the projects of that worthy minifter proved
abortive, both by the imprudence and vanity peculiar to the
nation, and by the mifmanagement of thofe who were at the
head of affairs. .

The fame author adds, that he only found there *' violent
** and unfkilful men, ill chofen officers, incapable of theoc-
" cupation they were intended for; whereas they ought to
*c have been men above the coarfer paffions, with no other
*' inclinations than for the good of their country, which
** ought to be the rule by which everyone fnould be guided.
** who wifnes to acquit himfelf with honcur."

It feems to me, that this ufeful lefTon mould be graved in-
to the hearts of all thofe who go to our colonies with fome

authority.

I j^ave

TRAVELS THROUGH

In 1 717, the entrance of the harbour was
{topped up by a prodigious quantity of fand,
collected together by a hurricane j the whole ifle
was almoft overflowed, and great numbers of
cattle were drowned ; it was neceflary to feek
another port, and they chofe the ifle Surgere*
which has fmce been called Ship IJland \ it has a
pretty good harbour. In 1722 M. de Bienville
tranfported every one from thence to New Or*
leans, and that place became the capital of Lotii~

Six leagues from the Ship IJland is the Cats
Ifie, fo called on account of the number of wild
cats which have been found there. This ifle is
only remarkable on account of the murders and
robberies which have been committed there du-
ring the command of two officers, who were fent
thither by M. de Kerlerec, governor of Louifiana.

In 1757, he appointed the Sieur Duroux chief
commander of this ifle, and gave him a detach-
ment

I have chofen this piece of hiftory as an example, which
has a particular fimilarity with what is feen every day in our
colonies. There are, however, governors and intendants,
that mull not be confounded with thofe who have got for-
tunes with rapidity, and in an odious manner, from the pu-
blic miferiesj and from the blood of many unhappy peopl*.

LOUISIANA. 321

ment of troops from the marines* and from the
Swifs regiment of HalwyL

The Sieur Durcux was no foorier come thither^
than he looked upon himfelf as abfoJute j he
immediately aflumed the right of having a gar-
den made by the foldiers of the garrifon y he
Iikewife employed them to make for him lime
from ihells, and charcoal, but he ' never paid
them 5 and thofe who refufed to fubmit to thefe
vexations, were f aliened quite naked to a tree,
and expofed to the infupportable attacks of the
maringoins or gnats. This was the puniHiment
which the officer made the foldiers of his garri-
fon undergo 5 an unworthy treatment, unexam-
pled even among barbarians.

The Sieur Duroux obliged them to make their
bread of the flour faved from the wreck of a
Spanifh fhip, which was loll on the eoaft ; and
fold for his own account .die King's flour» in-
tended for the ufe of the garrifon. This repeat-
ed bad ufage from this commander, determined
fome foldiers to go to New Orleans, in order to
complain to the governor, to whom they mew-
ed fome of the bad bread they were forced tQ
eat ; but M. de Kerlerec paid no regard to their
jufl rem on {trances, and lent them back at th$

Vol. L Y 4ifcretion

322 TRAVELS through

difcretion of their commander. Then thefe
wretches, fearing his refentment, refolved te*
make an example of him, which they executed
in ceremony.

One day, when that officer was sone out a
hunting in a neighbouring little ifle, the revolt-
ed troop took their meafures for executing
their plot, which was to murder the Sieur
Duroux. So ftrange a refolution could only be
occafioned by their not having obtained the de-
fired juflice from the governor. If an officer
fuperior to M. Duroux had been fent in his place,
and the latter left to command as the fecond of-
ficer, this misfortune would have been avoid-
ed.

As he returned from hunting, the fentinel,
perceiving the boat at fea, hoifled the French flag,
upon which the garrifon took to arms, and went
out into the field. The rebellious foldiers ad-
vancing to the fnore with their corporal at their
head,, called to the boat by means of a fpeak-
ing trumpet, "according to cuftom; the Sieur
Duroux anfwered, " Commander y' he lands, and
as he fets his foot on fnore, the corporal gives
the fignal, and at the fame inftant the foldiers
fire, and their commander falls, pierced with

wounds ;

L o tr I S I A N A. &$

bounds | the foldiers then ftripped him, and
threw his corpfe into the fea. Such was the bu-
rial and the punifhment of this petty tyrant,
Who was regretted by nobody, for he had no
other recommendation than that of the Sieur
Thiton, the governor's firft fecretary. The fol-
diers, become matters of the ifle, fct at liberty
an inhabitant whofe name was Beaudrot, who had
been unjuftly irriprifoned by the late command-
er. The Sieur Duroux had aiTumed the privi-
leges of an admiral of France, and pretended to
fnare with the foldiers and inhabitants all that
they mould fave of any vefTel wrecked upon t&£
Cats IJland ; and all that refufed to pay him his
lhare were feverely punimed, as if they had
committed fome great crime. This was the
crime of Beaudm \ he Was put in irons becaufe
he would not fhare fome goods with the com-
mander, which he had faved from the wreck of
a Sparitjli mip called the Situart, which was
wrecked on the ifle in 1758.

The foldiers who had killed M. Dufaux, ha-
ving afterwards pillaged the efFe&s belonging to
the King in the Cats Ifle, took the inhabitant
whom they had {cz free, and obliged him to
bring them into the road to the Englifh colony
Of Carolina. When they arrived in the country

Y 2 Q£

1

324 TRAVELS THROUGH

of a great Indian chief, whom the Europeans
have ftiled Emperor of the Kawytas, they fent
back Beaudrot with a certificate, which proved
that he had been obliged to ferve them as a
guide. Part of this troop went towards the
Englifli , but thofe who remained among the In-
dians, were foon feized by order of M. de Mont-
beraut, then governor of the fort at the Alliba-
mons > among this laft party was a corporal of
the regiment of Halwyl, who, in order to avoid
being fawed afunder, as is ufual among the
Swifs, killed himfelf with a knife, which he
wore hung from his neck, as the Indians do.

M. de Beaudin, an officer of the garrifon, was
fent with a detachment, in order to conduct the
criminals to Mobile. During this interval, the
two fons.of Beaudrot arrived at Mobile from New
Orleans, and brought, without knowing it, an
order from the governor to M. de Velle, who
commanded at Mobile, for arrefting their father;
who was in his habitation with great fecurity; he
returned to prifon without reluctance, not know-
ing that the deferters whom he had guided were
taken. M. de Velle tranfmitted the criminals to
New Orleans, where a court-martial was held to
judge them.

Beaudrot

^mmmmmm

L Q U I S I A N A. 325

Beaudrot the inhabitant, for guiding the mur-
derers of the governor of Cats IJle, was fenten-
ced to be broke upon the wheel, and his corpfe
to be thrown into the river ; which was accord-
ingly executed y a foldier fuffered the fame pu-
nifhment, and a Swifs was fawed alive through
the middle of his body.

When one reflects upon the fate of the unhap-
py Beaudrot, it is eafily perceived that he was
judged contrary to form, and by military men,
who were ignorant of civil and criminal laws, as
he could not have deferved the cruel punimment
which he underwent. If politics require that
for preferving public fafety, no crime mould be
left unpunifhed, juftice demands in favour of
humanity, that the judge ihould always be more
afraid of puniming too much than too little,
according to the axiom, It is better to let an hun-
dred guilty men efcape^ than to punijli one Jingle in-
nocent man.

If the man ought to be puniihed in order to
ferve as an example, according to this law, the
punifhment might have been mitigated in fa-
vour of his wife and four children, whom his
death threw into the greater! defolation % among
the four children was a girl of an. admirable

Y 3 figure,

32j6 TRAVELS through.

figure, who was admired in the whole colony
for her beauty, and ftill more for her virtue v-
this charming Creole, and the reft of the family,
are retired into an habitation far from the corn^
merce of men, to lament the death of their un-
happy father.

This unhappy man had been fuccefsfully em-
ployed in fome important negociations with the
Indians^ with whom he was in high efteem. He
fpoke their language, and, from experience, he
knew the fituation of the country as well- as
themielves. He had likewise an extraordinary
bodily ftrength. All thefe qualities had fo far
gained him the efteem and friendfhip of the
~Chattaws} who had adopted him into their na-
tion, that they would certainly have revolted on
his account, had not M. de Velle * wifely taken
care to keep his imprifonment and execution
from coming to their knowledge.

After the tragic death of the Sieur Duroux,

M- de Kerlerec fixed upon the Sieur de Cha

to fucceed to the command of the Cats IJland.

That

* This officer knows that nation perfectly well, having
been governor of Tombekbe for feveral years ; the Indians
efceemed him much on account of his bravery and 4jfintere#--
ed behaviour,

jmmmmmm^^m

L O U I S I A N A.

27

That officer fet out from New Orleans in 1758,
with a garrifon compofed of foldiers and inhabi-
tants of the capital ♦, but the inhabitants were
all vagrants, whom the magiftrates fent in their
own Head, with the governor's confent, for the
fervice of the place.

Thefe vagabonds ftayed in the Cats IJle as
long as thofe citizens paid them, whofe bufinefs
it was to guard the place. You may well ima-
gine, that a body of fuch troops, who are not
alternately- relieved in their polls, according to
the rule of fervice, take opportunities to lay
fchemes for deferting, as it has happened in
many ftations of Louijiana.

In March 1759 there appeared, in fight of
this ifland, a three-marled fhip, belonging to
M. St. Criq, a merchant, who had bought her
at the Havannah ; her cargo confifted in fugar,
coffee, taffias, cables, and fome warlike flores.
The crew were merely Spaniih failors, who
abandoned Captain St. Criq upon the coafl of
Louifiana near Balife ; this obliged him to em-
bark in his long-boat, with a few men who re-
mained with him. He arrived at New OrkWs,
and addrefTed himfelf to M. \ds BclI^T/le, fort-
major and commander, during the governor's

Y 4 abfence ;

jj$B TRAVEL S through

abfenee; he begged this officer to give him peo-
ple, in order to go out in fearch of his fhip,
which could on}y be loft on the coaft of the Cats
IJland.

M. de Belle-Ifle gave the Sieur St. Criq an in-
telligent ferjeant and ten foldiers, to navigate
his ftiip •, at the fame time he wrote to the Sieur
Q—— : « That if this {hip were loft near his
" ftation, he mould immediately place a guard
" on her, and forbid, under pain of death, that
cc nothing ihould be unloaded out of her, with-
" out the confent of the Sieur Si. CHq, the pro-
"prietor; and laftly, that he fhould not fail
" to conform to the orders of the King's marine,
" fpecified under the title Shipwreck" &c. Un-
happily for the Sieur St. Crzq the advice of M. de
BeUe-Ifie came too late ; the Sieur de C— — had
already taken care to have the cargo of the mip
unloaded by the foldiers and inhabitants, who
hid it in the neighbouring fynds £ they took all
the neceffary precautions to cover this trick.
The Sieur St. Criq arrived at the Cats IJIe, put
t-he major's letter into the commander's hands,
%ncl then went into his fh-ip with his people in or-
der- to fearch her ; but perceiving that he had
forgotten his pocket-book, in which he had tho
bill of lading, he left her immediately, and

wens:

LOUISIANA.

3*9

went on ihore to fetch it : a happy accident of
Providence ! he was but juft come on more,
when his (hip fuddenly took fire, and burnt with
fuch fiercenefs, that three men who were in the
hold were burnt to death : the others only efca-
ped by throwing themfelves into the fea, and
fwimming on more *.

The Sieur St. Criq complained to M. de Kerle-
rec ; but after a long delay, the governor obliged
the captain to terminate his quarrel with the
Sieur ds C — , the latter giving the former the
turn of 1500 livres. This commander being re-
called to New Orleans, gave himfelf up to fuch
debaucheries, that he fcandali?ed the whole colo-
ny.

* At the time when the Sieur St. Criq reclaimed his fhip
with M. de 'Bell-IJIe, and received his orders addreffed to M.

de C , to take care of the prefervation of the cargo, the

governor of the Cats IJle wrote to M. de Belk-IJle himfelf:
" That, on fuch a day, a ihip with three mafts was loft in
i( fight of his ftation, and he having made figns without re-
" ceiving any anfwer, he took it to belong to the enemy,
" who kept his men in clofe quarters ; that he having arm-
" ed the boat belonging to his ftation, and going into it
" with all his people, after getting no anf,ver upon a're-
" peated fignal, came on board the ihip, but found no living
" foul in her, and the cargo taken out of her ; he only
-" found a cut cable upon the deck, and law that the ihip
ff was bored for twenty-fix gu$s.

