%images;]> rbfr-0069 Travels through that part of North America formerly called Louisiana /: a machine-readable transcription. rbfr Selected and converted.American Memory, Library of Congress.

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 2007/07/05
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TRAVELS THROUGH THAT PART OF NORTH AMERICA FORMERLY CALLED LOUISIANA. By Mr. BOSSU, Captain in the French Marines. Translated from the FRENCH, BV JOHN REINHOLD FORSTERj F.A.S. ILLUSTRATED WITH NOTES RELATIVE CHIEFLY TO NATURAL HISTORY. TO WHICH IS ADDED ISY THE TRÀNSLATOR A SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE of all the known Plants of English North-America». O R, A FLORA AMERICA SEPTENTRION A J. I S. together With An A EST R ACT of the most useful and NECESSARY ARTICLES CONTAINED IN PETER LOE F LING's TRAVELS through Spain and Cumana in South America. Referred to the Pages of the original Swedifh Edition. V O L. I. ' Oriiari res ipfa negat, contenta doceri. Horat. LONDON: Printed for T. DAVIÊS in Ruffel-Street, Covent-Garden, MDCCLXXI.

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Dedication 12 v

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WILLIAM CONSTABLE, Efqj Of BrjRTON-CoNSTABLE. ¦ S I R, OpHE 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 converfant 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 philofophie retirement, and publicly to ac- knowledge the gratitude and attachment which will ever prompt me to think my- felf happy in m? weak endeavours to ap- prove my conduit and fentiments to my friends and benefactors. Mzy

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.* VI DEDICATION. --:¦-, .:

May you always enjoy perfect health, and all the rational and moral bleffings of this life i and, after a long feries of years, diftingulfhed 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, ¦ bne sue- Your moft obliged ^f S I R, tTp obedient humble fervant. tUQ -31 ibii . London, Oft. 5. 1771. JOHN REINHOLD FORSTER,. \\x>-

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Preface 14 vii

JV view - ns . good P R E F A C E. Ttt , fiafeq voka cSTOwfe rroiv ysM HE prefent publication appears with a vi to fupply the Englifh reader with a gc account of a country, which now enjoy.s 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 refpedted over all the globe. The coun- try here defcribed is fufceptible of great\ improve- ments, capable to fupply the mother-country with immenfe flores of raw materials for her manufac- tures, and to take in return the produces 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 fpontaneous produces, 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, Efq-, in a Catalogue of fuel foreign plants as are worthy of being encouraged in our American colonies for the purpofes of medians, agriculture, and. commerce. The

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viii P R E F A C E. 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 lovveft 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 ftudy of that ufeful branch of know- ledge. Leefiing's deferiptions of the Spanifh and South American plants are the only things in his journal which deferve the attention of a curious reader -, rite letters publifhed along with them in the Swedifk, 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 Linnsean fchool -, fiaffelquift, OJbeck, Toreen, Kalm. and Loefiing make the whole of them. The French word outarde fignifies commonly a luftard, 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 juft returned from North America. The Sardines mentioned vol. i. p. z. are not, as I have fufpefted in the note, the pilchards, fo com- mon on our weftern coafts ; but a kind of herring, not yet defcribed, peculiar to the neighbourhood of Bdle-ffle, and the coaft of French Bretany.

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# ^ ^*-^ > II TRAVELS THROUGH LOUIS IAN A. LETTER L To the Marquis de 1'Estrade. the Author's Departure for America ; Defcription ofthe Town */Cape François ; Cruelties of the Spaniards towards the Natives ofthe Ifle of St. Domingo-, working ofthe Mines-, true Origin of the Mal de Naples. QS^HEN I had the honour of tak- J W t ng m7 leave of you, I was or- &*¦ ^S dcred to communicate to you «^"^JMf every particular that fhould ap- pear remarkable to me in this new world- you farther defired of me an account of all mterefting fubjeds which might happen on V0L' l 'B the

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% TRAVELS THROUCH the paflage. I am glad that my ftay at Cape François affords me an opportunity of fulfilling an engagement which is dear to me, becatife its execution may prove agree- able to you. I was at Belle-IJle in 1750, M. Le Cheva- lier de Groffoles commanded at that place ; he gave me a letter from the Count d'ArgenJon, from which I learnt, that his Majefty had made me Lieutenant in the Marines; this Minifter crave me orders to fet out immediately for Rochefort; accordingly I went on board the firft fifhing fmack deftined to carry the An- chovies * (Sardines) to Rochelle, which are caught on the Coaft oî Br et any, and which are°the chief fupport of the inhabitants of Belle-Ifle. In * The true Anchovia 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 fifhery of 'them could be inflituted. The Sardine of our Author, therefore, feems to be the Pilchard, a fifh that is very COpioufly caught on the coafts of Cornwall and JW -Bretany. Linnceus has no peculiar fpecific name for thrs fifh, though the great Englifh natural hiftonan, Ray, m his Syn. pifc. 104, had pointed out the charafters of this fpecies ; which now is done more fully by Mr. Pen- nant, in his Britifh Zoology, III. P- «91- F'

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L o u ï 3 la n a; In November wé weighed anchor before the Palace*, (which is the name of the town on this ifland) ;- and the very firft night of our voyage we had fuch a violent ftorm on the coaft of Poi- tou, that our little veffel being beat about and furrounded by the waves, we expeéled every moment, to go to the bottom : The crew confift- ed of a pilot, and three failors from Lower Bre- tany, who are commonly called Sea-ibolves \ % and are fo well accuftomed to this element, that they brave the h ard eft weather. The wind hav- ing increafed, our captain was obliged to put in at the Iflê de Dieu, fituated between Poitou and the county d'Aunis. We ftaid there eight days s at the expiration of which, the fea being calmed, we fet fail again, and continued our voyage to the Ifle of Rhe-, from whence I eroffed 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 I came to Rochefort. I was direded to addrefs myfelf to the intendant of the department of the marine, who is M. le Normant de Méfi, 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 fliould have equipped myfelf for my voyage, I was to go to Rochelle, B 2 .and * Le Palais. f Loups de mer.

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4 TRAVELS THROUGH and embark in the fhip called the Pontchartratn, of 400 tuns. M le Nomattt had freighted this fhip for the King's account, in order to tranf- port four companies of the marines, whom we took in at the citadel on the ifle of RM: they were 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*; 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 we paffed the tropic of Cancer. The next day the failors fpent in fome * It is an African ifland in the Atlantic ocean, and fitu- ated tothe north of the Canary iflands ; which latter were difcov'ered in 1417, by a Norman ¦ gentleman called Jean Bethencourt, who bore the title of King of the Cananes M& made the conqueft of them to the Spaniards, who poffefs them now.

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LOUISIANA. 5 fome ridiculous ceremonies, which they obli&e thofe to undergo who never paffed 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 François, 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 ftore of artillery, projeds 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 produces. The French and Spaniards have divided the ifland between them ; the latter poffefs the weft- ern part of it*. San Domingo is the capital of B 3 the Since that time the Spaniards have given their fhare bf Wis ifland to the French. F.

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6 TRAVELS through the ifland -, it is the feat of a bifhop, whom the I King of Spain appoints. , This ifland is celebrated by the origin of the nud de Naples, or venereal difeafe. Authors dis- agree fo much on this fubjed, and have told the ftory in fo many different ways, that I think I fliall not do amifs to reprefent it in its true light. Nicolas de Ohando 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 ftriét 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 nae, Sir, that this is a very Angular method of making ' converts in America; fuch maxims are quite contrary to the true fpirit of the Chriftian itfe *¥**. Thefe * « The King Don Ferdinand, being informed of thefe « diforders, had turned all his attention towards remedying <c them ; and his care chiefly regarded the Indians whom «< he wifhed to proteft and convert, as it has always been the « maxim of the : Catholic kings. He gave feveral ord n.

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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 impoflibility of cultivating their grounds, fo corrupted the mafs of their blood, that their faces became tinged with a faffron co- lour ; a kind of puftules came out on every part of their body, and caufed them infupportable pains. They foon communicated this ficknefs to their wives, and fo of courfe to their ene- mies ; and they all perifhed for want of a re- medy. The afflicted 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. B 4 How- '* and published laws, that they Ihould be inftrufted with " mildnefs, difintereftednefs, and by example : but as an " arrow falls without force at the bottom of the aim, when " it is beyond the reach of the arm that fhot it; fo, all the *f methods which he made ufe of to make his defigns fuc- " ceed, loft their force as they got to a greater diftance." Don Antonio de Soils.

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8 TRAVELS through However, Providence pitied thefe wretched iflanders : an Indian woman, the wife of a Spa- niard, difcovered, fome time after, that a kind of wood called guàyacan, was a fufficient cure for their, diftemp.er *. 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- feffors. A Spanifh engineer told me, that twen- ty-nine years were fpent in fearching, iff the mountains of Potofi, for the famous vein of Cru- fêro, which is two hundred and fifty yards deep. Such is the hard and fupernatural labour which power and defire of riches exacts, and which is executed * Notwithftanding what our author fays concerning the origin of this difeafe, itis well known, that the inhabitants of South and North America had the difeafe v£xn 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, tlrat in the fouth the Guayacum, and in the north the Slillingia fylvatica, together with other plants, are the Indian fpe- cifics. F.

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LOUISIANA. 9 executed by neceflity and fervitude, in order to extract gold from the bowels of the earth. The wretched workmen who are employed there, en- joy neither the air of our atmofphere, nor the light 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 gene-ally hard in them ; they break it in pieces with hammers, load it on their fhould- ers, and mount upwards on ladders made of twifted hides of oxen, with wooden fteps, 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 goes firft has a candle faftened 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 __________________________ gold; * An Aroba is 25 pounds, poids de Marc.

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io TRAVELS THROUGH gold-, though, as Jofeph dfAcofla 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, notwithftanding « their being idolaters, they never have worfhip- * ped gold and filver fo much as fome bad « Chriftians have done, who have committed « the moft atrocious crimes for the fake of that « metal." The fame author relates the following anec- dote, which perfectly charaderizes man's ftupid defire after riches. « A Spanifh monk, confi- « dering the height of the famous volcano of « Guatimala, took it into his head, that that « which he faw inflamed muft needs be a mafs of « gold fince it had burnt for many ages toge- « ther without being confumed. Mailed 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 thirfted . < fo much ; but one day happening to come too *< near the mouth of the volcano, the exhalations <¦' frotrj

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LOUISIANA. n " from it killed him, when he expected 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 Poncra, 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 fueceffor of Nicolas de Obando, lent his people to the Cacique, with orders to affnre him, that he ihould not fear to return, becaufe he fhould 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 f. Poncra * A cacique is a petty prince or king of the Indians. -f- The Spaniards had brought over with them from Europe fome maftiffs, 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 Barémel was very much dreaded all over the ifland ; and though he was guarded by a fhield againft 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

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12 TRAVELS THROUGH Poncra was frightened by his threats, and did not venture to difobey. He brought with him three of his vaffals. Nunez de Balboa employed in vain all the cunning imaginable to bring him to difcover the place where they got the gold, which he had heard contained great quantities of that metal : good ufage and punifhments were equally infufficient to bring him to confefs what perhaps he did not know. As to the three thou- fand marks of gold which had been found, Pon- cra faid, that thofe who had amaffed 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 Poncra -, they re- proached him with the exceffive thirft of his countrymen after gold, and the injuftices it led them Antenio de Uerrera, in his firft Decas, relates, that this, fierce creature, whofe inftinft was Angular, guarded a nar- row pafs in the % of St. Domingo ; and that one day an Indian woman, being defirous of paffing by him, addreffed him in thefe words: Signor Dog, do not hurt me; I carry this teller to ihe Chriftians : he adds, that the dog immediately fmelledat her, piffed at her, (thofe are his very words) and fuffered her to pafs viithcul doing her any harm.