'

II

33© TRAVELS through

ny. When he had confumed all that he had
gained by his iniquitous practices, he went on
board a Dutch fhip from Curasao, a colony be-
longing to that republic. The opinions are di-
vided upon the clandeftine evafion of this "offi-
cer 5 fome believe, that he efcaped in order to
avoid the punifhments which his crimes defer-
ved -, others think he was charged with papers
to court from the governor : the event will de-
termine this.

It is fufficiently proved by this reftitution of

1500 livres on the part of the Sieur de.C- ,

that this commander had pillaged the fhip of
Captain St.Criq, getting 60,000 livres by it,
according to his own confefilon to the Sieur la
Per Here, who fucceeded him in the government
of Cats IJland. He has however efcaped the ca-
pital punifhment which this piracy deferved *.
For the quoted order fays, " That all who mail
" endanger the life of. fhip wrecked perfons, and
" lay hands upon their goods, fhall be punifhed
" with death." This crime is fo enormous,
that, though one were not a Chriflian, natural

religion

* The Sieur de C , hoping to enjoy the fruits of his

iniquity in France, died there as he had lived, that is, in
a debauch, by a decree of Providence.

LOUISIANA. 331

religion engages us to affift the unhappy in time
of danger. Such were the officers in whom
the governor of Louifiana put confidence.

We have juft received advice, that a party of
warriors of the nation of Cherokees, commanded
by their chief of war called Wolf, have taken
the fort London belonging to Great Britain, and
that the Engliih governor of it, 3VI. Damery, has
been killed by the Indians, who have put earth
in his mouth, faying, You dog, fince you are
fo very greedy of earth, be fatisfied and gorged
with it \ they have done the fame to others.

If I do not fet put for France, I mall write to
you from New Orleans, concerning the difcord
between the two chiefs of the colony, M. de
Kerlerec the governor, and M. de Rochemore the
ardonnateur. I am, SIR, .&c.

At Fort Mobile, the loth
of January 1760,

L E T-

332 T R A V E L S throuch

LETTER

XX.

.

to the fc

the Author goes to New Orleans. Caufe of the
Troubles which agitate that Place, Moving
Relation of M. de Belle-Ifle'j Captivity among
the Attakapas. Curious Animals and falutary
Simples to be met with in Louifiana.

o 1

U

"3FI^ HAVE fo much news to com muni-
I S nicate to you, that I know not where
to begin : I wrote to yqu from Tom-
bekbe, that every thing was in cohfufion in the
capital ; indeed every body talks of quarrels and
divisions ; avidity and in te reft are every where
lighting the torch of difcord. As I neither have,
nor will have, any part in all thefe quarrels, and
as I cannot fatisfy my zeal for the king's ferv'ce
in this colony, where every thing is in diforder,

I have

LOUISIANA. S33-

I have not ceafed to demand leave to return to
France. The moil faithful fubjects, who will
do their duty, are contradicted and difgraced,
and their zeal is rewarded with the molt cruel
perfecutions. But without enquiring minutely
into the fufferings of a number of brave officers,
moll of them flill alive, I mall only fpeak of
thofe which M. de Belle-IJle has undergone. This
worthy officer, whofe probity and unqueftionable
conduct have gained him the good will and ef-
teem of all worthy men, and efpecially of the
general officers, fuch as M. de Perier, M. de Bien-
ville, and the Marquis de Vauareuil, &c. well de-
ferves that I fhould tell his fiery to you, having
heard it from himfelf with all its circum-
fiances.

I fhall give you an account of what has hap-
pened during the forty-five years which he ferved
the king in this colony * I fhall fay nothing but

trui

'

* The hiftory of
military order of St.
has formerly ferved
marine in Lcuifiana,
Jlana printed at Paris
lonyin 1733, has for|
and the fads he has

M. de Belle-IJle 1 Chevalier of the royal
Louis, Major of AV-xv Orleans, and who

as Major General of the troops of the
has been inferted in a Relation oJLeui-

in 1758. The author of it left the co-
gotten the moil interefting circumilances,

mentioned, have been dlfowned by M.

334

TRAVELS t

H R O U G H

truth, though fome circumftances may appear
very wondrous.

As I know the goodnefs of your heart, I am
fure you will pity the unhappy fate of this poor
officer •, great fouls are not afhamed to fhew that
they are touched by the misfortunes of others :
even the Indians fay, that he who is not fenfible
to the fufferings of his brothers, is unworthy of
bearing the name of a man, and that he ought
to be avoided as the peft of fociety.
-

In 1 7 19, M. de Crozat put LouiCiana into the
hands of the Weft India company, who fent
a thoufand men to people it. M. de Belle- IJle em-
barked in one of their mips at port VOrient*
with fome other officers and volunteers, for the
new colony. The winds and currents carried
the fhip to the bay of St, Bernard in the Mex-
ican gulph The captain fent his boat on
more in order to fetch water. M. de Belle-Ifle
and four of his companions went into the boat
with the captains confent. Whilft the boat re-
turned to the fhip, the officers went a hunting I
the boat came on more again, and having taken

in

de Belle-Ifle himfelf : ray relation is an ab'ilraft of a marai-
fcript memoir, written by that officer's own hand.'

LOU I SI A N

335

in the neceflary provifion of frefh water, re-
turned on board without the young officers, who
were not yet returned.

The captain is impatient, weighs anchor and
fets fail, leaving the five paffengers on more.
Their agitation and anxiety, when they re-
turned to the fhore and found the boat and fhip
gone, may well be imagined. Thus being aban-
doned in an unknown country, they erred for a
long time upon the defart coaft, having the fea
on one fide, and a country inhabited by a nation
of cannibals on the other. They did not ven-
ture to quit the marfhy fhores of the fea ; they
were in fuch defpair of finding a remedy for
their misfortunes that they knew not what to
do : this alone was capable to make them lofe
their fenfes ; and then the thought of falling
into the hands of cannibals, troubled the ima-
gination of thefe young Europeans. They went
along the more in the miftaken opinion, that the
iriip was gone to the weft, imploring divine
mercy, and complaining of their unhappy fate.
They lived upon infecls and herbs, not knowing
whether they were good or bad ; what was moft
troublefome to them was the abundance of snats
in that place, as they had nothing to defend
themfelves againft them. They continued fe-

veral

.

S36

TRAVELS through

veral days in this fituation. M. de Belle-IJle had
taken a young dog from the fhip, which was
very fond of him. His companions were often
tempted to kill him-, their hunger was ex-
treme : M. de Belle-IJle gave the dog up to them,
but would not kill it himfelf ; one of his com-
panions fcized the dog ; but he was fo weak,
that as he was going to ftrike with the knife*
the dog efcaped, ran into the woods, and was
not feen again. The four unhappy officers died
with hunger one after another, in fight of M.
de Belle-Ifle^ who did all he could to dig them
graves in the earth, or rather in the fand, with
his own hands, to preferve their fad remains
from the voracioufnefs of wild beads : he paid
this tribute to human nature in fighing over its
miferies, nothing but the ftrength of his confti-
tution could make him furvive them. He was
refolute enough, in order to fubfift, to eat the
worms which he found in rotten wood. Some
davs after the death of his comrades, he law at
a diilance his dog holding fomething in his
mouth v he called him, the creature came to
him fawning,- and with great demonftrations of
joy, - threw at his feet an opojfum ; the dog
howled, as if he would fay, I bring thee fome-
thing to fupport life. The opofiums are good
eating, and of the fize of a fucking pig. M.-

de

LOUISIANA.

337

ae Belk-J/le, having no other company than his
dog, looked about for food every where. At
night he always made a little intfenchment at
the foot of a tree, in order to fisher himfeif
againit the wild hearts* One day a tyger *
came nfar the place, where he flept ; his dog
watched by his fide, he faw the tyger, and ran
at it with a .prodigious howl. M. de Belle-IJle
awoke, and haftened to his affiftance ; the tyger
let the dog loofe, but had wounded him : his
matter was obliged to kill him, left he fhould
turn mao, and afterwards he eat him. Then
being left alone in this defart plsce, he fell on
his knees, lifted up his hands to heaven", and
thanked the Almighty for preferving him till
now ; and refigning himfeif to Providence he
went into the country in order to feek for men.
He foon found foor-fteps, and followed them
to the banks of a river, where finding a piragua,
he erodes the river in it. On the oppofite more
were fome Indians, drying human flefh and fifli j
they were of the nation of the Atiakapas f -9
Vol. I. Z they

* By this iirnil always be underftood die American tyger,
i. e. the brown cat of P. Synopjts of Quid. p. \jy9 and the
Cngacuara of Pijo and Margrave in their Nat. Hifi. Brafi*

f This name fignifies men-eaters among the American na-
tions.

33&

TRAVELS throuch

they went towards M. de Belle-TJle, whom they
took for a ghoft, becaufe he was lean •, he
pointed to his mouth, and made figns of being
hungry. The Indians would not kill him be-
caufe he was excefiively lean \ they offered him
fome human flefh, but he preferred fifli, of
which he eat greedily. The Indians looked at
this cloathed man, (tripped him naked and di-
vided his cloaths among themfelves -, they then
: carried him to their village in-order to fatten
him. There he had the good fortune to become
the dog * of an old widow. He recovered his
ftrength gradually > but .was extremely fad,
conftantly apprehending, that his hofts would
facrifice him to their falfe deities, and afterwards
make a feaft of his fiefh •, his imagination was
always ftruck with the terrible fight of the feafts
which thofe barbarians made of the flefh of their
■fatteft prifoners of war, which I cannot help
ihuddering at, w hi lil I relate it. He always ex-
pected to receive a blow with the club, as foon
• as he mould be fat. The Indians held a coun-
cil,

- — : — ■ — — — '

lions.. When they take an enemy in the wars, they make a

great feaft and eat his fielh. They commonly live upon fiih

and drink the Cajfine. They can fpeak by figns, and hold

Iodp- pantomime conventions.
' . . . °

* An expretfion which (ifrmfasjiaw.

LOUISIANA.

339

cil, in which they refolved that it would be
ihameful and cowardly to kill a man, that did
not Come to them to do any harm, but to de-
mand their hofpitaiity ; in confequence of this
refolutidn, he remained a flave of the widow.
The ftrlt days of his fiavery, though it was not
a heavy one, were very difagreeable to him, be-
caufe he was obliged to take care of the little
children of thefe men-eaters, and to carry them
On his moulders, which was Very troublefome to
him *, for he was naked like them, having no
more cloaths than wrere fufHcient to make his
nakednefs lefs indecent ; but the widow above-
mentioned, having taken him under her protec-
tion, he was better treated in the fequel.

.As M. de Bdl^Ifle was young and Ilrong, he
acquitted himfelf very well of his functions as
a Have, and even gained the good graces of his
miftfefs fo much, that (he adopted him, and he
was then fet at liberty, and looked upon as one
belonging to the nation. He foon learnt the
manner of converting in pantomimes, and the
art of ufing the bow and arrows as well as they
could do it. They took him into the wars,
where he fhewed them his dexterity, by killing
one of their enemies with an arrow in their pre-
sence, he was then acknowledged a true warrior,

Z z An-

340

TRAVELS THROUGH

Another Indian having killed a roebuck, they dri-
ed the fkfh of the man and the roe, to make ufe
of it as pfovifions on their expeditions. One day
as they were walking, M. de Bette-IJle being hun-
gry, afked for fomething to eat. An Indiati
gave him fome human fkfh, faying it was of the
roe-buck. M. de Belk-IJle eat of it without
knowing the cheat ; and the Indian afterwards
faid to him : Formerly thou didft make difficulty^
but now thou canft eat man's flejK as well as our-
/elves : at thefe words M. de Belle-ljle threw up
all he had eaten.

About two years after" his captivit}', fome de-
puties arrived at the Attakapas, from a nation
who fent them the calumet of peace. A kind
providential care ! This nation lived in New
Mexico, and were the neighbours of the Natchi-
toches, where M. de Hucheros de Saint Bents com-
manded, who was beloved and refpecled by the
deputies of this nation, though they lived on
Spanifh ground. After attentively confidering
M. de Belk-IJle, they told the Attakapas, that in
the country from whence they came, there were
white men like him : the Aitokapas faid he was
a dog, whom they had found towards the great
lake, where his comrades were flarved to death ;
that, they had brought him to their habitations,

where

LOUISIANA. 341

where a woman had made him her flave •, that
they had taken him to war againft a nation
which they conquered in a battle, and that he
had diftinguifhed himfelf on that occafion, and
mewed them his fkill in fending an arrow, which
killed one of their adverfaries ; that they had
for that reafon adopted him, and received him
as a warrior.

This officer, who heard their converfation,
did as if he took no notice of it j and immedi-
ately conceived the idea of returning** to his
country : he took one of the Indian deputies a-
part j and queftioned him much about the white
men he had feen. M. de Belle-Jfle had luckily
preferved his commiflion in a box ; he made
fome ink with foot, and wrote with a crow-quill
the following words : " To the firft chief 0} the
" white men, I am fuch and fuch a perfon, aban-
" doned at the bay of St, Bernard-, my comrades
" died of hunger and wretchednefs before my
" face, and I am captive at the Altakapas"
This unhappy officer gave his commiflion to the
Indian^ telling him it was fome fpeaking paper;
that, by prefenting it to the chief of the French in
his country, he would be well received. The
Indian believed, that this letter had fomething
divine in it, becaufe it was to fpeak for him to

Z 3 the

U'i TRAVELS

THROUGH

the French. His countrymen wanted to take it
from him •, but he efcaped by fwimming acrofs
a riyer •, and left he mould wet the letter, he
held it up in the air. This Indian, after a jour-
ney of one hundred and fifty leagues, arrived
at the Natchitoches*, an Indian nation. The
French commander there at that time being M.
Ilucheros de St. Denis, an officer of diftinction,
known for having made the firft journey over
land from Louifiana to Mexico, where he married
the Spamjh governor's niece. The Indian gave
him M. de Bette-Ifleh letter, and M. de St. Dents
received him very well, and made him many
prefents \ after which, this officer began to cry
after the manner of the Indians, who afked what
ailed him ? He anfwered, he wept for his bro-
ther who was a captive among the Attakapas.
As M. de Saint Denis was in great efteem with
the nations about him, the Indian who brought
the letter promifed to fetch M. de Belle-IJle, and
fome other Indians joined him,

M. de Saint Denis gave them fome fhirts and a
hat for M. de Bclle-Ijle, and they fet out imme-
diately, ten in number, on horfeback, and arm-
ed

* A ftation near Mexico. There is a fettlement of Indians
on the Ri<viere Rouge, or Re.d-ri>ver>

LOUISIANA. 343

ed with guns ; promifing to M. de Saint Denis to
return in two moons time with his brother upon a
horfe, which they led with them.
• ■ .
On arriving at the Attakapas? they difcharged
their fire-arms feveral times, the explofion of
which the other Indians took to be thunder :
they gave M. de Belle IJle the letter of M. de Saint
Denis, which mentioned, that he had nothing to
fear with thofe Indians, and that he rejoiced be-
forehand that he fhould fee him. The joy which
this letter gave to the officer is inexpreffible ;
however he feared that the Attakapas would op-
pofe his departure. But the chief of the depu-
tation made him get quickly on horfeback, and
went off with his whole troop. The Attakapas
being frightened with the report of the muikets,
did not venture to fay any thing, and the woman
who had adopted M. de Belle- IJle fried tears.
Thus this officer efcaped from a captivity, which
might otherwife have lafled as long as his life.

The Indian who carried off M. de B elle- IJle wa.s
as proud as Hernando Cortex when he conquered
Montezuma, the laft emperor of Mexico. They
arrived at the Natchitoches, but did not find M.
de Saint Denis there ; for he was gone to Biloxis,

Z 4 which

344 TRAVELS through

which was then the chief place of Louifian^
New Orleans being nqt yet built.

•
M. J'Orvil/iers, who commanded at the Nat-
chitoches in M. 'Saint. Denis's abftnee, fent M, de
Belle-IJle and his efcort to M. de Bienville, then
governor of LadfMa. That general embraced
him, being happy to fee him, and liberally re«
warded his deliverers. Every one compliment-
ed him on his efcape from this captivity '$ IvL de
Bienville gave him a fuit of cloatlis.

This officer has fince been very ufeful to the
governor, by his knowledge of the cuftoms of
the Attakapas, whom the Spaniards of New Me-
uico could never fnbdue, as they have done with
the other nations of their empire.

M. de Bienville fent a prefent to the dttakapasy
and another to the widow who had adopted and
proteded M. de Belle-IJle.

Thefe people, who did not .expect this o-enero-
-fity from the governor, fent ambafladors ft to him
to thank him, and to make an alliance with the

French

* The chief of the embafly addreffed the following fpeech
to M. de Bienville, which M> de Be lls-Ifie in terpreted ; " My

f< father.

LOUISIANA. 345

French. M. de Belle-IJle's miftrefs attended in
perfon •, fmce this period the French have always
been humanely treated by the Attakapas, who
have at their defire left off the barbarous cuftom
of eating human flefh.

When the Attakapas came to New Orleans,
they were well received by all the French, in
gratitude of the reception M. de Belle-Ifie had met
with among them ; for without them, he would
have undergone the unhappy fate of his compa-
nions.

M. de Bienville fometimes procured himfelf the
cliverfion of a pantomime with thefe cannibals,
by means of M. de Belle-IJle, who, as their pu-
pil, converfed with them by geftures. The At-
takapas are armed with bows and very great ar-
rows j they cultivate maize, as the other North

American

■■

" father, the white man, whom thou feeft here, is thy flefh
t* and blood, he was united to us by adoption. His brothers
te were ftarved to death, if my nation had found them fooners
" they would live Hill and enjoy the fame prerogative."

The hofpitality fhewn to M. de Belle-IJIe by the Attakapas*
"convinced us, that we muft regard their cruelty only as a
fault of education, and that nature has planted fen timents of
humanity in their breaft.

346 TRAVELS through

Anzerican nations do. This part of the world is
of fuch an extent, that it has not yet been pol-
fible to become acquainted with all the nations
in it, nor with its limits.

In 1759, M. de Marigni de Mandeville%\ an
officer of cjffinclion, formed the defign, with
the confent of the governor of Louifuzna, of ma-
king new diicoveries towards the ifie of Barata-
ria, of which we know the coafts but very im-
perfectly : with this intent he made 3 general
map of the colony. This officer has difcovered
this unknown country at his own expence, with
indefatigable zeal, which characterizes a worthy
citizen, who is always occupied for the glory of
his prince, and the enlargement of his pofTef-
fions.

I have endeavoured, in my preceding letters,
to give you an abridgment of the hiflory of the
country, from the time of its difcovery till now,
and an idea of the fituation of its commerce, and
likewife of every thing that feemed initru&ive
and amufing to me. I do not believe I have
omitted any thing material, I mail now rrniih.

our

* See the Memoirs of this officer, printed at Paris, by
Guillaume Defpres, in the rue S. Jacques 1765.

LOUISIANA. 347

our correfpondence by fome obfervations on the
natural hiftory of this colony, of which you
could learn nothing from the fpecial relations
that are publiihed. You mull know then, Sir,
that all the fruit-trees which have been tranf-
ported thither from Europe fucceed very well
there. M. Fazende, one of the fuperior council
of Louifiana^ has brought a fig-tree from Pro-
vence^ the figs of which are excellent; as this
tree is propagated by layers, it richly fupplies
all the habitations with them. Among the fruit
peculiar to this country, there is one called a
battledoe, it has the figure and tafte of a pickled
cucumber. This fruit is very common about
Mobile ', and it is very refreshing.

The pakmine is a kind of medlar, called cu-
goufle by the Indians ; this fruit, which is no
bigger than the European medlar, is yellow and
red like an apricot \ it is a very good aflringent,
and an excellent remedy to flop the dyfentery
and bloody flux. The Indians make bread of
it, in the form of ginger-bread, and dry it for
their long voyages *.

The

* The piakmine has yet another virtue; take a quantity of
its feeds, pound them, then infufe frefh water upon them,

which

348 TRAVELS through

The Jafmine fruit has the form and colour of
a lemon ; it is odoriferous, and taftes like Banian
figs ; it feeds refembie beans ; they are a poifon
to hogs J.

Here are a number of orange and peach trees ;
and both the oranges and peaches are fo com-
mon in this colony, that they are h£t under the

trees to rot.

here are apple-trees and plum-trees -, and
whole forefts of walnut-trees ; of which there is
a white kind or the kiccory^ and another black 5
both kinds bear nuts ; they are as in Europe of
different goodnefs for eating -, there are likewife
fome walnuts as big as the fid, but they are bit-
ter, having very thick and hard fhells. There
is a tree which bears a fruit called pacannes \> they

are oblong like almonds, and more delicious :

the

which muft ftand upon them twenty-four hours : itrain the
water through a cloth and keep it in a bottle. When you are
attacked with the gravel, drink a glafs full of the infufion
failing, and continue to do it till you are cured f .

f This is perhaps the perfimon, diofpyros Virginiana
Linn. F.

X This plant feems to be one of the various kinds of anonat
which grow over all the warmer parts of North- America. F.

. ...

LOUISIANA. 349

the Indians make an oil of it, to fca&n their fa-
gamitty with.

It is a circumftance worthy of admiration, to
fee the providence of the Creator, who has
planted fuch a number of fruit-trees of various
kinds in this part of the new world. There are
thoufands of curious animals, known before nei-
ther by their fhape nor by their name, and of
which men of the preceding ages have not even
had an idea.

There are red and likewife white bays \ the lat-
ter bears a white flower like a tulip •, it is an ex-
ceeding buihy tree, and would be an ornament
to the gardens of European monarchs : the In-
dians call it the tree of peace ""

*

Near the banks of rivers there are vines,
which climb fo high along the trees, that when
the grapes are taken off, they can often make. a..
whole barrel full of wine from a fingle flock.
Thefe vines grow without cultivation, and
the wine that is made of them is yery

harfh

•

* This is probably either the tulipiree, Uriodeadrau- tutipi*
/era. Linn, or the laurus aftiveUs. linn. F.

35°

TRAVELS THROUGH

harfli*. There are many mulberry-trees -f in
the woods, and their berries are very fweet •, there
are likewife fome that always keep the figure
of fhrubs, and their berries are made ufe of for
jellies.

■

There is a tree in the woods full of fpines of
fix inches in length ; its wood is fo hard, that
it makes the edge of- the hatchets blunt, and
fometimes breaks them. The Indians, bv
means of fire, make mortars of it to crufh their
maize in. This tree bears pods about a foot
long like caffia \ the fruit they contain is gum-
• my and flicking, having feveral feeds like beans.
It is an excellent laxative, and the Indians take-
it as a purge.

There are refinous trees (fuch as pines, &c.J
in the woods, which produce refin and tar;
there -are likewife many trees, from which a kind
of gum like turpentine runs down.

There

■

* The American forefts have three kinds of vines ; the
vttis labritfcay njulpina, and arboreat Linn, And this, here
mentioned, feems to be the lait. F.

f The morns rubra Linn, is the mulberry-tree, known to
grow in North Ameru». F.

LOUISIANA.

35i

*There is a ihrub which we call drier, or the
wax-tree, and it refembles an olive-tree. It
bears little berries like juniper, they are melted
in water *, and give a kind of wax for candles ;
this wax is of a fine green, and has an aromatic
fmell. The Sieur Alexandre, a furgeon and che-
mift, is the firil that difcovered it here. The
academy of fciences gave him a penfion for this
difcovery. He has likewife found the method
of bleaching it, as we do bees wax in Europe.

Whilft I was in Louifiana, the inhabitants got
from St. Domingo plants of fugar-canes, in order
to make plantations of them. M. Dubreuil, who
commands the militia of citizens, was the firft
planter that built a fugar-mill at New Orleans.

It is known, that fugar is made of the juice
of a reed or cane, which is propagated by lay-
ers , it grows tall and thick, in proportion to the
goodnefs of the foil. The canes have joints at
certain diftances -9 when thefe are ripe; which is
eafily known by the yellow hue which they get,
they are cut above the firft joint, which has no
juice •, the leaves on both fides are plucked off;

the

* Boiling water. The tree is the candleberry myrtle,
mjrica cerifera. Linn. F.

352 T RAVELS through

the canes are made up into bundles, and brought
to the mill, where they are crulhed between two
wooden cylinders, covered with fteel. A negro
^puts the canes between the cylinders, which
prefs all the juice out, which is received in a
great hollow, from whence it goes through a
leaden pipe into a refervoir, which leads it into
the place where the ovens are, which are defi-
ned to boil it in great boilers. When the juice
is refined, it is poured into another boiler ; it
mull be continually ftirred, and boiled till it has
a proper confiftency ; and when the fugar is got
to the firft ftate of perfection, it is put into
forms of earthen ware, in -order to be refined ;
it acquires the fecond degree of perfection by the
opening being covered with clay to prevent the
air from acting upon the fugar, and that it may
not harden too- much before it is refined by the
feparation of fyrups and melalTes.