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LOUISIANA. J3 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 fo willing to pof- fefs it, glut thy j elf. It muft, however, be owned, Sir, that, if the Mexican hiftory fhews us nothing but horror, that of St. Domingo, on the other hand, furnifhes 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 beo-- ged part of the garrifon to go with him to the higheft part of the town ; where, 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.

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I4 TRAVELS THROUGH « have not brought me provifions fufficient to « treat you all ; I cannot refolve to fatisfy my ap- « 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 confiderable fortune there by his labour, indu- ftry, and trade. His condud and manners re- mained unaltered by profperity -, and he only valued his riches, becaufe they enabled him to ferve others. Whenever a fhip arrived from France, he ran to the coaft to fee the paffengers land, and gene- rally conduded them to his home. One day he faw feveral young people, who expeded to make their fortune as foon as they arrived; they had letters of recommendation, on which they de- pended fo much, thatthey took little notice of the aood planter, who accofted them -, he left them, wifhing them all kind of profperity: fome

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LOUISIANA. i5 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 jiot 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 fervants. One of the new co- mers afked whether they were at a wedding, and was furprifed to hear that this was nothing extraordinary. The mafter of the houfë 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 mafter was loved and refpeded by all his flaves, 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 flaves to fuch mafters, who treat them, when

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i6 TRAVELS through when old and infirm, worfe than their dogs and horfes*. . As to the inhabitants of the French iflands in the Weft Indies, I can affure you they are very generous towards ftrangers : a perfon may evert travel in the interior parts of the country, with- out the ieaft*expence to himfelf-, if his counte- nance be free and open, and his behaviour de- cent, he is fufficiently qualified for a favourable reception in every habitation, It is with great ju#ice that we reckon the Creoles noble in France their fentiments are fo noble and delicate in every ftation of life, that they perfedly deferve that appellation. Man is every where the fame -, he is equally fufceptible of good and evil -, education correds his vices, but does not give him virtue ; 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 flaves ; who, when they have done fomething amifs, are threatened by their mafters with, f will fell thee to Chaperon.

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L O U I B I A N A. i? 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 leaft I fhall make my narrative interefting, through the Angularity of the fads I intend to relate. I am, SIR, &c. Cape François, the ic,th of February 175 r. Vol. I. LET-

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t* TRAVELS THftou GH HHH! LETTER II, 2*0 /*/.« y^- The Authors Departure from Cape .François /or Louifiana. J» Defcription of the Harbour of the Havannah. Of the famous Gulph of Mexi- co i «** "/ New Orleans. S I R, Jçjyt^E weighed anchor the Sth of March ^W (f laft-, and on the 15th we were in $**§_ fight of Cuba, which is the moft tem- pemtt 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 fhips. 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 s continent:

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L O U I S I A N A. *9 continent : it liés under the tropic of Cancer, that is, in twenty-three degrees and a half north latitude. Near the middle of the ifland, to the fouthward, 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 via* lent ftorm between Cape Catoche and Cape An- tonio; the latter, which we doubled on the twenty-third, is at the weftern point of 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 my paffage. The winds changed, the fea be^ came fmooth, and, a few days after, we enters ed into the famous gulph of Mexico, where we jnet with^ a prodigious quantity of floating tim- ber, coming from Louifiana down the riverM$, fippt: 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. Jardin de la Reynav

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to TRAVEL S. thROUcH In the firft days of April we perceived the fort Balife at the mouth of the MiJJifippi. Mr. U Moine d'Iberviile, a Canada gentleman, difco- vered, in 1698 *, this mouth of the river, which M. de la Salle miffed in 16S4. Our vef- fel ftruck upon the bar ; we fired a gun to call the pilot, and at the fame time the captain dif- embarkedthe artillery of the fhip, and the two hundred regular troops which were on board for the fervice of the colony of Louifmna ; which made the veffel fo much lighter, that fhe came afloat again. On the 4th of April, we fet on fnore eighteen officers at Fort Balife f, where M. de Santilly commanded : this officer treated us. to the beft of his power, while We flayed at his poft, which is entirely furrounded with marfhes full of fer- pents and crocodiles. The Marquis de Vaudreuil, governor of Loui- fiana, being informed of our arrival, fent lèverai boats * Mr*, d'ttervillet governor of Louifiana, conduaed the firft colony thither in 1699 : after his death the country had no governor for a long while : the fecond was M. delà Motte Cadillac; and the third, M. de Bienville, youngeft brother of the firft. f They reckon thirty leagues from this place to Ne<w Or- leans, on account of the bendings in the river.

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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 Eafler-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-fhips, freighted for the King's account ; there are likewife fome fe- male recruits enlifted in France, who come to people thefe climates. Induftrious foldiers, who chufe to marry thefe girls, get their difmiflion, and a certain number of acres of ground to cul- tivate : they get viduals 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 poft five hundred leagues di- ftant from New Orleans, it has fallen to the fhare of the cpmpany to which I belong. I have the honour of being among the officers which M. Rouillé, the fecretary of ftate for the marine, C 3 has

37 0022

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 efteem 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 viduals of the country, and by every thing relative to his office. We exped to fet out for the Illinois the cjoth 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 fhall be obliged to vifit during this long voyage, will furnifh me amply with materials for a defcription of the fine river Mifffippi, and the people on its banks. In the mean while, I intend to give you a de- fcription of Louifiana in general ; but I believe I do .L'ordonnateur.

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LOUISIANA. 23 I do not need to be very prolix on this fubjed, as you probably know moft of the plans and ac- counts that have been publifhed of 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 Meftizos *. 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 feiences ; but as they can* not make great progrefs therein for want of good mafters, 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

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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 MiJJifippi, 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 fhores ; 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 miffionaries in 1723. Their fuperior was the vicar of the parifh ; thefe good * M. le Normant de Méjt, 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.

40 0025

LOUISIANA. 25 good 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 fame 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 Kino- pays them fifty ecus a-head penfion. Thefe nuns are likewife charged with the care of the military hofpital. My ftay 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 nver ; however, I will endeavour to give you an idea of the charader 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- tind. In

page 26-50 41 0026

2g TRAVELS through In 17 to, one of their nation, having hid himfelf in a lonely place on the banks of the MiffifipP* had murdered the Abbé de St. Come, who was then the miffionary of the colony. M. deBienville, 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 their beft warriors forced them to afk for peace : the governor having granted it them, on condition that thev would bring the head ofthe murderer they pundually executed that condition ; 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 embaffy. They arrived at New Orleans, finging the fong 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 apipe of a reed two and a ha f or thr feet long. The Indians fend it by deputres to thofe nauoas «JI whom they will renew or treat of peace It is ado^ with the feathers of the white eagle ; it is a fymbol of p«* «d plenty amongft them; and one may go eve ry where without fear, with the calumet i» hand, becaufe notlung » Jitld more facred.

42 0027

LOUISIANA; 27 wind, and in a certain cadence, to announce their embafiy ; and they were dreffed 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- felf in thy prefence; thou haft long been angry with our nation -f we have been informed of what thy heart has told thee, and we have heard with great joyt 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. de 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 hands, in order to be preferved by him. The fpeaker

43 0028

2& TRAVELS through fpeaker remained ftanding, and the other am- baffadors fat down near the prefent which they had brought, and which confifted 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 dreffed m a robe of feveral. marten-fkins fewed together ; it was. faftened 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 « our whole nation laugh for joy on that occa- «fion; the women, forgetting that inftant all « that paffed, 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- « 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. Thus they call traditions.

44 0029

LOUISIANA. 29 « How glad are my eyes and my heart to be- " hold thee this day. Our prefents are fmall, " but our hearts are great to obey thy-word; at " thy commands thou fhalt fee our legs run and " leap like thofe of the flags, to do as thou fhalt " pleafe." Here the orator paufcd a little ; then raifing his voice, he gravely continued his difcourfe. " How beautiful is the fun to-day, in com- " parifon with what it was when thou wert an- "- gry with us ! How dangerous is one villain ! "Thou knoweft that a fingle man has killed " the chief of the prayer *, whofe death has caufed " that of our beft warriors : we have only old " men, and women with their children remain- " 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. ' The fun was red before, all the roads were " full of thorns and briars ; the clouds were ,, black, the water troubled and ftained with our * So they call our miffionaries.

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$o TRAVELS fHRbuGH " our blood ; our women lamented without inter- " miffion the lofs of their relations, and durft not " venture to go and fetch wood for preparing " our viduals ; 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- ce 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, to ** fing us fongs of death, u To-day the fun is bright, the fky is ferenej " the clouds are vanifhed, the roads covered * with flowers ; our gardens and fields fhall ** henceforth be cultivated, and we will offer ** their firft-fruits to the great fpirit the water «' 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 " the French ; the fame fun fhall light us, we " fhall have but one and the fame fpeech, and " our hearts fhall make but one ; we will kill £ them that fhall kill the French 5 our warriors «« fhall

46 0031

LOUl SI an a; 3i " 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 expreffion, with the moft majeftic 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 furnifh New Orleans with game. My third letter will prove more interefting ; however, I hope I have hitherto fulfilledimy promifes j and am,

S I R, &c. New Orleans, the ift of July 1751. LET-

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34 TRAVELS through

LETTER III. To the fame. Defcription of the religious Cuftoms and Ceremonies -, of fome Nations which inhabit the Banks of the. great River Miffifippi. Confpiracy ofthe Natches ¦ againft the French. SIR, W^-^y. AM now arrived at the place where j*$ I g* the great nation of the Natches for- k-lg^JH. merly lived> of which the Public news have faid fo much. It is afferted, that this formidable nation gave laws to others, on ac- count of the 'great 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

48 0033

L O U I S I A N A. 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 were the four companies' about which I wrote to you in my preceding letter, commanded by M. de Macarty. We are obliged to row up againft the current of the nver Miffifippi, on account of the many wind- ings of that river, which runs between two great forefts, the trees of which appear to be as an- cient as the world. The firft places you come to on vour voyage are two villages peopled with Germans, being ÊlrL J tgrant made> in ** hy t£ King to Mr. law. This colony was to confift of Germans and Provencals, to the amount of 1500 perfons; the ground for it was laid out «ear a wild nation called the Akanças ; it was four leagues fquare, and the colony wa ereded rnàd;tChy- The^ad^adyytranfp^ ^ther the ammunition and flores for a company ^dragoons, and merchandifes for the value of upwardsanfilfionofW^utMr.^fafl. ? t J?6 Indla comPa«y> which was at that feIhdVno rifl's feparated'and the g ^ ter" kaZ s ab°ve New Orleans : they are *°t" *< D - very

49 0034

34 TRAVELS through very laborious, and are looked upon as the pro- viders and viduallers of the town. The two villages are under the diredion of a Swedifh captain *. 11 71 Two leagues further you find a nation called Colla-piffas, who are diftinguifhed by their at- tachment to the French ; they are now reduced to a very fmall number; their true name is Aaue- lon Piffas, 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 greatnefs and goodnefs of a deity, that condefcends to make himfelf known among men, by diftribut- ing his benefadions amongft them. Fifteen * It is Mr. Arenfbourgf who was at the battle of PiSltava in 1709, with Charles XII. This old officer is the head of à numerous family eftablifhed in Louifiana.