It is with the fcum of fugar that they make
raffia or kill-devil. This liquor is prepared as
brandy is in France -, and goes through the ftill.
The Europeans in America prefer it to brandy for
curing of wounds. They like,wife make rum
■with it.

la

L O U I S X A N A. 35^

In the country of the Illinois there is a little
fhrub, about three feet high, which bears a
fruit of the fize of a fmall apple, and of the
tafte of citrons. The woods there likewife con*
tain chefnuts, and hazel-nuts of the fame kind
as in France.

Louijhm abounds with good Gmples ; among
them is the ginfeng, the root cf which is an
excellent redorative, jnlap9 rhubarb, fnake-
root7 farfapariUa, and St. John's wort *, of
which they make an excellent oil for healing
of wounds. The following is the Indian doc-
tor's method 6f making the oil. They take an
earthen pot, and put the flowers of St. John's
wort in it, and fome bear's oil above it ; the
pot or vafe is well flopped Up, and expofed to

Vol. I. A a the

* -Ginfeng is the plant fo much, in requefl in China ; it is
Panax quinquefoliutn, Linn, See Ofbeck's Voy. to China,
vol. i. p. 2^2. andKalm's Travels into North America, vol.
iii. p. 114. and Catefby's Nat. Hift. of Carolina, app. t. 16.

Jalap is the Mirabiiis of Linn&us, there are federal fpe-

cies of it. Rhubarb is the Rheum Linn, but probably not

the true one. Snake-root* perhaps the Paly gala Senega,

Linn, or elfe an Arifiokchia. — — Sarfaparilla, Smilax farfa-

fari/la, Linn. St. John's wort, Hypericum, Linn, there

are many plants of this genus in North America ; and it is
among, the dejiderata of the botanill to know what Ipeeies are
employed for medicinal ufes. F,

■

j

354 TRAVELS through

•

the morning fun •, the heat concentrated in the

vafe turns the oil of a red colour, and gives it
an agreeable fmell, which cures and purifies all
kinds of wounds. There are even plants which
have the virtue of ferving as counter-poifons ;
but it is a rare and precious gift to man to know
them, and to know how to make a proper ufe
of them -, the Creator has not granted this know-
ledge to all men. There are numerous fimples
proper for cleanfmg the mais of blood, and of
which the Indians have a peculiar knowledge.

There are for efts of fajjafras trees*, the wood
of which is ufed in phyfic, and for dying; there
is likewife the copal tree ~j~, whofe gum is an ex-
cellent balfam, equal in goodnefs to the balfam
of Peru •, the animals which are wounded by
hunters, cure themfelves by rubbing againft the
tree from which this balfam exfudes, which
has an aromatic fmell. The Indians have in
their huts bitter gourds and calabafhes, of which
latter they make a pectoral fyrup \ maiden-hair \
which is a good pectoral medicine, and the caf-

Jtne^

* Saffefras-tree grows all over North America, it is Lau-
rusfajfafrasy Linn.

■

f Copal tree grows only in the ibuthem part of North
America, Rhus copallinum> Linn,

L O U I S I A N Ao 3SS

Jim, which is a good diuretic*. When the
dofe is ilrong, it excites a kind of convulsions •,
which, however, ceafe immediately. The AH-
bamon Indians call it the liquor of valour. The
natives of America value their fimples more than
all the gold of Mexico and Peru.

You find feveral forts of curious animals in
Louifiana, which are unknown in Europe*

The wild ox is very large and ftrong •,. the
French and the Indians make various ufes of it ;
they eat its fiefh, which they fait or dry ; they
make coverings of its hide. The wild bull is
qovered with a very fine wool, with which they
make good matraffes ; of its tallow they make
candles, and its pizzles afford cords to the In-
dian bows. The Indians work its horns, and
make them into micouens or fpoons, and into
•powder-horns.

A a 2 The

* Bitter gourds, Coloquintes, Cucutnii ccfocynthis, Linn.—
' Calabaihes, Cucurbit a lagenaria, Linn. — Maiden-hair, 'Jf&fc
crntum pedatum, Linn, grows all over North America, from
Canada down to Virginia, and. is much elleemed as a medi-
cinal herb. See Kalm's Trav. to North Amer. vol. iii. p.-
113. — Cailine is the Prinos glaber, Linn, mentioned in
Letter XVL p. 249,* F*

TRAVELS THROUGH

The wild ox has a bunch or hump on its
back * like a camel. It has long hair on the
head like a goat, and wool on its body like
fheep, which the Indian women fpin into
threads.

On going towards the head of the river Mif-
fouris, you find all forts of wild beafts. The
wild goats and their young ones are very com-
mon at certain feafons f. Thefe animals are
very lively and pretty ; the females have double
furrows or ringlets to their horns, and are not fo
big as ours : the French that eat of them have
affured me, that the young venifon was as good

as

* The hump is iituated on the moulders. The animal has
been defcribed by Linnaus under the name of Bos hi/on, and
drawn by Caiejly in his Nat. Hifl. of Carolina, app. t. 20.
and in Mr. Pennant's Synopfs of Quadrupeds ; p. 8. t. II. f. 2. F.

f This animal feems to be of the antelope kind, perhaps
the Temamafama of Hernandez, an animal which hitherto has
not been noticed by our zoologies. Ic feems not to be an
animal belonging to the goat kind, on account of the double
ringlets or cornichons mentioned by the author. This would
be perhaps a new animal ; and however it be, it will deferve
the attention of our natural hiflorians. And as the Englifli
dominions now extend to the river Miffifippi, it would cer-
tainly be worth while to defcribe the animals upon that river,
and thofe that fall into it. F.

LOUISIANA.

357

as the belt mutton. As the Indians of thefe parts
do not ufe our mufkets, they kill them with ar-
rows j for thefe animals feed in the mountains,
and when they are wounded they cannot climb
fo eafily, and by that means the Indians catch
them.

The hunters have likewife told me, that they
had found a large kind of eagle in the woods,
of the Ipecies called the royal eagle *.

I think it my duty to mention to you the lin-
gular manner in which the Indians hunt and take
thefe birds, which the northern nations efteem
very much, becaufe they adorn their calumets
of peace with eagle's feathers, which they call
feathers of valour.

This kind of hunting is referved for the di-
verfion of old warriors, as it requires no exercife.
The old man who intends to take eagles, firit of
all examines the places which are moft frequent-
ed by them ; after that, he brings flefh, the en-
trails of animals or dead fnakes to thofe fpots,
and fallens thefe baits to fome fixed wood. The

A a 3 firft

* The royal eagle is ftieFako Chnfaetos, Linn, or golden ea-
gk, Penn. Br. Zool. fol. 61. tab. A. & in 8vo vol. i. p. 12 1. F.

TRAVELS THROUGH

:
firft eagle that comes there eats of it, grows fa»

miliar with the place, and attracts others of his

fpecies thither, that greedily difpute the prey

with each other. Then the old man digs a kind

of niche or hollow at the top of the hill 5 he

makes a chimney or vent to it which he ftops

up with a bundle of fagots, en which he places

the baits : he fuffers the bird to eat its fill -, then

he puts his hands, which he has wrapt in a little

fack of leather through fome ftraw under the

faggots j takes hold of the eagle's legs, pulls it

down* wraps it in his ox-hide, and fo kills it.

if he is lucky enough to take five or fix of them,

he is content, becaufe the feathers are an article

of trade throughout Norths America. This- way

of hunting is not very troubiefome : the baits

are taken together by the old man's children,

and the women fend him victuals.

You likewife fee hares* and white bears whofe
ikin is very fine and foft.-f The tygers of Louid-
#na differ from thofe of Africa and South Ame-
rica,

_ _

* The American hares are already declared by Prof. Kahn.,
*,rcL p, ioj. 10 differ from the European ones ; fo that is im-
proper to think the American ones to be the fame F.

j The ".'hire bear here mentioned,, cannot be the great Po-
lar

L O U I S I A N A. 359

rka, becaufe they have no fpots.J They take
the roe-deer as cats do mice. As to the tyger-.
€ats$ they kill the wild oxen in the following
manner. They get upon a tree, in a little path
where the oxen are ufed to go to the river ; and
as they come by, the tyger-cats fall upon the
necks of the oxen, bite through their throats and

A a 4

kill

lar bear, Penn. Synn. Quad. p. 192. to 20. f. 1. as this lat-
ter is only to be met with in the moft frigid parts of our
globe ; and the foft hair here mentioned will not admit to
think of the polar bear, whofe hair is like briftles. The com-
mon black bear is fometimes found quite white in Siberia,
and therefore it is not improbable that fome of thefe white
bears are found in the interior parts of North America. Befides
this, I find it neceffary, here to obferve, that the black Vir-
ginia bear feems to me to be a fpecies different from our Eu-
ropean bears, my reafons for this opinion are thefe : firji,
the European bear has never fo black a coat as the Virginian,
J'econdly, the fnout of the Virginian is longer, and the head
fmaller than in our European ones ; thirdly, the European
bear is more clumfy than the Virginian, F.

% The North American tyger is the Cugnacara of Margr-
grave, or the brown Cat. Penn. Syn. quad. p. 179. In
South America it is immenfely fierce on account of the he3t
of the climate, and miftakeniy called a lion. F.

§ The American tyger-cat is the pichou dufud mentioned in
Kalm's Travels, vol. 3. p> 275, and Per.n* Syn. quad. 'Gpyen*
tie Cat. p. 182.

3-°

T R A V E L 5 through

kill them; their ftrength and their horns are
rendered ufeMs by this treachery.

The wood rat or Indian-rat is of the fize of an
European cat ; its head is like the head of a fox,
it has feet like a monkey, and the tail of a rat.*
This animal is very curious ; I once killed a fe-
male that had feven young ones ; whit is moft
furprifing is to fee them all'irick fait to the teats,
where they grow, and continue till they are able
to run about; then they drop into a membrane
that forms a pouch : thofe young ones which I
faw were as big as new-born mice- nature has
furnifhed the female with this pouch under the
belly, which is covered with hair, as a retreat for
her young ones, when they are puriued, by-
means of which the mother can fave them and
carry them off. Their flelh tales like that of a
fucking pig; their hair is whitifh, and they have
likewise a down or wopl like the beaver. This
pretended rat, lives in the woods upon the feeds
of beech- trees, upon chefnuts, walnuts, and
acorns. I have, often eaten of them on my
voyages ; their fat is very white and fine ; a fine
pomatum or unguent is made of it for the He-
morrhoids.

Here

• This is the Virginian Opo/Jlm. Perm. Sj„, quad. p.
:P4; aRd Didelplm mar/upialis. Linn.

LOU IS I A N A. 361

-Here is likewife an animal, which they call the
wood-cat-, it is of the fize of a fox, and nothing
but its tail is like that of axat_ This creature
is very fond of oy iters ; it refembles a marmot
in its figure- and may be tamed like a. dog,
licking and fawning upon its mailer, whom jt
follows every where ; it takes- its food with its
paws, like a monkey. I believe thefe were the
dumb dogs which the Spaniards found, when they

difcovered the Antilles or Caribee iflands.*

. . . ....

There are four forts of fquirrels in Louifiana ;
large, black, red, grey, and little ones of the
fize of little rats ; the latter are called flying
fquirrels, on account of a membrane which joins
their four legs, and which they extend in jump-
ing from one tree to another. f

-

The French and the Indians have often told me
that the fnakes have the power of fafcinating

fquir-

* This animal here called ^wood-cat is common all over the
Britilh colonies in America, and known, by the name of Rac-
coon, fee Penn Syn. quad, p. 199. Urfus hfcus. Linn, and
Kalm's Travels into North America, vol. i. t. 2. p. 96,
208. F.

.

f Black fquirrel, fciurus niger. Linn.— red fquirrel fciurus
friatus. Linn.— grey fquirrel, fciurus cinereus. Linn. — flying
fquirrel, fciurus volans, Liftn. F.

$6z TRAVELS

THROUGH

fquirrels •, this I wiflied to fee with my own eyes,
I cannot avoid communicating my obfervations
on this fubject to you. I was once hunting at
the Illinois, in a wood which abounded with
hazelnuts, which is a very nice food for fquirrels-,
they were likewife very plentiful there \ I heard
upon a tree, under which I flood, the fad cry of
a fquirrel which feemed frightened ; I did not
know what ailed it •, at. laft I perceived a fnake
hung over a branch of the tree, looking upwards,
waiting for its prey ; and the unhappy fquirrel,
after leaping from branch to branch, fell into the
mouth of the fnake, which fwallowed it.

Without entering into a phyfical detail, I ima-
gine the fquirrel was fafcinated by the fnake in
the following manner. The antipathy of the
fquirrel, makes it look upon the fnake as fattened
to the tree, when it fees it thus immoveable, and
hung upon a branch; therefore inftead of re-
marking that it is only a fnare, laid by its adver-
fary, it jumps from branch to branch, as it were
to infult the fnake ; when by jumping round the
reptile, the latter fees it near enough to dart up-
on, feize and fwallow it.-f Many authors

pretend

f This ia a very ingenious explication, but it fuppofes.,
\Szx we muA attribute lothe fquiyre! nice* feelings, than anir

mak

LOUISIANA. 363

it the fnakes have an attractive

power.

The cunnnig of Fnakes is admirable *, I have
feen fome, which perceiving that I looked at
them, did not flir at all, in order to make me
believe they were not there, and always conti-
nued in the fame attitude -, but as foon as I went
alide to get a flick or (lone to crufh their heads,
the fnakes made off and 1 did not find them
again when I returned. This is an experiment
I have often made in the defarts which I have
gone through, and where thefe animals are

to

common.

There are many forts of them, of which the
moil remarkable is the rattk-fnake, having four or
five round bones, at the end of the tail, which
make a kind of noife by rubbing againfl one ano-
ther, fimilar to the noife of a child's rattle. The
Indian women, pound this rattle and fwallow it
when they are going to lye-in, becaufe they pre-
tend that they can by its afllflance bring forth
without pain. The fat of the rattle-fnake makes

an

mals in general and fquirrels in particular have ; another me-
thod to account for this pretended fafcination, fee in Kalm's
Trai'eh L p. 319. note. F

3<H TRAVE L S through

an excellent unguent for the rheumatic pains;
this unguent penetrates into the body, to the very

".It is generally believed that the number of
vertebra? in the rattle encreafes with the age of the
fnake; I have feen fome rattle-fnakes fo big, as
to be able to eat a whole roe-deer, by fuckin°- it

little by little.

,

There is another kind of ferpent, which they
call the wh'ipper, fouetteur ; it is red on the belly
and black on the back; it is fometimes about
twenty feet long, and when it finds any body in
the water, it twines round him fo violently as to
take away his breath, and drown him.*

That fnake which is called the whifiler is
about two feet long, but is fo much more dan-
gerous, becaufe it is not fo eafily feen, being very
little ; fo that the Indians and negroes often tread
upon and are bitten by it: it has a prodigious wide
mouth and when angry, it whiflles at a terrible

xate,

* This fnake is reprefented by Catejby nat. hift. of Carol.
IL 46. It might be called coluber erythrogafler, for Catefby
call it the copper-bellied-fnake. The circumltance here men-
tion:.!, relative to its twitting round people in the water,
and its enormous fize are both new. F.

L O U I S I A N A. 365

rate, and therefore the Indians call him ho-huy^
that is, whiftler. During my voyage to Tombek-
he, a whiftler hidden under the leaves, bit a fol-
dier of my detachment, who trod upon its tail ;
the foldier was barefoot, and the fnake was fo
angry that it got hold of his big toe and would
not let go its hold. I was very uneafy and forry
to fee this foldier expofed to perim he being my
interpreter ; I applied to an Indian do&or who
accidentally went by the place, where we were.
He took a powder out of a little fack, and blew
it through a tube upon the make's head, which
died inftantly ; he put another powder upon the
wound, which prevented the poifon from taking
its effect ; he likewife gave fome of it in water
to the patient, who was quite well after. I re-
compenfed this juggler very handfomely ; I wifh-
ed likewife to know his fecret, but he would not
teach it me, and acted like a quack telling me
haughtily that the mailer of life had communi-
cated it to him alone.*

..

The

* It is highly probable that this powder, was of the root
or whole plant of the arijlolockia anguicida a Mexican plant,
which probably grows likewife in Loiiifiana> and according
to Dr. Jacquin is an infallible remedy againfc the fnakes, for
thefe animals are a&ually fafcinated and even killed by it. In

Car ''

366 TRAVELS through

There are very large and long crocodiles or alliga-
tors in fome parts of the river Mijfifippi •, they are
fo carnivorous, that if they find a man afleep on
the land, they carry him into the water and de-
vour him, though they are elfe very cowardly,
and run off as foon as one walks towards them ;
it feldom happens that they eat a man, becaufe
it is fo eafy to efcape from them ; they purfue
thofe that fly from them, and are very formi-
dable in the water. The alligator is the mo ft
horrid animal in nature and I cannot without
horror remember that which had almofl carried
me into the river of Tombekbe-, I thought I faw
the devil juft come out of hell, and I believe he
could not be better reprefented than under that
hideous form-, its back is covered with impenetra-
ble

Carthao-ena the Indians chew the root of this Ariftolocha,
and mix its juice with, the faliva ; if one drop of this mix-
ture is put into the fnake's mouth, it inebriates it, and you
may handle the fnake as you pleafe ; if two or three drops
are forced in ; and they reach the fnake's ftomach, convul-
nons immediatly enfue, and the reptile dies. The Indian
who mewed Dr. Jacquin this method, likewife informed him
that he had been thrice bit by fnakes, and had always cured
the wound by ufmg the Artjiolochia both internally and ex-
ternally. The plant itfelf has fo naufeous a fmell, that it
is always avoided by fnakes, and caufes, when chewed,
vomiting even to men. See Jacquin's Hill. Select. S.tirp.
American, p. 232. t. 144. F.

LOUISIANA. 367

ble fcales, almoft as ftrong as oyiler-fhel Is, refilling
the force of a ball from a mufket. It is difficult
to hurt an alligator any where except in the eye.
They are numerous in the red river : they arc
torpid during the cold weather, and lie in the
mud* with their mouths open, into which the
fifh enter as into a funnel, and can neither ad-
vance nor go back. The Indians then get upon
their backs and kill them by finking their heads
with hatchets, and this is a kind of diverfion for
them.

Here are likewife frogs of an extraordinary
lize, whofe croaking exceeds the roaring of a
bull. On my voyage from Mobile to New Or-
leans, I touched at the Horn I (land and found a
Ihell fifh there, which the Indians call Namnatele,
which means Sea Spider ; it was petrified. Its
outward covering confifled of a more ihinins
varnifh than the Chinefe ; its eyes were petrified
and hard as diamonds. This lhell fifli is of the

lize

* This circumftance of the allegator's being torpid dur-
ing winter, is quite new, and very remarkable for natural his-
torians. It Teems almoft all the clafs of animals called amph
hiahy Dr. Linnaus, when found in cold climates, grow tor-
pid during winter. F,

368 TRAVELS through

fize and figure of a barber's bafon turned upfide
down, a* d has a very fharp tail about ten inches
long, and they fay it is dangerous to be flung
by it *.

The higher parts of Louifiana contain beavers
and ouhers \ the Indians fay that thefe beavers
have been expelled by their brethren from Cana-
da + becauie they were too lazy to join with
them in conftrucling the habitations which thofe
animals make in common, and the dikes, to al*
ter the bed of rivers, all which they contrive and
execute with great art and induftry.

The Karancro, a bird of prey, is of the fhape
and fize of a turkey f , and the moft voracious

bird

* This fliell-fifh is now in the Marquis de Marignys cabi-
net of Natural Curiofities.

This rare animal is nothing clfe than the king's crab,
common in the feas all round America and the WeJI-Indies ;
monoculus Polyphemus. Linn. Thefe animals are employed in
New-York to feed pigs with, and the ingenious gentleman,
who communicated thisrematk, adds, fometimes it is eaten
even by the two legged pigs. F.

f Hence it is called Turkey Bttzxard by Gatefby, GaroK
I. t. 6.— -It is the Carrion Vulture, Former's .N. Amer. Ani*
mals, p. 8. and Vukur Aura, Linn.

L O U I

s

I A N A.

{o

bird that ever was known *> it follows the hunters
and likewife the convoys that travel to their dif-
ferent {rations. They wait in flights, like ra-
vens, for the decampment ; and then they come
and eat greedily all that has been left there,
after which they go on, towards the new
camp. They eat dead corpfes ^ their fea-
thers are black, and the foft downy feathers un-
der the wings, have the quality of Hopping the
blood.

The Flamingo is of the fame fize, the end of
its wings is black, the back white, and the
belly flame -coloured *.

There are ftares of two kinds ; the leafr. are
of the fize of the European ones : they are fo
common that a hundred of them are often killed
at one ihot •, they are very good to eat but the

inhabitants are obliged to guard their crops of
maize and rice, which otherwife would be en-
tirely eaten up by thefe birds ; they are as black
as jet, and have the tip of the wing of a fine bright
red -, their feathers are very £ ne, and the ladies
Vol. I. Bb wear

*• Flamingo, Pheenicapterus YuBir. Linn.

kJ

IRA V E L S THROUGH

wear muffs, and linings to their dreffes of
them**

Here are parrots and parrpkeets, and fine
jays in great abundance: in the country of the
Mifouris there are magpies, only different
from the European ones by their plumage,
their black and white colours being fhaded j
the Indians make ornaments for their hair of

em,

The eyes are taken with the beauty of nature
unafMed by art; here me appears as fhe came
from the hands of the Creator, before the fall
of man. The ear of the traveller is enchanted
by the fongs of the birds, and efpecially thofe
of the mcckin? birds, which are fond of beino-
in his company, and feem formed on purpofe
to make him forget the fatigues and tedioufnefs
of the journey. Indeed as foon as the mocking
bird perceives a man,, he perches near him, and
fmgs very agreeably, flying from place to place ;
and ma word, this bird is inimitable; it fettles
at the top, of a tree, and mocks or mimics all

the

* Thefe are the red~<ivinged flare s or maize thieves mentioned
and drawn in Kalm's Travels, Vok II. p. 74. Qriohs pharni-
cms. Linn.

LOU I S I AN A.

71

the other birds ; he likewife imitates the mew-
ino- of a cat. The mocking bird fometimes
comes to the towns and houfes, and appears en-
chanted and pleafed when one plays on any
inflrument and even joins the concert ; it is of
the fize of a flare, and of a bluilri grey colour :

it is eafily tamed, if taken young *.

-

Tne Pope is of a bright blue round the head;
on the throat it is of a fine red, and on the
back of a gold green colour, it fings very finely
and is of the fize of a canary bird f.

The Cardinal bird is quite red^ having the
throat black, and a creft of feathers on its
head, its bill is ftrong arid red •, it is a kind of
fparrow, which is very fond of men, and comes
to the fize of a lark, but whittles during rummer
like a black-bird J.

Bb 2

The

* Mocking bird, Turdus Orpheus Linn. -Kalm's Travels,
Vol. II. p. 90. F.

f Pope is tne male of the Emlenza Ciris Linn. known bv

'+he name of : painted Finch. F.

- • " ' "

t Cardinal bird is the Lcxia Cardinalis, Linn. F

THROUGH

Zn TRAVELS

The Bijliop is blue mixed with purple and of
the Iize of a linnet *.

-
The gold-finch is quite yellow, with the tips
of the wings black -K

There is a bird they call the Harlequin, bc-
caufe it is varied with many colours, and an-
other called the Swifs, becaufe it is red and blue ;
the lait three fpecies only come to the Illinois in
fummer.

The humming bird is no bigger than a large
beetle, and painted with many bright and chang-
ing colours ; it lives upon the fweet juice of
flowers as bees do ; its nefl is made of a very
fine cotton or woolly fubflance, and fufpended
on the branch of a tree $. There are number-
lefs unknown birds, which would make the ac^
count too long.

J it/11 I

I have feen butterflies of great beauty •, I
found two on my voyages (that have been eaten

«p.

\ _ - ■ -

* Bifhop, Tanagra Epifcopus Linn.

. - -

f Goldfinch, Fringilia trips, Linn.

\ Humming bird, frochftus Colubris, Linn

■

I S I A N

A.

373

LOU

up by worms) the like of which I never faw ;
I never beheld any thing more magnificent ! it
feemed as if the author of nature had been
pleafed to throw upon their wings the fine ft and
rrioft vivid colours j the fineft "and pu reft gold
appeared mixed among the other colours With
admirable fymmetry. .

- ■

-
Thefe butterflies were probably carried to the

Akanzas by a fudden florm, for in the whole

fpace of a thoufand leagues which I have gone

through, I have never found their equals. I

defired fome Indians, of the Ofages nation, who

Jive near the mines of St. Barbe, to bring me

fome of thefe butterflies: they anfwered, that

in the country where they were to be found, the

inhabitants were very ferocious, and had merely

the forms of men.