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LOUISIANA. 35 Fifteen leagues above the Oumas, in going up the river, you arrive at the Cut point. 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, ahd other corn ; the colonifts like- wife trade in building-timber, which they carry down the river to New Orleans upon rafts. Upon thp 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 of them, who was very brave, received a dan- gerous wound in an expedition againft the Nat- thes: the King, on receiving an account of this affair, honoured him with a commiffion,' as bri- gade of the armies of red men ; and further prefented him with a blue ribbon, f.om which hung a filver medal, with a reprefentation of Pans: he likewife received a gold-headed cane. After the maffacre of the French by the Natches, whereof I intend to give you an ac- count in its place, a paft of that nation pretend- ed to be defirous of making peace with the U 2 grand

51 0036

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 Natches prevented the anfwer, and affaffinated the Tonikas, 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 fhall 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 Louifiana, we arrived at the poft of the Natches, 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 Mififippi, from which it is about the diftance of a cannon - fhot. The ground, which in this country is always rifing higher, would be one of the moft fertile, if it were cultivated ; tobacco, cotton, and maize fucceed very Well in it. I have made fome ftay at this poft, which is. commanded by the Chevalier dVrgon, a natural fon

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I A N A. LOUISiaisia. 37 fon of the Prince de Lamlefc, 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 of tne whole nation. All thefe princes bore the name.of Suns ; there were five hundred of them all relations ofthe great Sun, their common fove- reign, who carried on his breaft the ima^e of the fun, from which he pretended to trac°e his ongin, and which was adored under the name ofJVachil, which fignifies the great fire or the/a- pr erne fire. The manner in which the Natches tendered divine fervice to the fun, has fomething folemn lrt f The high-prieft got up before fun-rifing, and marched at the head of the people with a gTavepace.nd the calumet of peace in hand; fi ftm0kedj}m * 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- Pr efl and contemplated it with their arms ex- tended to heaven. Then they threw themfelves °» the ground; and their women brought their D 3 children,

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33 T RAVE: L S 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 previouf- 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, ferve 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, all the people were in the greateft, confternation, and W negledful 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 accompa- nied in the grave by his wives, and by feveral of his fubjeds. The leffer Suns took care to follow, the fame cuftom ; the law likewife con- demned

54 0039

LOUISIANA. 39 demned every Natchez to death, who had mar- ried a girl of the blood of rhe 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- ftafieal; he contraded 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 himfelf under the protedion of M. de Bienville, the then go- vernor, and offered to be his huntfman. The Governor accepted his fervices, and interefted himfelf 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. EtteaSleal, 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 Et- teatleal, 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

55 0040

40 T R A V E L 5 through thought, that the protedor's abfence had annul- led the reprieve granted to the proteded *pe> fon ; and accordingly he caufed him to be? ar- retted. As foon as the poor fellow found him- felf in the hut of the grand chief of war, together With the other vidims deftined to be facrificed to the Stung Serpent, he gave vent to the excefs of his grief. The favourite wffe of the late Sun, who was likewife to be facrificed, and who faw the preparations for her death with firm nefs, and feemed impatient to rejoin her hufband, hearing Etteafteaf. complaints and groans, faid to him. Art thou no warrior ? He anfwered, Yes, I am one. Llowever, faid fhe, thou cry- eft, life is dear to thee ; and as that is the cafe, it; is not good that thou fhouldft go along with US, go with the women. Etteatleal replied, True, life is dear to me ; it would he 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 fhouldft go with us, and that thy heart fhould remain be- hind on earth ; once more get away, and let mç fée thee no more. Etteafleal did not ftay to have this order re- peated to him ; he difappeared like lightning: three old women, two of which were his rela- tions, offered to pay his debt; their age and their

56 0041

LOUISIANA. 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 Etteaffeal, 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 hàir, .which is a a very uncommon thing among the Indians: none of the three had a quite wrinkled fkin. They were difpatched in the evening, one at the door ofthe Stung Serpent, and the other two up- on the place before the temple *. The generofity of thefe women gave Etteatleal life again, acquired him the degree of confidered, 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 ftay among the French, he be- came a juggler, and made ufe pf his knowledge to impofe upon his countrymen f. j___________'________________ The '¦ A cord is faftened 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 inftant. + The jugglers in this country perform the functions f priefts, phyfician»., and fortune-tellers, and chiefly pre- tend to pafi for forcerers.

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48.. T R"A V EL S ' through The morning after this execution, they ft«3*' every thing ready for thé convoy ; and the hbur being come, thé great mafter of the ceremonies appeared at the door of the hut adorned fuitabJy to his quality ; the vidims who were to accom- pany the deceafed prince into the manfion of the fpirits, came-forth; they confifted ofthe fa- vourite ttiM of the deceafed, ôf his fecond wife, his chancellor, his phyfician, 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 : flie gave orders for the Suns of bbth ffexes that were her children to appear,, and fpoke 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 file1 « country of the fpirits ;. if I were to yield 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 breafts. You that are de-- " fcended 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- s' a

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LOUISIANA. 43- « whole nation : go, my children, I have pro- vided for all your wants, by procuring you " friends ; my friends, and thofe of your father, " are yours too ; I leave you amidft them ; " they are the French, they are tender-hearted " and generous, make yourfelves worthy of " their efteem, by not degenerating from your " race; always ad openly with them, and never " implore them with meannefs. " And you Frenchmen," added fhe, turning herfelf towards our officers, " I recommend my "orphan-children to you; they will know no "= other fathers than you ; you ought to proted " them."

After that fhe got up ; and, followed by her troop, returned to her hufband's hut, with i furprifing firmnefs. A noble woman came to join herfelf to the number of vidims of her own accord, being en- gaged, by the friendfhip fhe 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-

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44 TRAVELS through 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-themwith a fmiling countenance: »f I die without fear," faid fhe, " grief does not \*l 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 c> life has been pleafed to call him, and I fhall «' foon go and join him ; I fhall tell him that I " have feen your hearts moved at the fight of ** his corps : dp not be grieved ; we fhall be "longer friends in the cmntry of the fpirits. thxsx " here, becaufe we do .not die there again *," Thefe words forced tears from the eyes of all the French ; they were obliged to do all they could to. prevent the.great Sun from killing him-, felf; for he was inconiplable at thc death of his, brother, " At the hour intended for the çerernony, they made the viaims 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 upon mats, tjie f. you<ite on tjie right, the other wife on the left, and the others according to «heir rank.

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LOUISIANA. 45 brother, upon whom he was ufed to lay the weight of government, he being great chief of war of the Natches. i. e. Generaliffimo of their armies ; that prince grew furious by the refift- 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 moft profound filence reigned throughout, for grief and awe kept in bounds the multitude that were prefent. The wife of the great Sun was feized with fear during this tranfadion. She was afked whether * The eftablifhed diftin&ions among thefe Indians tvere as follows : The Suns, relations of the great Sun, held the higheft rank ; next came the Nobles; after them the Hono- rables ; and laft of all, the common people, who were very much defpifed. As the nobility was propagated by the wo: men, this contributed much to multiply it."

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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 ; ftay then, brave Frenchmen, becaufe «your words are as powerful as arrows-, be- " 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 the 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 " eyes were open, I have not taken notice that « you have been ftanding all this while, nor " have I afked you to fit down j but pardon the " excefs of my afflidion." 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

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LOUISIANA- 47 again *, lighting his own before them, and that they fliould not leave him till his brother was buried. I He took ali 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 wiH " not kill myfelf; let the fires be lighted again " immediately, and I'll wait till death joins -me " to my brother ; I am already old, and till ï " die I fhall walk with the French ; had it not " been for them, I fhould have gone with my « brother, and all the roads would have been " covered with dead bodies." This prince only furvived the Slung Serpatt one year, and his nephew fucceeded him. The reign ofthat young prince proved very unfortu- nate to the colony. You fhall fee, Sir, by the fequel of this letter, that the' colony owes its fafety only to the mother of this fovereign ; Ihz got from him the fecret of the general confp'iracy againft our nation, whom fne loved, very much."' I muft do juftke to the Indians ; the project which they formed of deftroying ail the French here, " The great Sun had given orders to put out ,11 the fires *l»ch ts only done at tlie death of the fovereigns

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4« TRAVELS through here, was not the refult of natural inconftancy or fickle temper ; it was the bad condud 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 poft of thc Natches, negleded to gain the efteem of the French and the Indians under his care ; he'abu- fed thofe who would not enter into his criminal condud, and trufted the moft important pofts 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. Dumont, the fecond officer, made rèmon- ftfances, 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. Perrier, then governor of Louifiana. M. de Chepar was recalled to give account of his condud -, he was to be broken, but his intrigues and his patrons ferved him, he was acquitted and fent back to his poft. Inftead

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U I S I A N A. 49 Inftead of being çorrédèd by this mortifica- tion, he conduded himfelf as before, and be- came the objed of deteflation and abhorrence of both the French and Indians ; he irritated the latter, and forced them to come to the moft 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 fliould turn out to good account. The Cacique reprefented to him, that the bones of his anceftors were repofed there : his remonftrances 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 nofi compliance. Perhaps this officer thought, he could treat the chief as a flave ; he did not refled, that he fpoke to a man accuftomed to command, and whofe autho- rity was defpotic over his fubjeds. The Great Sun heard him, and retired with- out ffiewing any paffion -, he affembled his council, where it was refolved, that M. de Che- pa* fliould be told, that before they could eva- cuate the Apple village, they muft make the plan of another, and that this required two moons rime. Vox I. Ë <n ¦ *- 1 his

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5o T RAVELS Tim» This réfoïution was notified to the go. nor, who fent back the meffengers, and threat- ened them with the fevered punifhments, if the . village of the Apple was not put in his hands within a very fhort term. This anfwer was brought to the council, where the old men were of opinion that they ought to gain time, during which they fhould confult upon the means of getting rid of thefe troublefome ftrangers, who were going to become tyrants. As they knew M. de Chepar to be very felftfh, 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- fition, but pretended however that he only did it in order to oblige the nation, whom he loved on account of their confiant friendfhip with the French. The Great Sun was not impofed upon by this artful difintertftednefs ; 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 fliould make good ufe of it, confider of the means of getting rid cf a heavy tribute, and above ali of the tyrannical domination of the French. He obferved, that fuch an enterprize required an inviolable fecret, ' folid meafures, 'and, above ail,, a great deal of cunning »