. -.

Here are various forts of ducks, but the
moil curious are thofe which perch on trees, hav-
ing pretty ftrong claws at the end of their
palmated toes -, they build their nefts upon thofe
trees which lean over rivers or lakes, and when
their young ones are hatched, they go into the
water immediately. As to their feathers, they
are fhaded with the rTneil colours : the male has
a creft upon its head,; Thefe ducks are the bed

Rb

.

to

.•

374 T "R AVELS throitch

to eat, they feed in the woods on acorns and
beech feeds *.

On the banks of rivers there are birds called
Egrets, they are exceeding white and the ladies
employ their feathers as aigrettes f.

The Pelican, which the inhabitants of the
country call great throat, on account of a
pouch he has under his throat, is as white
and as large as a fwan, its bill is about twelve
inches long -, they make muffs of its (kin, and
precipitate the pafte of indigo with its fat.
This pafte is made from a plant, the grain
of which comes from the "Eaft Indies, for dying
blue ff

The fpoon-bill §, having a bill like a Spatula,
an apothecary's inftrument fo called. There is
likewife a bird called Lancet-bill, whofe beak is

adually

■

■ -

-

* This is the Anas arborea, Linn.

f Egrets, Ardea alba? Linn, the great white heron?1
Forft. North. Am. Animals, p. 14.

....
X Pelican, Pelecanus Onocrotalus, j3. Linn.

§ Spoon-bill, Plat aha Leucorodia, Linn-

feflhtartMj.

LOUISIANA. 375

actually like a lancet. It is impoflible to finifh
this matter, it would require whole volumes.; I
leave this detail to our learned countrymen, M.
de Bitffon and Daubenton, who have undertaken
this vaft work. I wifh you may be content with;
this fhort account.

I am, SIR, &c.

At New Orleans the iji
of June> 1762.

P. S. Before I conclude my letter I mail
fpeak to you of two precious plants iir
Louifiana; which are the Indigo and the
Cotton,

Indigo is a plant refembling the Broom or Ge-
nifta very much. A kind of it is growing in
Louifiana fpontaneoufly, and commonly upon
hills and near woods. That which is cultivated
is brought from the Weft India ifles. There

— o -------- — —

are two crops of it every year. It grows to the
height of two feet and a half. When it is ripe,
it is cuty and brought into the place where it is
to rot; this is a building twenty feet high,
without walls ; but only fupported by polls.
In it they make three troughs, one above an-

B b 4 other

■

376 T R A V.E L S

*T&ROU OH

other, the lowed is made.fo, that the water
it contains, may run out, of it, and out-of t£e
building. The fecond ftands on. the - edge qf
this, fy that the water .it contains falls into the
£rft, and this third/is difpofed in the fame man-
ner with regard to the fecond.. The indigo
leaves are put into the uppermoft trough ; with
a certain quantity of water, and muft putrify in
it. The man who is at the head of the manu-
facture examines -the indigo, from- time to time,
and when he lees it is time to empty this trough,
he turns the cock, and the water runs into the
fecond trough ;. there- is a proper time which
rrmft be well obfervedfor doing this operation,
for if the plant remains too long in this, putrefy-
ing place, the Indigo becomes black.

As foo.n as the water is in the fecond trough,
it is beaten till the overfeer thinks it fufficient 5
it is ufe and habit by which one learns to feize
upon the true moment. When, the water has
been well beaten, it is left, to fettle: the- indigo
forms a kind of fediment at the bottom of the
trough ; the water above it mufl have time to
become clear, and is afterwards drawn oft
by rrjeans of feveral cocks placed. above each
other»

The

I O V I S I A N A, 377

The indigo is then taken off likewife, and
put into facks made .of common * lackcloth,
where the remaining water may run off. After
this it is fpread upon boards, and when dry iris
cut into lktle fquare pieces, piit into barrels,
and fo fent to Europe.

In order to have feeds, it is neceflary only to
let fo many plants grovy up as are wanted-, it
grows more or lefs tall according to the nature*
of the foil, which ought to be light-, in the
Weft India iflands they have four crops a-year,
on account of the. great heat, but in Lnuifiana
they cannot have^above three % the indigo in the
latter place is likewife not fo good*.-

Tjhe cotton-fhrub is no bigger than a rofe-
bulh, but fp reads more. It does not Tucceed fo
well in ftrong or rich grounds as in others ; there-
fore that which grows in Lower Louf/ianaii'm-
ferior in goodnefs to that which is cultivated in
the higher parts of that province.

-

The

* The indigo plant is, with Dr. Linn&uu the Indigofera
tinSioria, and the indigo mentioned to grow fpontarreoufly
in Louifuina is the Sophora tiiitioria, Linn. ; which, wich a
proper management, is faid to afford as good indigo as the
celebrated Anil of the Indies and Egypt. F.

37*- TRAVELS through

The cotton of this country is of the fpecies
called white cotton of Siam. It is neither fo
fine nor fo long as the filky cotton, but it is
however very white and very fine. Its leaves are
of a lively green, and refemble fpinage very
much 5 the flower is of a pale yellow, the feed
contained in the capfule is black, and oval like
a kidney-bean : it is commonly planted in fuch
grounds as are not yet fit for tobacco or-
for indigo ; for the latter requires the greater!

care.

The fhrub is cut down to the ground every
two or three years, becaufe they fay it bears
more after it. The piftil of the flower changes
into an acuminated capfule, of the fize of a pi-
geon's egg, green at firft, then brown, and at.
lafb almoft black, dry and brittle.

When the cotton is ripe, the heat of the fun
makes it expand •, the capfule that contained it
opens in three or four places with a little noife.
Then it mutt be gathered quickly, left it mould
be Rift. Each capfule contains five, fix, or fe-
ven feeds, of the fize of peafe ; the cotton flicks
to them, and it is therefore difficult to get the
feeds out5 except in time and with patience ; for

this

L O U I S I A N A. 379

this reafon, however, many planters have been
difgufted with the culture of cotton *.

-
I have not mentioned tobacco to you •, it is
likely that it is a native of the country, becaufe
the tradition of the Indians, or their ancient word*
tells us, that they have always employed it to
fmoke in their calumets of peace. I fhall con-
clude with an obfervation that has already been
made, and which it is good to repeat, till fome-
body tries the experiment. The climate of Lou-
ifiana, and the hiljy parts of that country, give
reafon to believe, that it would not be difficult
to plant fafrron there ; the colonifts would reap
great advantages from it, and the neighbourhood
of Mexico would procure them a quick and cer-
tainly an ufeful confumption.

* The peopk in the EngHfh colonies, and in China, em-
ploy an inftrument which fepaiates the pods from the cottox*
with great eafe» F.

LET-

So

TRAVELS

THROUGH

mMs*mm*&)

LETTER XXL

To the fame.

■ •

Reflexions on the Population of Amer ica ; that Con-
tinent has not been unknown to the Ancients ; it
feems that it is comecled with Alia on the Side of
Tartary, from whence the People that firfi fettled
it muft naturally be fuppofed to have come. A
Digreffion Upon the Way of prefer ving one's Health
in America.

,. 3fiT

S I R

F)K^ ExPe(5t t0 fct out for France very foon ;
% l ^ and * take advantage of an opportuni-
^J^'ji ty that offers to write to you, before I
leave this part of the world. After giving you
an idea of the manners, cuftoms, and of rhe hi*
ilory of the people with whom I have been du-
ring myvoyages, I do not believe 1 could bet-
:r conclude my narrative, than by fome reftec-

l nous.

tet

LOUISIANA. $$k

tions on the population of this immenfe conti-
nent; but this matter is fo obfcure, that we
cannot now flatter ourfelves to clear it up : ma-
ny learned writers have already attempted to
throw light upon it, but they have not iucceed-^
ed ; modern philofophy has endeavoured, with
as little fuccefs, to draw advantages from it,
and its reaibnings and opinions have not even
been able to feduce weak geniufes.

By reflecting attentively upon the old writers,
every thing feems to convince us, that America
was not entirely unknown to them. Dicdorus
Siculus feems to have fpoken of it with precifion
enough : Father Laffiteau quotes a paflage from
that hiftorian, and adds his reflections to clear
it up. The Phoenicians , if we may believe the
Greek author, after lending leveral colonies up-
on the coaft of the Mediterranean, being enrich-
ed by their trade, did not go far beyond the co-
lumns of Hercules; that vaft and unknown
ocean, which they difcovered on coming throuo-h
the (freights of Gibraltar^ infpired them with a
kind of horror, which they furmounted only by
degrees : fome bold navigators ventured out uo-
on the ocean afterwards ; but failing along the
coaft of Africa* a violent temped, of feveral
days duration, carried them to an ifle of very

great

TRAVELS throuch

great extent, at a great diftance to the weftward.
At their return they were very ready to fpeak of
their difcovery, they embellifhed their accounts,
with all the fictions familiar to travellers of all
countries, and at all times. When the Tyrrhe-
nians became the matters of the fea, they were
willing to make a fertlement there-, but the
Carthagenians oppofed it, fearing that their coun-
trymen, attracted by what, was laid of this land,
fhould leave their country in order to fettle
there ; they likewife confidered this new-difco-
vered country as a laft refource for themfelves,
in cafe fome difafter mould have overturned their
empire.

To this paffage of Biodcrus Skulus, ■ Father
Laffiteau adds one of Paufanias. This writer was
inquiring, .whether there-were any fatyrs ;, one
■EuphemuSy who was born in Cariai told him,
that, in a voyage of his, he had been carried by
a ftorm to the extremities of the ocean, where
he had feen feveral riles, which the failors called
Satyridss.: The people that inhabited them were
\>f a red colour, and had tails ; the failors trem-
bled, and endeavoured to avoid them y but the
contrary winds forced them to come near the
ftiore-, the lavages invefied the veiTel, and the

crew,

1

LOUISIANA.

3*3

crew, in order to get rid of them, were obliged to
deliver a woman to them.

Father Lajfiteau's reflection will appear very
juft to you. " The defcription of thefe iflaad-.
" ers," fays he, " perfectly fits to the CaraUes^
" who were mailers of the Antilles, commonly
" called the Caribee iflands, out of mod of
" which they have been expelled by the Euro-
" peans in thefe latter times. The complexion
<c of thefe people is very red, and it is naturally
" fo ; it being lefs the effect of the climate,
" than of the imagination of the mothers, who,
" finding the red colour beautiful, tranfmit it
" to their children * \ their flcfh is likewife arti-
" ficiajly red, for they paint themfelves every
\l day with rocpuy which ferves inftead of vermi-
is lion, to them, and appear as red as blood by
% it. As to what concerns the imagination of

the failors, who thought they beheld fatyrs,
" it only was the effect of feju*, that made them

<s take

tc

'

* Eyery one will not agree with the Jefuit upon the ef-
fect of the mother's, imagination on their children : the dif-
ferent colours of men from the feveral parts of the world, offer
many more difficulties. All that has been written on the
£ubje'& has .not explained this phenomenon; men who Were
originally white, mull have become black, red, and brown»
(bronzed), by the union of feveral caufes.

3S4 TRAVELS through

" take falfe tails for real ones •, almoft all the
" barbarous nations of America Wore this orna-
" ment, efpccially when they went to.war."

The fimilarity which has been obferved to ex-
ifl between the manners of leveral American na-
tions, and thofe of fo'me of the old eft nations on
our continent, feems to demdnftrate that this
country was not unknown in ancient times, and
chiefly proves that the known or old parts fur-
nifhed the new one with men ^ how could that
fimilarity be explained, if this had not happen-
ed ? How great a refemblance is there in the
religion, manners, and cuftoms of the Indians^
with thofe of fome ancient nations. Thefe de-
tails will always deftroy moil of the bold fy items
which have been ftarted on the population of
America, If they were a colony of people efca-
ped from the deluge, the univerfaHty of which
is in vain contefted, they would have brought
anti-diluvian cuftoms into America. Thofe na-
tions that were born after this dreadful punish-
ment, do they refemble their anceftors that were
'buried under the floods ? We have not yet light
enough upon this fubject to make a juft compa-
nion ; we can anfwer nothing to thofe who fay.
That the Almighty hand, which /owed plants an,':
fruits in all farts of the world, could likewife ptaH

lien

LOUISIANA. 3$5

men there. An ingenious phrafe is not always a
reafon : no one difpUtes this power of the Crea-
tor •; rbut he has been pleafed to teach us him-
felf, that it was not his will to people the world
fo, and that he gave exiftence to two creatures,
who were the origin of the whole human race.