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L 0 U I g I A N À. cunning ; he recommended it to them, that they fliould in the mean while increafe the proofs of confidence and friendfhip to the French ; fe. fled upon what was to be done, and return to the council as foon as they had hit upon fome projed winch might be attended with certain fuccefs. During five or fix days the nobles arid old men confuked with each other, and met aeairt unanimoufly refolved to deftroy all the French Theoldeftman in the council, having faluted lus chief, fpoke to the following efted: " We have long experienced, that the neigh- bourhood of the French does us fhore hanu than good ; we old men perceive it, but our youthsdonotfeeit; the European goods Plcaiethe young people, but of what fervice are they ? They feduce our wives, corrupt the manners of the nation, debauch our girJs and make them proud and idle. The younJ men are in-the fame cafe; the hufbands muft .over-work themfelves, merely to fatisfy the ^'«ry of their wives. Before the F^ch «me into thcfe countries, we were men, w. were contented with what we had ; we walk- ed boldly on all the roads, becaufe v. e were our own mafters ; but now we only go by i " BroP"'ng. il cc cc cc CC CC CC CC CC li CC CC

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^ TRAVELS THitoucH « groping, for fear of finding thorns in out «way; °we go like flaves, and fuch we fliall « 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 « not death preferable to fiavery * ?" Flere the orator paufed ; arid, after taking breath, continued as follows : « What fhall we wait for ? Shall we fuffer the French to multiply till we can no longer refill them ? What will the other nations fay of us ? We pafs for the moft fenfible among the red men \, and they will have reafon to 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 muft begin this day to pre- pare for it; we muft order our wives to get viduals in readineis, without telling them the «¦ reafon. cc cc LC CC tc CC CC li cc CC Nature alone has taught thefe favages to refpeft *j fovereign, and to cherifh liberty. f Thus the Indians call themfelves, to dirtinguifh the* fejves from the Europeans who are white, and from the ft i cans who .are black.

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L O U I S I A N A. 53 " reafon. Let us bring the calumet of peace to " all the nations of this country, and tell them " that the French thrive to fubdue this whole " continent ; and that, as they are ftronger in " our neighbourhood than any where elfe, we " fhall be the firft whom they will load with " their yoke. As foon as they fhall have' fiuffi- " 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 deftroy the French every " where on the fame day, and at the fame hour; M let the time of the maffacre be that of the' ex- " piration of the term their chief has granted " us : thus we can free ourfelves from the tri- " bute which we have laid on ourfelves ; and " thus the viduals which we brought them, will " come into our poffeffion again : On that great " day of liberty our warriors fhall have their " fire-arms with them ; the Natches fhall fpread " among the French, there fhall be three or " lotir of us in each houfe to one Frenchman ; " they fliall borrow fire-arms and ammunition " of them, under pretence of a general chace " on account of fome great feaft, and they fliall " promife to bring back fome game. Some " guns fired near the houfe of the governor of E 2 " the

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54 TRAVELS THROUGH H the fart, fliall be the fignal for them to fall " upon the French. In order to make all the " advantage we can of this Wow, the ether na- '* tions muft fecond us ; they muft make the " farne maffacre of the Frenchmen at their fe- " veral ftations ; to be fure of that, we muft *' make fpme 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 ope rod muft be cut in pieces and thrown ** into the fire, and when there will be but one *,' left, the time of the flaughter is come ; it " muft begin at the firft quarter of the day (i. e. V at nine o'clock in the morning) ; we fhall fall \. upon our tyrants all at once ; they fhall be -i overwhelmed on all fides ; and when they are 1* once deftroyed, it will be an eafy matter to S. prevent thofe from fettling among us that " come from the old continent, acrofs the great " lake. It muft be recommended before all ,l. things, to be exact in drawing a rod from the- . ' bundle every day ; the leaft miftake can have " dangerous confequences ; we fhall charge " fome wife man with it, and we muft beg our i. neighbours to imitate us." Here the orator gave over, and the old men approved of his propofal ; the Sun of the Apple village

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LOUISIANA. 55 village applauded above all ; he was the moft hurt by the injuftice of M. de Chepar ; his pri- vate revenge would accordingly bé the moft fa- tisfied, he feared to fee it fail, and therefore re- prefented to the council the confequences of _n- difcretion, 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 Natches enter into their fcheme ; notwithftanding the great defire he had to be rid of the French, the projed feemed too violent to him; the Sun of the Apple took upon himfelf to determine him to it; 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 teiling 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- lute their fovereign, they received orders to go E 4 ------......___________________________ fc>- to ----- The Indians have two words to denote male and fe- male Suns, (after the manner of the Englifi! words prince, princefs) which the French author has happily expreffed by &/<>.. and S chille.

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5<? TRAVELS through to the village of the Apple, under fome prer tence pr ether, without raifing 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 attraded them all. and they all promifed to enter into the con- fpiracy. A council of Suns and old men was immediately formed ; the projed was propofed there again, and carried unanimoufly ; the old men were appointed ambaffadors to the other nations ; 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 that had been held ; it is not uncommon in every country in the world, to fee fubjeds endeavour to penetrate the fecrets of the court. However, the curiofity of the people could not be fatis- fied ; none but the female Suns (or princeffes) had a right in this nation to enquire why they kept their proceedings fecret from them. The young wife of the great Sun was but eighteen years old, and cared very little about it ; only the female Sun called the Stung Arm, mother of

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LOUISIANA. 57 of the fovereign, and a woman of good fenfe (which flie 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 embaffies 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 negleded. This diflimulated 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 faw, 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. t>v 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 impoffibility of coming at the fecret, if ihe laid open her difpleafure. Her o-e- nius fuggefted her the means of fatisfying her 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

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58 T R.A V ELS through heard'was very ill. Under pretence of leading him the fineft road, flie tock him on the longeft, which was indeed the leaft frequented. She had a good deal of penetration ; fhe imagined, that the motive of this iecret arofe from their carry- ing on fomething to the difadvantage of the French ; what confirmed her conjedures, were the preparations which the Sun of the Apple -was making. Finding herfelf in a folitary place with her fon, flie 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, flie added, " Open " thy ears to hear me ; I never taught thee to " lie, and I always told thee, that a liar did not " deferve to be ranked among men, and that a " lying Sun. deferved to meet with the greateft " contempt, and even from women ; therefore " I believe thou wilt tell me truth. Teil me " then, are not all the Suns brothers. llow- " ever, they all keep off from me, as if my lips " were cut off, and 1 could not retain my words ; " or doft thou think that I ever fpoke in my ¦H fleep. I am in defpair to fee myfelf flighted "by my brothers, but above all. by thee. " What, art thou not my own offspring ? Haft " thou not fuckled at my breaft . And have I " not

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LOUISIANA. 59 ; not fed thee with my pureft blood ? Does not ; the fame blood run in our veins ? Couldft thou be a Sun if thou wert not my fon ? Haft thou forgotten, that, without my care, thou wouldft have been dead long ago? Every body, and I myfelf have told thee, that thou art thc 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 being looked upon ; I wonder that thou doft 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 caufe of it, I who am the old Sun ; art thou afraid that I fhould rebuke thee, or make thee the flave of the French, againft whom you ¦ad ? 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 our nation ; there was no doubt of his being, the father of the great Sun, and that took off nothing ofthe refpeft that his fubjeas owed him ; the women gave nobility among them, and they were contented if they were fure of a man's PQther, they cared very little to know who was his father.

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6o T II A V E L S through The fon of this Son was quire ftruck with her difcourfe ; he was moved by it to tears, and heard thefe remonftrances with the ufual tran- quility of an American, and with the refped due to a princefs ; he afterwards anfwered her to the following purport. " Thy reproaches are *' arrows which pierce my breaft, and I do not « 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, " and I who am a fovereign ought not I to fet « an example . The great Sun my wife has « not been informed of the fecret any more than "thyfelf. Though-it is known that I am a ? Frenchman's fon, I have not been miftrufted ; « they have well imagined, that thy great ge- 4( nius would find out the fecret of the council 5 " but when it was kept from the great Sun my " wife, was it fit that thou fhouldft be informed ft of it ? But fince thou haft gueffed it all, " what can I tell thee further. Thou knoweft " as much of it as myfelf, fo fhut thy mouth." " I was dubious," faid fhe, " about whom 11 you were taking fo many precautions ; but « fince it is againft the French, I fear you have " not taken your meafures well to furprife " them : for I know they have a great deal of " fenfe,

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LOUISIANA. 61 " fenfe, though the governor of this ftation has " loft lis ; they are brave ; they have goods " in fufficient quantity to make all the other na- " tions ad againft us. If you had a mind to at- " tack only the red men, I fliould fleep 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 miftaken ; the French f. have refources which we have not, thou know- " eft they have the fpeaking fubftanee (i. e. pa- " per)." Her fon told her, that flie 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 fufficiently informed of every particular, fhe pretended to approve ofthe proceedings ; and, leaving her fon'entire- ly eafy, flie only meditated on the means of ren- dering this barbarous defign abortive ; fhe had but little time left, for the day fixed for the maffacre was near at hand. This Her lover was already dead fome time.

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6z TRAVELS through This woman could not confent to fee all the French deftroyed in one day by the confpiracy of the Natches ; fhe therefore undertook to bid them keep upon their guard ; for that purpofe fhe made ufe of fome Indian girls who had French lovers, but fhe commanded them ex- prefsly not to fay that they aded by her orders. The Sieur de Macé, enfign of the garrifon of the fort at the Natches, received advice by a young Indian girl who loved him ; fhe told him crying, that her nation was to maffacre all the French. M. de Macé, amazed at this difcourfe, queftioned his miftrefs: 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, inllruded 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 fhewed fo much friendfhip: the regularity of their payments kept Up his fecurity : he did not fufped the politics of the Indians ; he blindly defpifed them, nor did he think men of their kind capable of fo much The

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LOUISIANA. 63 The Sun Stung Arm faw with grief, that her cares for the confervation of the French were ufelefs ; flie was determined to ferve them in fpite of themfelves ; flie could not preferve them all, and therefore fhe endeavoured to leffen the number of vidims as much as poffible ; fhe ft. - cretly went to the temple *, fhe drew a couple of rods out of the bundle unnoticed by the priefts ; her intention was to forward the day fixed for the execution of the confpiracy ; ûie forefaw that the mafllicre which would happen at the Natches 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- the only thing that remained for her to do, and fhe fucceeded in it -,. the Natches found they were come to their laft rod, without perceiving the irnpofture ; they boldly began the intended flaughter, in the per- fuafion that their allies would ad at the fame time. The 28th cf December 1729, at eight in the morning, the Indians fpread among the French y 'fome difcharges of guns, that were to ferve as a fignal, were fired near the door of M. de Chcfar^S ' houfe ; tefnple. Suas among the women could go into th«

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64 TRAVELS THROUGH houfe ; and immediately they fell upon the French every where at the fame time. Meff. de Roily, chief fadors of the Weft In- dia company, were killed firft. M. de la Loire des Urfins houfe made fome refiftance ; his fer- vants killed eight Natches 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 ; 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 felling them to the Englifh 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

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LOUISIANA. 65 almoft all thofe that had children at the breaft, becaufe their cries and tears importuned them ; they made all the reft flaves, and treated them with the greateft indignity. Some people pretend, that M. de Chepar had the misfortune to perifh laft of all, and ta be the fpedator of this horrible flaughter : he then found, but too late, how wife the advices were that had been given him. The Indians told him, that a dog as he was did not deferve to die by the hands of warriors : he was given up to the ftinking felhzvs*, 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 exadly afcertained 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- ché-Michéauipi, which fignifies ftinking fellow.