All thefe opinions reft upon the courfe
that men muft have taken, in order to come
from the old world to the new ; and it is upon
this' difficulty that molt authors found their wri-
tings. A- more exact and extenfive knowledge
of our globe would annihilate all thefe difficul-
ties. It is very probable, that there is a paiTage
which unites Afta to Americas I have already
faid fomething of it to you, in fpeaking of the
elephants bones found in one of the countries I
have gone through : this is not a new opinion ;
this conjecture has been made long ago. " Ame-
" rica" fays ," Father ' Laffiteau, " can be come at
" in different places, and accordingly it may
" have been peopled from all fides ; this is be-
" yond a doubt ; it is but at a little diftance
" from the fouthern unknown countries -9 and
" in the north, Greenland, which is perhaps con-
" tiguous to this new continent, is not far from
« Lapland. Thofe parts of Afia which bound it
««towards the land of Tefi9 probably make but

Vol. I

Cf

one

386 TRAVELS through

" one continent with, or are only at a little di-
" ftance from America, if the ftreights that are
" fuppofed to be there go to the Tatarian fea :
" the ocean which furrounds America almoft en-
" tirely, is flrewed with ifles, both in the nor-
" thern and fouthern feas. Men may have gone
" from ifle to ifte, either by fhipwreck or by
" mere chance."

This author alledges many reafons to prove,
that North America joins to Tartary, or to fome
country contiguous to it ; the following is a very
fingular one : You know that ginfeng is original-
ly a native of the Mantcheoux Tartary, the Chinefi
or Tartarian name of it fignifies, the thighs of a
man. The Americans, who were long acquaint-
ed with it, and made ufe of it, called it garel-
cguen, which has the fame fignhication. Ifyf-
merica did not join to Tartary, or if the latter
had not peopled the firft, how could their re-
fpective inhabitants give names of the fame fig-
nification to the fame plant ? I do not fpeak
here of etymologies of words that have been
corrupted, and which are only found by forcing
them ; their fignification is here in queftion.

Captain William Rogers looks upon it as very
probable, that fome Tart mans paffcd over into

America ;

J^^^^^ ^^^

LOUISIAN

$7

America : he obferves, that the mips which an-
nually go From the Philippines to Mexico, are ob-
liged to fleer to the northward; in order to meet
with favourable winds, thofe which rife between
the tropics being always contrary to them. He
adds; that after pafllng forty-two degrees of
north latitude, failors often meet with fands and
mallows, which feem to indicate that they are
near fome coafts. He imagines, that thefe coafts
might well be fome continent unknown to Euro*
peans, and uniting California with Japan •, but
mould they not rather be the coafts of Kamchat-
ka, or of that new country to the eaft difcovered
by Captain Bering ?

To thefe obfefvations I fhall add an abftraft
of a relation, publifhed in the Mercure Gdlant
for November 171 1. I fhall quote the fact,
without making any reflections to confirm or con-
tradict it ; the author pretends to have got it out
of a manufcript found in Canada

Ten men refolved to go out upon dlfcoveries,-
with a view to get riches % they embarked hi
three canoes, and went up the river Mijfifippi.
After a long voyage, they found another river
which flowed to the fouth-fouth- weft % they car-
ried their canoes to it, and continued their na-

£ c 2 vigation;

TRAVELS THROUGH

vigation ; fome time after, they arrived in a
country which extended two hundred leagues,
and was inhabited by a nation who called them-
felves Efcaaniba.

The Frenchmen (for the ten travellers were
of that nation) found much gold with thefe
people. Their king pretended to deduce his
origin from Montezuma \ his name was Agau-
zan, and he kept a Handing army of an hundred
thoufand men in time of peace. The Efcaaniba
women were rvhite as the European women ; they
and the men of that nation had long ears, to
which they faflened gold rings. One. of their
diilinclions was, to let their nails grow : poly-
gamy was permitted among them ; they did not
pay any attention to their daughters, who lived
in the grea teil liberty., withqut any one to watch
over their conduct. Their country produced to-
bacco, various fruits, fome common to Europe
and India, and fome that were peculiar to it ;
the rivers abounded with fifh ; their forefts were
full of game of every kind, and contained above
all a great number of parrots. The capital was
fituated at fix leagues from the river, which they
called Miffiy Golden river. They valued gold
fo little, that they permitted the French to take
as much as they pleafed with them : you may

con»

LOUISIANA. 389

conceive, that they made a good ufe of this per-
miffion •, each of them took for his fhare two
hundred and forty pounds weight of gold. Their
mines were in the mountains, from whence they
brought the gold upon rivulets, which were dry
during one feafon of the year.

Thefe people traded with a nation very diftant
from them •, and in order to make the French
fcnfiblc of it, they told them, that it required
fix months to make the voyage. The adventu-
rers happened to be with the Efcaanibas at the
time when their caravan fet out to trade with
thofe ftrangers \ it confided of three hundred
oxen loaded with gold 5 an equal number of
men, armed with lances, bows, arrows, and a
kind of daggers, conducted and watched them :
they brought back, in exchange for their gold,
fome iron, fteel, lances, and other weapons.

I cannot afcertain in what degree we may
truft this account •, the adventurers conjectured,
that the diftant country whither the Efcaanibas
went, was Japan ; in that Cafe, there muft be a
communication between AJia and America \ fome
Engiifh writers, without attempting to difpute
the authenticity of this account, believe, that
the favages went to trade with the inhabitants of

C c 3 Kamt{

39-° TRAVELS through

Kamptchatka, or of fome ifle or continent near
that peninfula. This communication will never
be well afcertained whilft it remains undifcover-
ed * Conje&ures explain nothing •, they give
probabilities, but go no further : however, be
it as it will, it is very probable that fuch a com-
munication exifts : fuppofing there are ftreights
that divide thefe two great parts of the world,
they cannot have prevented men from penetra-
ting out of one into the other, by croffing thofe
ftreights. We muft hope, that the ignorance
in which we are at prefent will not lift for ever 5
the difcoveries which men lhall endeavour to
make in the great fouthern or Pacific ocean, will
give us more light on this fubjeft f. If, after

making

* The modern geographical difcoveries, and efpecially
thofe made by the Ruffians, fufficiently evince, that the fea
entirely divides Afia from America ; there can be no doubt
neither of Japan's being an rfle, and unconnected with the
continent of 2teerica\ it is true, however, that the fea which
divides Afia from America near Cape Tchukjhi, is very nar
row, and not a fafHcient obitacle to the migration of the na-
tions that inhabit the north-eaft parts of Siberia into AmerU
ca ; for a further hint concerning the population of that vaft
continent, fee Kajm's Travels to Ncrth America, vol. iii.
p. 125. Sec. F.

f When thefe letters were gone to prefs, I heard that the
■ rnglifli had discovered ten iflMs in that ocean- There is

an

L O U I S I A N A. 391

making voyages that way, fome {freights be
really found, it is no reafon why they fhould al-
ways have been there : earthquakes may have
divided the ifthmus or neck of land which com -
bined the two continents -, many authors attri-
bute the ftreights of Gibraltar to the fame kind
of event : the Mediterranean, they fay, had
formerly no communication with the Atlantic •,
many pretend, that Great Britain was joined to
France ; now the fea feparates Dover and Calais :
why cannot this be the cafe with Afia and Ame-
rica likewife ?

The time in which the population of America
was commenced, is as obfcure and indetermi-
nate as the manner in which it was peopled ; eve-
ry thing which is difficult to penetrate excites
the curiofity of men •, they wifh to fee fomething
new, and to fpeak of it, and frequently they

C c 4

give

an account of it in the voyage of Commodore Byron, who
has been fo much talked of, and has proved the exiflence of
giants, which was blindly believed by the ancients, reje&ed
as chimerical by the moderns, and now confirmed by new
difcoveries. The next voyage which the Englifh will make
that way, will furnifh us with more minute accounts ; others
will be encouraged to imitate them, and a perfect, knowledge
of the South Sea will clear up the difficulties concerning the
junction of Af.a and America.

3.9* TRAVELS through

give us their own chimerical imaginations as
fomething real. Among the lingular opinions
which this fubjed has given rife to, I mail men-
tion that of Marc Lefcarbot, in his Hiftory of
New France ; Father Laffiteau mall flill be my
guide on this occafion, and from his work on
the manners of the favage Americans, I fhall
take what I have to fay on this matter. " Lef-
" carbot has not fcrupled to advance very pofi-
" tively, and in a manner that goes beyond con-
.'_* jecture, that Noah was not unacquainted with
" the weftern continent, (where Lefcarbot was
" bornj ; and that at leaft he knew it by fame.
" That, having lived three hundred and fifty
V years after the deluge,- he himfelf had taken
" care to people, or rather to re-people that
7 country : that, being a good workman, and
" an excellent pilot, and being charged to re-
" pair the defolation of the earth, he may be
" iuppofed to have conducted his children thi-
" ther ; and it may have been as eafy to him to
" have gone through the ftreights of Gibraltar to
C New France, Cape Verd, and Brazil, as it was
P to his children to go and fettle in Japan, or
** as it was to himfelf to come from the raoun-
iC tains of Armenia into Italy, where he founded
£ the Janiculum upon the banks of the Tiber, if

<<

we

LOUISIANA.

393

« we may credit the accounts given by profane
c< writers."

I doubt whether it is neceffary to go back to
Noah, to find the period of the population of
America •, if, as is very probable, the Tartars
went over into that continent, it muft have hap-
pened in the following times : a fet of people*
who are not numerous, do not eafily leave the
vaft country they inhabit ; they do not fo foon
endeavour to feparate from each other; they
continue together, till, by having multiplied too
much, they fpread more, or till fome other cir-
cumftances force them to leave their native
country : fuch refearches are of little importance;
they are mere matters of curiofity, and the diffi-
culty of fatifying that ought to prevent men
from employing their time in them. AU that
can be aiferted with certainty is, that America
feems to have been inhabited only of late.

Powell, an Englifh writer, mentions, in his
Hiftory of Wales* that, in the year 1170, there
was a war in that country for the fucceflion to
the throne, after the death of Prince Owen Gwin-
nett. A baftard took the crown from the legi-
timate children ; one of the latter, whofe name
was Modoc, embarked in order to make new dif-

coveries \

394 TRAVELS through

coveries ; directing his courfe to the weftward
he came to a country the fertility and beauty of
which were amazing. As this country, was with-
out inhabitants, Madoc fettled in it ; Hakluit
allures us, that he made two or three voyages to
England to fetch inhabitants, who, upon the
account he gave them of that fine country, went
to fettle with him.

The Englifh believe, that this prince difco-
vered Virginia, Peter Martyr feems to give a
proof of it, when he fays, that the nations of
Virginia, and thofe of Guatimala, celebrate the
memory of one of their ancient heroes, whom
they call Madoc. Several modern travellers have
found ancient Britifh words ufed by the North
American nations. The celebrated Englifh Bi-
fhop Nicholfon believes, that the Welch language
has formed a confiderable part of the languages
of the American nations -, there are antiquaries
who pretend, that the Spaniards got their double
or guttural / (11) from the Americans, who, ac-
cording to the Englifh, muft have got it from
the Welch, I Ihould never have done, if I were
to mention all their reafonings to prove the voy-
age of the Welch Prince Madoc, The Dutch
brought a bird, with a white head, from the
ftreights of Magellan, which the natives called

Penguin j

■■HOD

LOUISIANA. 395

Penguin ; this word is an old Welch one, and
fignifies white head •, from hence they conclude,
that the natives originall came from Wales *.

The Englijh are not the only people, who, ac-
cording to our hiftorical romances, went to Am*
rica and fettled there : Bayer pretends, that the
Normans were the firft Europeans who ventured
to fail to that country.

Doctor Lochner afferts that a Bohemian of a
diftinguifhed family went to Brafil, and difco-
vered the ftraights of Magellan, before Columbus
went to the New World -, this Bohemian was
called Martin f. Many German writers who

feem

* This, however, is a wrong fuppofition ; for it appears,

that the bird in queftion has a black and not a white head ;

but its name is Spanifh, and fignifies a fat bird, the Penguin
or rather Pinguin being very fat. F.

f Our author miftakes the name of this man for that of
his country : l*e was called Martin Behaim, a native of Nu-
renforg in Germany ; his father was a noble fenator of that
city : after ftudying mathematics, and efpecially aftronomy
and geography, under the great mathematician Joanna Re~
giomontanus, he went to the Netherlands, then governed by
the Princefs tjabella, daughter to John I. of Portugal 5 ha
there obtained the command of a fhip, fitted out for the
purpofe of making difcoveries : he fet fail in 1460, and,

failing

11

2$6 TRAVELS through

feem to wifh that America mould bear his name
preferably to that of Americo Vefpucci, have fol-
lowed this opinion.