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66 TRAVELS throvch fufficiently cautious in the choice of thofe whc. are to be fent as governors into thofe parts. Thc Indians, notwithftanding the ideas we have of them, are not always eafily managed ; poli- tics and wifdom muft neceflarily be employed, in order to obtain their friendfhip ; they will not be offended with impunity, this hiftory is a proof pf it; nothing could be better conduded than the plot of the Natches; and how unhappy had it been, without the interpofition of Provi- dence ! The Sun Stung Arm was worthy of thc greateft acknowledgements, but it is not well known how they have been made to her. Tlie nations who entered into the -plot with the Natches, not knowing the ftratagem by which the ftroke had been advanced, believed they were betrayed : The Chaflaw nation ima: gined, that the Natches were unwilling to give them their fliare 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 chaftife the Natches. , Thefe returned the French women and the negroes whom they had taken; fome time after they were attacked in their in- trenchments, but efcaped by the help of a thun- der-ftorm, and quitted the country. About a thoufand of them were taken and brought to New Orleans, and afterwards fold to the ifle of 1

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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 maffacre; 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 adion, 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 : the Natches, being purfued by the French, and being too weak to refill them, took refuge among the Chi- caçhas*, where they found an afylum. We ftill have a fort here, but the colony is far from being brilliant ; the means of eftablifh- ing it would be to attrad other Indians to it. This is all, Sir, which I can relate to you con- cerning this part of the country. I fhall now foon leave it, and continue my voyage ; and I conclude my letter, by renewing to you the pro- teflations of thofe fentiments which you know me capable of. And am, S I R, &c. At the Natches, Sept. 10. 17^1. F 2 L E L 75i- f Chickafaws.

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68 TRAVELS through

LETTER IV.

To the fame. The Author arrives at the Akanzas. Unhappy Death of the People of Ferdinando Soto. Re- ferions 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, SOFTER failing about a hundred and *& À Irj twenty leagues to the north of the jjt-ît^if. Natches, up the MJftfippi, 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 difcovered the great river St. Louis, known under . ..

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L O U I S I A" N A. «9 under the name of Mifffippi, or, as the Indians, pronounce it, Mefiiajjepi, which fignifies all the rivers, or the great fiver.

M. de la Salle paffed by this nation in coming down the river : he made acquaintance with them, and took poffeffion 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 ofthe Mif- fifippi, 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 manufaaures ; but he was weak enough to give ear to the advices fuggefted to him by the Jefuits, and a fupemnnuated and bigotted mi- ftrefs : this overturned the fyftem 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- teflant fubjefls, and thus he outlived "his own greatnefs : nis death was the moft fortunate event for France in her wèalt and exhaufted ftate. F. -

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70 TRAVELS through On his'arrival at court, he imparted his dif- covery" to Meff. -Colbert and de Seignelai, who ob- tained for him a commiffion from the King, im- porting, that all the countries which he fliould difcover from New Bifcay to the Illinois, and the people, both French and Indians, that fhould be in thofe countries, fhould be under his orders. It was at the fame nation, called Akanzas, ' that Mr. Joutel arrived, who fet out after the death of M. de la Salle, with guides to find out the Miffifippi. This is the only officer who has left us an account which may be credited. I think I ought to give you an abflrad of it ; you will find the hiftory of M. delà Salle in it, and of the end of his unlucky expedition. In regard to Ferdinand Soto's voyage, I fliall but juft mention, that the general hiftory of the "Weft Indies informs us, that this great officer, proud and enriched by the conqueft of Peru, af- ter imbruing his facrilegious hands in the blood ofthe unfortunate family of the Incas, intended to penetrate into this country with the bravefl 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 vaft conti- nent; perhaps he expeded to find effeminate nations

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L O U I S I A N ;._-. 71 dations in it, as in South America ; he was mif- taken in his hopes, part of his people were kil- led with elUbs by the Indians, who flayed the principal officers bf 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 hiflorian fays, that Ferdinand Soto died of the fhame which the bad fuccefs of this enter prize had broughton him* in 1543 -, and, fince that time till 1684, this fine country has been inhabited by no Europeans. The fate of M. de la Salle has been ho happier -than that of Ferdinand Soto. There is no virtue in man which is not blend- ed with fome faults ; this is generally the fault of human nature ; and what increafes our humi- liation, the greateft virtues are often accompa- nied by the greateft vices. You will eafily per- ceive this, Sir, by the fhort extrad from M. ifoutefs Journal. M. Robert Cavelier de la Salle fet fail from Ro- chelle the 24th of July 1684, with a fquadron of four ihips, commanded by M. de Beaujeu, a captain of a fhip. Two hundred and eighty- F 4 ' five

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72 jir-RAV'ELS through 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 that officer propofed 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 intereft a man in his undertaking, whofe affiftance 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 has 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 theeaftward 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. Sulpitius,. one of them M. de la Salle's brother, Chedcville his relation, and Majulte, befides four recollefts, who were to eftabiifh the miffions among the Indians. There were likewife two of his nephews, Moranget and Cavelier fourteen years of age.

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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 conjedure, pretty near the mouth of the Miffifippi -, and on the 10th they paffed by it, ^without perceiving it. M. de la.Salle, be- ing perfuaded that the fquadron was but juft op- pofite the Appalachian mountains, continued his voyage without fending his long-boat on fhore. 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 lefs en- dowed than thef themfelves. Some time after, upon fome hints which the Indians on the coaft gave him, he wanted to re- turn ;

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74 T R A V E L Ô TriRoùcii turn ; but M. de Beaujeu refufed to do him that: favour. They purfued 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 weftward of the mouth of the Miffifippi . they caft anchor there, and fent the boats upon difcovery, iff 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. Miffifim and whom M. de Beaujeù's prefence conftrained more than it did him any fervice* refolved to land all his people in that place, Having taken this réfoïution, on the aoth of February he fent orders to the commander of the fhip La Flute to land the heavieft goods, and to go up into the river. He intended to be pre- fent at the execution of his orders; but the Marquis de la Sablonniere, and five or fix French- men, having been taken by the Indians as they Walked in the woods, he haftened to free them. He

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LOUISIANA. 75 He was not yet far from the fhore, when, call- ing his eye towards the bay, he faw the Flute manoeuvring'in fuch a manner as to beat againft the rock's ; his bad luck, fays Joutel 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 conjedure proved true. ' Thofe who were witneffes to this accident plainly took it to be the effed of a premeditated defign of M. de St. Aigron, who commanded that veffel. 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 haften- ed to the place where the fhip was loft, and found every body in a total inadion. He beg- ged M. de Beaujeu to lend him his boat and ca- noe, which he obtained very eafily. ' 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

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76 TRAVELS through affift that of the fhip Le Joli, 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 paft, 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- ftanding 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 fhore, which were feized upon : very weak reprifals indeed, which coft much more than they were worth. The Indians came at night to take their canoes ; 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

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LOUISIANA. 77 regretted very much, and wounded his nephew and another perfon.

So many misfortunes, one after another, dlf- gufted feveral perfons who were upon the expe- dition ; and, among others, Meff. 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 condud, and tax his projed as a filly and rafli undertaking. He, on the contrary, never fhewed more réfoïu- tion and firmnefs ; he conftruded a warehoufe furrounded with good intrenchments ; and tak- ing it into his head, that the river, in which he was, might poffibly be one ofthe branches of the Mffifippi, he prepared to go up in it. They immediately began ereding a fort ; as .. foon as the work was fomewhat advanced, M. de la Salle gave Joutcl orders to finifh 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 réfoïution of going up as high as he could, Jcutcl flayed 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,

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78 TRAVELS through them, but with loffes that weakened them. On the 14th of July, Joutel received- art order from M. de la Salle to join him with all his people. Many good flout men had been killed or ta- ken by the Indians-, others were dead with fa- tigue, and the number of fick increafed every day ; in a word, nothing could be more unhap- py than M. de la Salle's fituation. He was de- voured with grief; but he diffimulated 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 earneft to think of making a fettlement, and fortifying it. He was the engineer of his own fort, and being always the firft 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 oood-will of the people, but M. de la Salle had not fufficient command of his temper. At the very time when his people fpent their forces with working, and had but juft as much as was abfolutely neceffary to live upon, he could not prevail on himfelf to relax his feverity a little, pr alter his inflexible temper, which is never feafonable, and lefs fo in a new fetriement. It is

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LOUIS! A N A. 79 i». not fufficient to have courage, health, and watchfulnefs, to make any undertaking fucceed; many other talents are requifite. Moderation* patience, and difmtereftednefs, are equally ne- ceffary. It is ufeful to diffimulate now and then to prevent making evil worfe. Gentlenefs is the beft method which every commander can fol- low. M. de la Salle punifhed the leaft faults with an .unheard-of cruelty ; and feldom any word of comfort came from his mouth to thofe who fuf- fered with the greateft conftancy. He had of courfe the misfortune to fee all his people fall into aftate of languor and defpondency, which was more the effed of defpair, than of excefs of Jabour or fcantineÇ of good nourishment. Having given his laft orders at his fort, he refolved to advance into the country, and began to march on the 12th of January 1687, with M. de Cavelier his brother, Moranget and the young Qavelier his nephews, Father Anaftatius a Francifcan friar, Joutel, Duhaut, U4rcheveqUe de Marne, a German whofe name was Hiens, a fur- geon named Liêtot, the pilot Teffier, Saget, and an Indian who was a good huntfman. I men- tion them aU, becaufe they fhall be fpoke of in £hefeque , '.- " As

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8o 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- tam, who had loft himfelf when M. de la Salle firft came down thz MiffififP 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- ina party, and having, as it is faid, abufed with words Duhaut, Hens, and the furgeon Uitot, thofe three men refolved to get rid of him as foon as poffible, and to begin with the fervant of M. de la Satif, and his Indian huntfman who was called Nika, who both accompanied Moran- get, and could have defended him. They com- municated their defign to L'Archevefue and the pilot Teffier, who approved of it, and defired to take part în 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 vidims whom they would facrifice to their 1 J revenge

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L OU I SI Â N À; 81 f-evenge flept very quietly, Liétot gave each of them feveral blows with the hatchet on the head. The Indian aiid the fervant died immediately. Mc'ranget .raifed himfelf fo as to fit tiprighù without fpeaking à 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 fêcure themfelves againft his ac- cufing them. The firft crirrie is always followed by uneafi- hefs ; the greater! villains find it difficult to con- quer it : the murderers conceived, that it would hot be eafy to efcape the juft vengeance of M_ de la Salle, unlefs by preventing him ; and this they refolved upon, after deliberating oh the means of effcding it. They thought the fafeft fray was to meet him, and furprffe all that ac- companied him, and fo open themfelves a way for the murder which they intended to perpe- trate. So ftrange a reflation could onlv be infpired by that blind defpair, which hurries villains into the abyfs which they dig for themfelves : an un- «peded incident became favourable to them* Md delivered into their hands the prey which Vot. I. e u ¦ they

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«e T RAVE 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 firft feemed an.cb, ftacle to their projed, 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 unealy when he was going to fet out, and inquired with a kind of uncommon concern whether Moranget had' quarrelled with any one. . nimmoo g£V. _. s.ri ?__ nw ¦ , i 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 fhould lofe his way ; he Jikewife bid him give no body leave to abfent "Jiimfelf. He fet out on the 20th, attended by Father Jmftafius and an Indian. A.s he ap- proached to the place where the affafiins had ftopt, he law fome eagles foaring pretty near the place, and concluded that there was fome cap- tion : he fired his gun ; and the confpirators, who had not yet feen him, gueffmg that it was he who was coming, got their arms in readinefs. Fhe river was between them and him ; Duhaut ¦ and

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L 0 t? I S I A 4J-A. »$ and D Archevêque crôffed it ; and: fe^g°M.*É la Me advancing flowly, thëy;'ftôp^ef.;' yi&i haut hid himfelf in the long grafsV^'ïfft-his'mîn cocked, L'Archevêque advanced â:'ïiTtîe'1ftore? and a moment after, M. de la Salle, kno^iiighim; afked him where his nephew wàs ? He'atlfwerec!, that he was lower down. At the iarnVihftàrft Duhâut fired ; M. de la Salle received the fhot in his head, and fell down dead. It was the *oth of May 1687 that this mur- der was committed near the Cents. Father Ana- ftafius, feeing M. dé la Salle drop down at his feet, expeded that the murderers would not fpare him, though they fhould have rto 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 ad of defpair, and that they had long thought of revenging themfelves on Moranget, who had endeavoured to ruin them, Father Anaftafius .informed M.Cavelier of his brother's death; that gendemen told them, that if it was their inten- 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 hm> S f°r ,death- T% replied, that he had no- wing to fear, and that nobody complained of him. G 2 Joutd

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84 TRAVELS through Joutel was not then in the camp ; L'Jrche- veque, who was his friend, ran to inform him, that his death was certain if he fhêwed 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. Joutel, who was of a very gentle temper, anfwered, that they fhould be content with his condud, 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 faw Joutel, he called out to him, that "every one fliould 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 mafter of the magazine. Fie divided it afterwards with L'Archevêque, 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 affaffins had force and boldnefs on their fide ; they had fliewn themfeves capable of the greateft crimes, accordingly they met with no refiftance at firft. They foon divided, and quar- relled among themfelves -, they, found difficul- ties \

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LOUISIANA. «5 ties in dividing the treafure.; they came to blows, and Hiens fired his piftol at Duhaitfs head, who reeled, and fell four yards from the place where he flood. At the fame time Rutel the failor, whom Joutel fetched from the Cenis, fired-a gun at Liétot That wretch lived yet feveral hours though he had three balls, in his body; fo the two affaffins, one of M. de la Salle, and the other of his nephew Moraiget, were themfelves the vidims of that fpirit of 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. Re that as it will, fuch was the tragic death of Robert Cave- lier, Sieur de la Salle, a man of abilities, of a great extent of genius, and of a courage and firmnefs of mind which might have carried him to fomething very great, if, with tnefe good qualities, he had known how,to get the better of his.fulien, morofe mind, tofoften his feverity, 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 aftociates. The moft unhappy thing G 3 for

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16 T RAVELS throuch ; .for the memory of this famous man is, that h« i.ï<has;%_«ï.beeh pitied by any body, and that the ;b_feàdïduccefs that has attended his undertakings à*» given-him the appearance of an adventurer ¦-îàHMègnhofiî^ho only judge from appearances. ^Unhappily they are commonly the greateft num- . - ber, and their-voice is, in a manner, the voice of t -Éhepeople. He has further been reproached with never taking advice from any body, and with ha- - ying ruined his private affairs by his obftinacy % Thus ended this unlucky undertaking -, many things coiifpired to make it abortiye : it would pt leaft have had part of the wifhed-for fuccefs, if a fettlemept on the mouth of the Mifffipp'1 had been the only thing in view, as many people thought it was. It is certain, that when M.à Beaujeu abandoned M. delà Salle in St- Bernard Ben, the latter foon found out, th# hç was to " - ' the - ¦

* In order todimmifh the villainy of the deed of Duhaut, it has been fpread, that M- it la Salle had killed young Duhaut with his-own hands, and that he had treated feveral others in the fame manner; that it was defpair and revenge that an_mate4 the confpirator., who feared to perifh them- felves 'ty his injuftice and feverity. One ought to * » much the more upon one's guard againft fuch calumniating difcourfes, as it is but too common to i^^^Set the unfjappy, and to attribute to them even thofe which tWj ,11!. redly have nop

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L 0^ U I -SZI A tSTA. 87 - weft-wardof the rivers he, fought: for; if it ddsbeonhis'intântion to.find it, he-might on his firft" jourrrèyntô the Cenis have obtained guides' from thefe Indians, becaufe they granted fome in: the ft quel to Joutd* ; but he wifhed to come nea- the Spaniards, in order to take cog^ nizxice ofthe mines of St. Barbara, and to feek likcvife a Dorado. By endeavouring to do too much, he not only did nothing, at all, but made ail his people perifli, and perifhed himfelf, and was pitied by nobody. jfliisttabno ' ¦_¦ . BeforeT conclude this letter, let me add fome refledions on the folly of men, ¦ j j . . :flîM oân 'io rhoonr, ajlj no. ^ipfmteA 1 The avidity of the Spanifh captains muft have &lMn very great, as it engaged them to feçk for rmary Dorado or mountain of gold, whilft ie country they were in abounded in all G 4 parts ,." ... The, Sieyr Joutel: found the Miffififpi by means of the _ .Indians, who brought him to the Akanzas, and from thence: . into Canada, ; vvhere he arrived, accompanied by one prieft, . aRecollet friar, a foldier, a faijor, a colonift, and an In- ; diary who compofed a,ftrange fort of caravan. They were ail .that 1 ëtarned from this expedition. The remains of {his ». unhajjpy colony perifhed either through' the Indians or through the Spaniards, who took them prifoners, and fet them at work in their miijes,

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88 TRAVELS through parts with that metal. This is a proof, that ali 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 muft ftill go to difcover a Dorado, that is, a country where the rocks arid ftones 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, filver, diamonds, and pearls with which that country abounded, Their defire of getting fid of their unwelcome guefts, induced them, to fpare nothing towards perfuading them of the exiftence of this pretended country. The Spa- niards believed thefe accounts, in which they were interefted ; and this is faid to be the origin of the famous Dorado, which has made fo much noife in the world. The report was current, that, after paffing a long chain of mountains covered with fnow, one entered upon a vaft plain exceedingly well peo- pled, in wliich was the Dorado that every one wifhed to difcover. fffuefadcf-y

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LOUISIANA. % Quefada, 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 vaft plains which refembled a lea ; and when they were defeended to the foot of the mountain, they built there a town, and called it San-Tago, in remembrance of the day on which they difcovered 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 pofterity to go out upon the difcovery of this unknown treafure. ^uefada paffed through the woods of Ayrico with exceffive trouble, and arrived at Ti- fianaiw 1543, having loft almoft all his people. Orellana undertook the fame voyage in that year ; he fet out from Peru, defeended the ri- ver Maragnon or of the Amazons, came to the coaft, 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 Spanifh: Atalaya, a tower or fort from whence one difcovers: Las Atalayas is the plural.

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$0 TlR A V E L S THROUGH undertaking than that of having completed one ofthe moft horrible voyages that ever were heard of. About the fame time Philip de Ure, fearing that ^uefada would profit alone by this difcovery, fet out from Coro in the province of Venezuela, together with Aquito, the Lieutenant Felalcazar, and one hundred and twenty men -, but a Cacique having told him, that moft of the people of Quefada had perifhed 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 gold ! Auri facra fames, quid non mortalia pckfora co. g"*? »>*- ' But to what purpofe is all this philofophy. The ftay which I intend to make here, will en- able me to fend you a new letter en the fubjea 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, &c. At the Akanzas, P1 * Ofl, 29. 1751," i3 Y^dj 9g__..on*;i . ¦¦¦¦"iy \u%t\yi\ -'' Here follows a dull quotation from a Spanifh author up» ' t>n this fubjed, which we thought proper to omit. F.

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LOUISIANA. 91 - - ititi

LETTER V.

To the fame. ¦ Defcription ofthe Manners ofthe Nation of Akan- zas, their Religion and Manner of carrying on War ; the Goodnefs and Fertility of their Country. ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ . .4 S I R, * »

KSraP1*. Hope the defcription I fhall give of ¦X I îjl this Indian nation, by drawing your ItORSu*. attention upon their particular, charac- ter, 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 j|nd their way of thinking, and efpecially in regard to a Supreme Being, which in their language they call Coyocopchill, which fignifies th'great Spirit, or thp Mafter of life,

The

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.* TRAVELS. THROUGH The Akanzas live on the banks of a river that bears their name ; it arifes in New Mexico, and fails into the Miffifippi- Thefe Indians are tall, well made, brave, good fwimmers, very expert in hunting and fifhing, and entirely devoted to the French, of which they have given marks on feveral occafions. I fpoke, in my preceding letter, of an old man of this nation, who laid he had fèen 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 firft na- tion of white men he had feen, and fince 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 general maf- facre of the French colony at the Natches. I muft do thefe good Indians that juftice; 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 fineft in the world ; the foil of it is fo fertile, that it produces, without any culture, European wheat,

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LOUISIANA. 93 wheat, all kinds of food, and good fruit, un- known in France ; game of all kinds is plenti- ful there ; wild oxen *, flags, roebucks, bears, tygers, * The here enumerated animals, we intend to make bet- ter known, by adding the names in Dr. Linnasus Syft. Nat. and Mr. Pennant's Syn. of Quadr. or his Britifh Zoology. i. Wild Oxen. Bos Bifon, Linn. American ox, Penn. Syn. Quad. 8. 2. Stags. Cervus Elaphus, Linn. Stag deer, Penn. Syn. Quad. 49. 3. R9EEUCKS. 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 Arftos, Linn. Black bear, Penn. Syn. Quad. 190. 5. Tyoers. There are no true tygers in all the new continent, and what is called thus mutt be the Cugacurana of Marcgrave, and Rty. Syn. Quad. 169. or Brown cat, Penn. Syn. Quad. 179. 6. Leopards. Felis Pardus, Linn. Panther, Penn< Syn. Quad, p. I*. I. note. Mr. Pennant has proved, from very good authorities, that this fpecies is found in America,- contrary to what M. de Buffon fays ; who, though a ver/ great naturalift, by far fuperior to many who make free witls