Whether thefe traditions are adopted or re-
jected, whether they are fabulous or true, it re-
mains inconteilible that the Americans have the
fame origin with us ; among all their errors* they
have preferved fome ideas that have a great fimi-
larity with thofe, which have been transmitted to
us by writing : I (hall mention to you a piece of
an Englifh differtation on the population of

America^

failing to the weft ward firft met win the iflc of Fayed one of
the Axoresy all which iilands were afterwards called the Fie-
mijk ifles from the firft inhabitants, which Martin Behaim
brought thither. He then returned, and obtained two mips,
with which he cruized in the atlantic for fome time, and at
laft difcovered the fourth part of the world, and even went
as far as the flraights, now called Straights cf Magellan ; he
laid down all his difcoveries in a fea chart, which he pre-
fented to king Alphotfus the fifth, of Portugal. This fketch
afterwards f?ll into me hands of Chrijlopher Colu?nbusi a Ge-
noe/e who was at Lisbon^ and firft infpired him with a delire
of vifiting thofe unknown countries. When he undertook
the voyage, he always folk wed the fame courfe whieh Mar-
tin Behaim had laid down on his chart, and performed the
voyage in as fhort a time as is done now. In the noble fa-
mily of Behaim at Nuienbcrg, they rlill preferve among other
curiofities a globe drawn with a pen, and coloured by that
able navigator, in which all his difcoveries are marked. F.

LOUISIANA, S97

America, in which many American opinions are
collected, which owe their origin to the truths
preferred by Mofes. " The Peruvians believe,
*4 that there formerly was a deluge, by which
" all the inhabitants of their continent perimed,
" a few excepted, who retired into caverns at
** the top of the higheft mountains, and whofe
*« defcendants filled the earth with inhabitants
*' again. Some ideas, little different from
"thefe have been received by the natives of
" Hifpaniofa) according to what Gemelli Carrtri
*c relates. The old hiftories of Mexico likewife
" mention an univerfal deluge, by which all
44 men, one man and woman excepted, perimed,
<c Thefe two people, according to the Mexicans*
" had numerous defcendants -9 but all their chil-
dren were dumb, till a pigeon endowed them
with the power of fpeech * they add, that the
iC primitive language of the immediate de-
" fcendants of the couple who furvived the de-
luge, was fplit into fo many dialects, that it
was impoflible for them to underfland each
" other •, which after obliging them to feparate5
*• contributed to make them people the different
" countries of the earth. Some American na«
<c tions have a tradition, that all men derive
*< their origin from four women, which agrees
" pretty well with the Mofaic hiftory, which

" makes

a.

%i

(C

a

39& TRAVELS through

" makes all the nations defcend from Noah and
" his three fons. All thefe traditions manifeftly
" fhew, that the Americans are defcendants of
Noah, and that various accounts of the Mo*
'fate hiftory are even come down to them.
" This is fufficient to overthrow the ftrange fyf-
" tern which attributes anceftors to the Americans
ct anterior to Adam"

Does not this quotation anfwer all the argu-
ments of thofe fyftematic writers, who will give
lis the fruits of their abfurd imagination as
truths ? Where could the Americans get thefe
notions, if they were not all pofterior to the de-
luge, and defcended from nations that had pre-
ferved the tradition ? It is eafy to explain, that
by length of time, by the ignorance and the
mutability of the Indians, they have immerfed
true facts, which were committed to their me-
fables. The want of monuments,
characters or letters to write down thofe events,
certainly impairs the purity of tradition ; as
foon as it is tranfmitted by word of mouth from
father to fon, it mult be much changed after
palling through fo many generations.

The wars which the Indians ever carried on
among themfelves, have contributed greatly to

hinder

LOUISIANA.

399

hinder population ; their fmall number has cer-
tainly been the caufe of the nomadic life they
lead •, they ran through the woods in order to
fearch for game, and fettled in all the places
where they found food in abundance, leaving
them again in order to go further, whenever it
began to fail them.

If they were more numerous their wants
would increafe ; it would become more difficult
to provide food for them all ; this difficulty
would open their minds, give them new ideas :
they would feel that it was neceflary to provide
a fubfiftence more independent from mere
chance ; the fruits which the earth produces,
would teach them to multiply them by cultiva-
tion ; they would fee all the ufes of thefe pro-
ductions, think of appropriating them to them-
felves, and fucceed in it ; in fome places we fee
them already cultivate maize, they would foon
cultivate other corn ; one kind of knowledge
would lead to another : they would fettle in the
country which they had cultivated, and be no
longer fuch vagabonds as there are now.

The fettlement of the Europeans in the nor-
thern parts has engaged many of thefe nations
to cgme and fettle in their neighbourhood in

order

4<x> TRAVEL S through

order to get that afliftance from them which
they want ; the defire which the Europeans fhew
of pofiefiing their furs and the eafe with which
they can obtain brandy and fire-arms in exchange
for them, often excite them to go through the
woods and hunt in- the extent of two hundred
leagues around, in order to get thofe things,
which become real wants to them ; thus they
are only apparently fixed ; they preferve their
love for a rambling life, and the period of their
civilization feems as yet very diftant ; perhaps
they will deflroy each other before" they come
to it.

This is all that can be afTerted with probabi-
lity on the population of America ; my letter
would be too long, if I would only mention a
hundredth part of what has been faid on this
fubjecl. The fyftems and contrary opinions
which have been long publifhed, would make
confiderable volumes -, I have endeavoured to
confine myfelf to curious obfervations ; thofe
who think the Tartars have chiefly furnifhed
America with inhabitants, feem to have hit the
true opinion ; you cannot believe how great
the refemblance of the Indian manners is to thofe
of the ancient Scythians ; it is found in their
religious ceremonies, their cuftoms and in their

food,

LOUISIANA.

40 1

food. Hornius is full of characleriftics, that
may fatisfy your curiofity in this refpect, and I
defire you to read him.

I fhall now quit all thefe difcuffions which
ought to finim the account of my voyages, and
fhall fpeak of another fubjecl:, more ufeful to
the human race, in regard to which obfer-
vation and experience fuffice to inftru£fc us.

As it is the natural defire of man to live long,
I hope it will not be foreign to my purpofe, to
fhew in a few Words, how one may preferve life
and live long in America.

I fhall therefore finifh my letter by a frnall dif-
fertation on the method of managing one's
health. I remember to have read, in the Hol-
land Gazette of the 3d of April 1687, that Fre-
derick Gualdusy a noble Venetian, has preferved
his life to the age of four hundred years ; it is
pretended, . that he was pofTeiTed of the univer-
fal medicine. He left Venice the 7th of March
1686; having his picture with him painted by
Titian, who was then already dead an hundred
and thirty years. I am fure you will agree with
me in faying, that exercife and fobriety procure
a perfect health. The nations of America knew

Vol. I. D d neither

40 1

T R A VELS THROUGH

neither wine nor brandy two hundred and fixty
years ago, when the Europeans came to them *,
they lived, as I have already faid, on the fiefh
of wild beads dried, roafted, or boiled with
maize pounded in a mortar made of fome hard
wood. This food is wholefome, and makes a
very good chyle. I have lived about two months
upon thefe victuals, going up the river Mobile
with the Indians, and can affirm, that I never
enjoyed my health better in my life than at that
time. Of all Latin proverbs, this is the beft :

Plures gula occidit, quam gladius.

Voluptuoufnefs and intemperance in eating and
drinking, deftroy more men than the fword.
Therefore one ought to prefcribe to himfelf a
proper regimen of life, efpecially in the hot
countries of America.

Firft of all, great care muft be taken to be
accuftomed to the climate by degrees, and to ab-
ftainfrom eating all kinds of fruit, and drinking
all forts of liquors, till the body is ufed to it.
People who are very replete with blood, may be
bled from time to time, to prevent an apoplexy.
A gentle purge will fometimes do well; the

burning

LOUISIANA. 403

burning heat of the fun mull be avoided, and
the air at night likewife*

When one has drunk too much wine, it is ne-
cefTary to take four things; fuch as lemon,
which is very common there •, by this means you
will neither find yourfelves ill, nor be overcome
by the vapours which commonly follow. If the
quantity of liquor which has been drank heats
the body, fome refreshing aliments mud be ta-
taken, but every thing that increafes heat mud
be avoided : fpirituous liquors mould be drank as
little as poflible, for they burn the blood, and
eafily caufe a hot fever.

When you have eaten too much, flrong li-
quors are good to ftrengthen the ftomach, and
help digeftion •, but if, on the contrary, it hap-
pens that you are heated by drinking too much*,
they would prove very dangerous. Thofe who
are too much addicted to debauchery are almoft
always tormented with bad dreams, which fa-
tigue them fo much as almoft to trouble their

D d 2 mind,

* It ought to be remarked, that, finee the Americans have
drank wine and brandy, they have like us fhortened their
days.

404 TRAVELS through

mind, becaufe the fumes of the wine, with
which their body is filled, fucceflively excke
their imagination. It is known by experience,
that fober perfons, and thofe efpeciaily who
drink water, fleep quietly, their fleep being nei-
ther too flight nor too heavy. It appears, from
the fecond chapter of the Life of Apollonius,
written by Philoftratus, that at Athens thofe who
were afflicled with bad dreams applied to the
priefts of the falfe deities, in order to.be rid of
them ; they ordered them to abilain from wine
for three or four days ; this cleared their imkil-
nation, and produced a cure, which they attri-
buted to their gods.

If, after taking too much food, you are hea-
vy, and your members fatigued, fo that too
great an abundance of nutritive juice occafions
a plenitude in the whole body, and makes you
tired ; I believe that, in imitation of the Indians,
fweating is an infallible remedy, when the natu-
ral heat is afiifted with an exterior one; this re-
medy is infallible, provided it be applied at the
firft appearance of the diftemper ; the Europeans,
in order to perfpire well, get between two blan-
kets, and remain there covered up, the face
excepted i they do not get up till they have

fweated

LOUISIANA.

405

fweated well, and about an hour after the whole
perfpiration is performed. If this method of
fweating is continued during fome days, you
find yourfelf fo much eafed, that your ftrength
and appetite return, and you are furprifed to fee
yourfelf fo light and fo nimble j for by the per-
fpiration all the vifcera are perfectly cleared of
all their fuperfluities, without pain or any vio-
lence done to nature, which the ordinary medi-
cines cannot do. In order to be healthy, this
ought to be done thrice in the year, viz. la
fpring, autumn, and in winter.

My conclufion is, that diet, perfpiration, and
fweating compofe an univerfal medicine.

Therefore I fay, that nature mould direct 14s
in all things ; from her we mull learn the true
means of preferving health, which fhe orders us
to do upon pain of the greater!: evils, and even
of death. I have already told you, that the
frequent exercifes of the Indians of North Ameri-
ca^ fuch as dancing, playing at ball, hunting,
fifhing, and fighting, increafe their natural heat
fo much, that it drives all the fuperfluities out of
their bodies by perfpiration. Why do the pea-

4o6 TRAVELS through

fants live long, and are healthy, without the
affiftance of phyficians ! The perpetual labour
they are employed in keeps them fo ; exercife
prevents their knowing the gout, gravel, and
other infirmities, to which the richer people in
Europe are fubject, on account of the refined
tafte of their tables, and becaufe they make no
more ufe of their legs than old infirm men. I
have known fome, who, like Moliere's Malade
imaginairey filled their flomach with as many
drugs as an apothecary's fhop.

It has been obferved, in the hot countries of
America^ that the young Europeans die fooner
there than the old ones ; becaufe the former
imprudently eat all forts of fruit, which caufe
them a dyfentery ; therefore it is neceffary to
eat very little of them, till the body is accuftom-
ed to the climate, after which, at the expirar
tion of a year, this will caufe no further incon-
veniencies.

By obferving thefe precautions, I will war-
rant, that people will live longer in this part of
the world than in the old one. There are
now many people alive in Louifianay who have
been there ever fince its firfl fettlement. I faw

a planter

a planter called Graveline, aged one hundred
and eighteen years, who came hither with 3VL
£ Iberville, in 1698; he ferved in Canada as a
foldier for about thirty years/ in the reign of
Lewis the Fourteenth.

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