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94 TRAVELS through tygers, leopards, foxes, wild cats, rabbets, tuf- kies, grous, pheafants, partridges, quails, turtles, wood-pigeons, fwans, geefe, buftards, 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. Cams Vulpes, Linn. Fox, Penn. Syn. Quad. 152. with all its varieties, the crofs fox, the black fox, and the _»and fox. 8. Wild Cats. Felis filveftris tigrina, Brijfon. Quad. 193. Cayenne Cat, Penn. Syn. Quad. 182. 9. Rabb.ets. There were originally no rabbets in Ame- rica, but they were imported by the Spaniards, and are now greatly increafed ; whether thefe, here called rabbets, on the river Miffifppi, 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. 2,4,9; 'n 'ls ,le*"3 m fize than the European common hare, and a medium between hare and rabbet, according to Kalm's Nort£ Amer. I. p. 105. 10. Turkies. Meleagris Gallopavo, Linn. Le dindon, Planches enluminées, 97. 11. Grous. There are about feven different kinds of grous in North America. («) Tetrao

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L 0 U I S I A N A. 95 ducks of all kinds, teals, divers, fnipes, wa- ter-hens, golden plovers, flares, thrufhes, and other birds which are not known in Europe. On (a) Tetrao Phafianellus, Linn. The long-tailed grous, Ei- tvard, 117. (_¦) Canadenfis, Linn. The {potted grous, Edio. 71. (/) Lagopus, Linn. The white grous, Ediu. 72. PI. enl. 129. (_/) Cupido, Linn. The pinnated grous, Cat. IJI. 1. M ------Umbellus, Linn. The ruffed grous, Ed-w. 248. (/)------Canace, Linn. The ftriated grous, PL enl. 131. & 132. JEV^.1. 203. t. 20. f. 1. 2. (,_*) ------Togatus, Linn. The fhoulder-knot grous, PL enl. 104. Brijf.l. 207. t. 221. f. 1. Which of thefe are found fo far fouth as Louifiana cannot be determined. 12. Pheasants. This is fo vague a denomination, that it is next to impoffible to find out whieh kind of pheafant the author means ; for there is but one pheafant- in America, m Cayenne, and Guiana, and therefore it is dlibiciù.-whè.h&r this bird is found fo far north as Lcuifiana: I am therefore inclined to believe, ' the author meant the Ung-tàiUaVgfous, 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 Akanxas. .«..sW. ufai 13. Partridges. This feems to be the American par- tridge, Cat. III. 12. Tetrao Virginianus,-././»», 14. Quails.

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56' 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 Ihould inform you, that 14.. Quails. Tetrao Mexicanus, Linn, Loufiana quail; PI. enl. 149. 15,. Turtles. Columba Canaxienfis, Linn. Canada turtle, PI. enl. if6. 16. WooD-piGE-oi.s. Columba migrâtoria, Linn. Mi- gratory pigeon. Kalm, II. p. 82. t. 2. Columba Caroli- nenfis, Linn. Caroline pigeon, Cat. I. 24. 17. Swans. Anas Cygnus, Linn. Br. Zoel. pi 440. Ed- ward 150. 18. Geese. Anas Anfei-, Linn. Wildgoofe, _?r. Z00/.447. Anas crythropus, Linn. White fronted goofe, Br. Zool: 450. Ediu.. 153. Anas Canadenfis, Linn: Canada goofe, Ednài 151. PI. enl. 346; 19. Bustards, Otis Tarda, Linn. This is the firft time that I find a buftard mentioned among the Americarf birds. As they are not uncommon in France; I am inclined to think the author's account to be true ; and as he has .ali ready mentioned the turkies before, it is not likely that hé fhould confound the buftard and turkey. 20. Ducks of all kinds. There are at leaft twenty kiridi? Cf ducks known to be in America. Vid. Forfier's Catalogué, tf North American animals, p. 16. 17. '. ii; Teals.*

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L 0 Ù ï S i A N A. $7 that dancing enters into all forts of tranfactions 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. All that entered into the lafcivious affienv- bly, ti. TealS. I fuppbfé thé author means by teals the JefTer kinds of ducks, as the harlequin, pied, brown, white- faced, blue-wing, &c. and common teal. 22. Divers are of four kinds in North America. Vid. Forfler's Cat. N. Amer. 16. 23. Snipes. There are likewife feveral birds of th's kind in North America ; fo that without a more detailed de- nomination, it is impoffible to determine the fpecies. H- Water-hens. Of this kind is the Rallus Caroli- henfis, Linn, the Carolina rail, and the common water- hen, or Fulica chloropus, Linn, in N. Amei. 35. Golden plovers. Charadrius apricarius, Limn: Edav. 140; 26. Stares. Sturnus Ludovicianus, Linn. PI. enl. 256. 2nf.ll. 449- t.42. f. 1. Cat. I. 13. This bird has mif-< takenly appeared in the books of the modern omithologifts Vo*'L H under

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o8 TRAVELS, through bly were obliged to ftrike-againft the poft4, that is', to fvvear that they never would reveal what they had feen or done in this diflblute ball : the dancers of both fexes appeared quite naked there, in attitudes and geftures of proftitution, accompanied with fongs ofthe fame kind, which you muft excufe my tranfcribing, though, in the language of the Indians, they are purely pieces of genteel wit. The Akanzas have expert fellows among them, who would perhaps amaze our jugglers. I faw

under two names : Briffon calls it, in II. 242. an American ouzel ; ;;an"d ÎI.-449. he reprefents it as a Lôûîftâfta ftare. Linnasus makes likewife two birds cf it ; _-.!_< alls it a lark, p. 2.89. Aiauda magna, and p. 290. a ftare, Sturnus^Lu- dovicianus ; but, upon comparifon, -it may be eafily deter- mined, that both are but a ftare, and that it ought to be erafed from among the L'arks and Ouzels. 27. Thrushes; There are at leaft fac®.North;American thrufhes,- which of them are'upon the river Miffifippi cannot be determined for want of information, E. X Whenever the Indians fwear or take oaths, they take a club with which they ftrike againft a poft, calling, to mind their fine aftions in war, and promifing to keep their word religion fly : an oath of this nature is irrevocable among them: every Cacique fwears to leadhis nation well, and ftrikes the poft-, without taking that oath, he cannot be ii .flailed in the dignity.

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L O U I S I A N A. 99 ï fow one of them, who, in my prefence, per- formed a trick which will appear incredible to you ; after fome wry mouths, he fwallowed a rib of a flag feventeen inches long, held it with. his fingers, and drew it out of his ftomach agiuf. He went to New Orleans to fhew his feillcy to tlie governor and the officers of the garrifon ; this the Indians call afting the phyfician. The Akanzas declare war With the following ceremonies. They make a feaft in the hut of the chief, where dog's flefh is ferved up, which fe the principal food of warriors ; becaufe they fay, that a creature which is fo brave as to be killed in the defence of his mafter, 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 for- prifed by the enemies. After the feaft of which I have fpoken, the peat chief calls together an affembly of waS norsi H a The

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100 TRAVELS through The affembly 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 moft confiderable men place themfelves, ac- cording to their refpeélive ranks, on mats or on tyger -fkins. When they are all feated, the chief or orator puts himfelf into the midft of the affembly, and holds his fpeech with a loud voice : he reprefents to his nation, that it would be a fhame 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 inftant all the affembly ap- plauds, by faying, Heu ! heu ! The chief then .. takes a bundle of rods, and prefents it to the affembly -, all that are defirous of going to war take one ofthe 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, fet out, go to war, re- " venge the deaths of our relations, allies, and " friends; -* When an Indian is called a nvoman or an old woman, it is an affront, which fignifies a man without courage, » coward.

page 101-125 116 0101

LOUISIANA. 101 «« friends ; and do not return till you are flained " with the blood of our enemies, and bring with " you their fcalps *." 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 fhed 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 «paft they fing and H 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 flain by thefe fcalps, which they bring home like trophies on poles. We generally give them, in goods, for the King's account, the value of ten crowns (ecus) for each fcalp of our enemies.

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ioa . TRAVELS through dance the dance of war*. AH the young men are painted red ; it is really curious to fee them dance. He that expreffes by dance the difco- very or the furprife, watches his enemy, keep- ing in a flooping pofture ; all at once he falls upon him, his club in hand, making horrible cries, as is done in a real adion. His comrade drops as if he were thunderftruck, ftiffening all his mufcles as an epileptic ; 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 it, from the head. All this is reprefented in finging and dancing to the tune of a drum and a chi- ''- The fong of war is conceived in the following terms : ?' Î go to war to avenge the death of my brothers ; I fhall . ' kill, I fhall exterminate, I fhall plunder, I fhall burn rny " enemies : I fhall bring away flaves, I fliall devour their {. heart, dry their flefh, drink their blood ; I fhall bring fi their fcalps, and make cups of their fculls ;" and more fuch expreffions, which _re full of cruelty, and fhew a thirft after revenge and flaughter.

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L O U I S I A N A. 103 à chichikois *, which marks the time and the ca- dence, îû The Indians never go to war without confult- ing their Manitou -f-, to whom they attribute all their good or bad luck. 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 falling, 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 countrv. Their baggage, in time of war, confifts of a bear's fkin, which ferves as a bed ; a wild ox's fkin, with which they cover themfelves ; a ty- ger-cat's fkin, which ferves as a fack to put the calumet or tobacco-pipe in; a head-breaker or H 4 club ; * This is a gourd in which they put a kind of little beads, they likewife faften fuch beads to their feet. t Falfe Indian deity ; fometimes a dried raven or a fhake; they likewife employ for that purpofe amphibious creatures and quadrupeds,

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jo4 TRAVELS 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 -nu. fleet,- the horn of an ox to put the gun-powder in, which they hang round the body with a firing, toger 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 ufeful for hunting. They never employ their fire-arms at any animals, when they are upon any expedition againft their enemies, left the noife might ferve to difcover them. They agree amongft themfelves upon the method of furpri- fing 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. Though

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LOUISIANA. 105 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 contrad their girdle round their belly, in pro- portion as it grows more empty, and diminifhes in fize; in a word, they are indefatigable. When the Indians have made a ftroke at the enemy, as they term it, fome young warriors immediately fet out, to bring the news of the vidory to the village. They make their arrival known, by fome cries, which 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 to give them a hearty drubbing with flicks. They have likewife a right to decide who of the cap. «ves fhall die, for they are brought before them wth their hands tied, and painted black* Thofe wonîeR who have loft their hufbands, or fois, are at liberty to take captives to replace them. They can adopt them as hufbands or as ions, and they are then immediately fet free. Thofe who are not adopted muft be burnt at a ftow fire : to rhat purpofe their head is fcalp- tfthTvit T "T 'huS painted are t0 be burnt in the dfl itie v^hSe> unkfs Ae women adopt them.

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10 6 TRAVELS through ed, and they are faftened to two pofts 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 f. They are good towards their friends, but very cruel towards their enemies. As The captives are obliged to fing and dance round thefe pofts. f The Indians in general, both men "and women, hare no hair on their bodies, befides thofe on the head; they fay, that in this particular we refemble the beafts, and they fay the fame when they fee us eat herbs and fallad.

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L OU I S I A N A. 107 As to religion, they believe the exiftence of a great Spirit, whom they adore under the form of 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 fon and moon. When it thunders, they imagine that the Lord of life fpeaks to them in an angïy tone. I muft not clofe my letter without informing you of a Angular event, which, though of very futle 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 willinglv -derg0ne this painfd 87 performed in the following manner: Iwas feat- foawnthTSfn; an India" burnt fome «w, the afhes of which he diluted with water - * "jade ufe of this fimp e mixture t0 d ^^e then followed the drawing^ Pcat needles packing them deep into the flefh, whdl^'r^^5 ^s blood mixing can t'5 °f theftraW' f0rms a %me which ?J^ looked the Gurnet a. « m. they fpread white fkins under my feet, on

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io8 TRAVELS Through on which I walked -, they danced before me cry- in g out for joy; they told 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 hke that which the Marflial de Richelieu received, when his name was infcribed in the golden book at Genoa among the noble Genoefe. It is true, there is fome difference between an infcription 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 fhewing how much 1 was affeded; on the contrary, I joked with the Indian women that were prefent ; and all the fpedators, amazed at my infenfibihty, cried out for joy, and danced round about me, faying, I was a true man. The pain has been very violent, and I have had the fever from M for a week together. You cannot believe how fond the Akanzas are of .me fince that time, This is alii had to fay upon this fubjed : fome time this month we intend to continue our jour- ney to the Illinois. As the feafon is much ad- vapced)

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L O U I S I A N A. .109 vanced, and we have yet three hundred leao-ues to go, we run the rifk of being flopped 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 fhall 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 Meftizo Indian among the Akanzas; and, upon queftioning him concern- ing his origin, I heard that he was the fon of X-utel, that failor from Bretany who loft himfelf when M. de la Salle came down the Mifffippi in J , ». and of whoin I have had the honour of fpeaking before. This

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no TRAVELS THROUGH This demi-Indian added, that Rut el his father was found by the Cenis, an Indian nation, who uted him ; he received one of their girls as his wife, in the quality of a warrior-, becaufe, having made ufe of his rnufket in a battle againfl fome enemies of the Cenis, the explofion of that weapon, which was as yet unknown to them, frightened them, andiput 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- eft man in the world ; and the famous Ruiter, who, from a common failor,- became Lieutenant and Admiral of the United Provinces, was per- haps lefs revered than Rutel was among the Cenis.

L E 1-

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LOUISIANA. in

¦ LETTER VI. An Account ofthe Author's Navigation from, the A- kanzas /<. //.<. Illinois. The King's Boat St. Louis, on which the Author was, is overfet ; he falls into the Miffifippi, and an Akanza faves his life. SIR, jj^^S AM now> thank God, arrived' at Fort j$ * Pj| Chartres, after running many rifles on ^3RS.3(. this long and troublefome voyage. We fet out from the Akanzas the 7 th 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 feafon when the wa- ters

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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 bear* 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 fet out in the morning in pira- guas they kill the oxen which they meet on 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 fhore. The Indians take care to keep the tongue, and the flefh 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 flefh 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. François *, that, when we went on fhore in thofe parts, it was impoffible to fleep, on account of the multitudes of fwans, cranes, geefe, buftards, and ducks, that were continually going up and down in thefe watery places. On approaching the country of the r Illinois, * This river comes from the country ofthe &¦»«*

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LOUISIANA. n. 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, livino- 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 fo fine a country is not inhabited, or is only inhabited by brutes ! M. de Macarty, an Irifhman, 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 jundure of the Ohio with the Miffi- fippi, thirty leagues from the Illinois. He took the beft 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 Vaudreuil s injundions ; how- ever, the law of nature didates to every body the , order of affifting others mutually, in cafe of an attack from an enemy, or fome other accident, foch as happened to the boat St. 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. t 1 me

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P4 TRAVELS through pie lofe two days, and prevented my joining the convoy again. To increafe my misfortunes, when I was but fourteen leagues from the Illinois, my boat, three days after-it was ftranded, ran againfl a tree, of which the MiJJifippi is full, and efpecially in time of low water; the fncck 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 ail 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 fnared 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 laft arrived at Fort Chartres : I had not been -long here, when I was, witnefs to an event which might have had very unhappy confequences. The Pehen- guichias and the Ouyatanens had agreed upon the total ruin of five French villages among the Illi- nois. M. de Macariy had fent me before-hand to prepare quarters for fome troops that came m a con-

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LOUISIANA. "S â convoy. The Indians had meditated their en- terprife, and intended to come before the con- voy. I was then at the Kafkakias, where M. de Montcharvaux commanded, who could not jnflly know the whole extent of the plot of thofe barbarians. Thefe were fpread in the houfes of the inhabitants ; by their careffes, their afteda- tion, and calling to mind the maffacre of the Natches, we fufpeded 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 oldeft and moft confider- able people of the place ; and did me the ho- nour to confult me in this circumftance : "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 kfign of thefe Indians, we fhould keep on the defenfive, without ffiewing the leaft fufpicion : that we fliould fend out fome armed inhabitants on horfeback, as if they went a-hunting ; recom- I mending

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n6 TRAVELS through. mending it to them, that, after they had gone the rounds, they fhould return into the village full gallop, as if fomething 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 believed the French had difcovered their plot; they intend- ed to execute it on Chriftmas-day, when the people came from the great mafs ; they had ex- adly inquired after that day, afking, in their wayi 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 Jeuneffe, 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» deMacarly haftened to difpatch meffenger? to New Orleans to the Marquis de Vaudreuil, to eive him an account of this expedition ; the go fe vernor

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LOUISIANA. 117 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. t n ; r> _.- I muft not forget to mention to you, Sir, that all this paffed 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 Montcharvaux 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 ; 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 during winter ; he belonged to the village of the Mit- I 3 chig»mias -,

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n8 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 pufliing him out of doors : he came, however, into my kitchen againfl 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 I 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- ing.

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L O ù i s i ANA. i iq *< 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 iri u 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 circumftance which I have now rela- ted, and a great many more, fufficiently fliew, that thefe people are fufceptible of lentiments of honour ; they know how to do themfelves ju- ftice 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 cuftoms as among the American Indians. To return to my hunter : you know very Well, that drunkennefs debafes men to the rank _^____ I 4 of "......'......,L...... " »¦¦'¦¦!.¦ ¦¦_._...........- .-__¦_. __.__,__........¦¦ ,l>|........ ¦MB...... - * 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 ia them;

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no TRAVELS through of brutes, and that this vice is correded 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 *. 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 fhed half of it, by endeavouring to fill a bottle with it; This accident obliged me to difmifs him ; how- 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 affiftance of his wife and rela- tions. Once this hunter was drunk, but defired ftill 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 fo» 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 flave, and * Thus they call brandy.

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LOUISIANA, m 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, frorti 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 lay upon a mat; they difplayed to him all the hor- ror ofthe unnatural adion he had committed by felling his own offspring. The poor Indian came crying to me, and faid, Indagê wai punis, t. e. I am unworthy of living ; I do no longer deferve to bear the tender name of father. He was very angry at the brandy I had given him fo 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 humofous, and who was diverting herfelf at his expence, afked him very coolly where his fon was ? He ftill ex- ceed himfelf, faying, that, knowing me to be v*7 kind, he expeded I would return him his fon ;

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i22 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 cf the prayer, or the man that fpeaks with the great Spirit ; for thus they call the priefts : 1 «old him, that if the chief of the prayer f re- quired it, I Ihould not be contrary to him ; I would return him his fon, on condition that he fhould be baptifed, and that I fhould 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 fhould remember them while hé lived ; he begged I would adopt him as a bWM ther, and faid he was going to ftrike at the poll ft Since «The French King. f The Abbe Gagnon, of the order of St. Sulpitius, arte chaplain of Fort Chartres. % The Indian method of taking an oath; See Letter V-'

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LOUISIANA. !,23 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 rocolleded that once I had named the number of glaffes 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 mufi 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, beino- alone, was tempted to drink a glafs ; after winch I ordered the glafs to be wafhed in hot water, and put in its place again; and every tune 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 fc'ghly 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*

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124 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 affeded friendfhip for their children -, I careffed them, and gave them European toys, The Indians readily gueffed, that as I had ho 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, faidj « This is to appeafe thee, be no longer angry « with us." I immediately anfwered, I-willing- ly forget the paft, 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 over the world ; every father is pleafed with the friendfhip which is fhewn to his children, who make returns by their careffes. You can well conceive, that a mere trifle cart gain me the friendfhip of thefe people ; and that it depends only upon the method of ading with them, to attach them to one's felf at ail events. But let this foffice for this time -, I think I muft recall to your mind the plan I purpo- fed

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LOUISIANA. I25 fed to follow ; I only examine the fituation of the places where I flop, and, during my ftay, 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 are a foldier and a philofopher ; I am per- fuaded, that what I fhall give you an account of will pleafe you ; for I flatter myfelf, that you depend upon the fidelity of your hiftorian : in* deed, I mean to affert nothing but what I am an eye-witnefs of; for I can neither invent nor ex- aggerate. I am, SI R, &V.

. Ai Fort Chartres, among the Illinois, the zZth of March 1752.

¦

I LET-

page 126-150 141 0126

126 TRAVELS THiotrcH LETTER VII. To the fame. i Defcription of the War of the Nations of Foxes againft the Illinois, of which the Author has been an Eye-witnefs. Account how the French fettled among thefe People. S I R, F%-~^*{ HAVE enquired after the manner Lg I X >n which the French fettlement has been kJFjL?!. ma(k 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 Louifiana, the India Company fent many fami- lies

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LOUISIANA. izy lies over hither, who lived and multiplied here. .There are now five great villages of French in-, habitants in thefe parts '. The moft.confider-' able* place is called Kafkakias, a name ofthe tribe of an Illinois fettlement, which is about half a league from it. The Sieur Sauffier, an en- gineer, has made a plan for conftruding a new fort, here, according to._ the intention of the court. It fhall bear the fanie name with the old one, wliich 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 attrad the wild oxen, and the roe-bucks, which like thé paftures around rhem very much. Their flefh and tongues are falted, and furnifh another branch of commerce to New Orleans-, and they cure hams, which equal thofe of Rayonne. The fruits are as fine as in France. * The India Company wefe poffeffed of Louifiana ; but they gave n back to the King in _73I. The five village, of the f«nch are that ofthe Kafiaiias, the Fort Chartres, St. _ «itytf. Kackias, and the Prairie du Rocher (meadow Ott r°ck) ; there is now a fixth, called St. Genevieve. ¦ Ca!led Sah-Hch> by the Englifh Planters. F. The

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128 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 going a different way. The marriage of the Indians is quite in the ftate of nature, and has no other form than the mutual confent of t! e parties. As they are not tied by any civil contrad, 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 amongft 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 reafon that the^will agree better among themfelves, than two that are ftrangers 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,

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LOUISIANA. Î39 Europeans, never ftifle the feelings of nature, in a father's breaft, or incline him to force his children, and much lefs to controul them in their inclination:.. By an admirable fympathy, deferv- ing of admiration, thofe only are married, who love each other.

The Illinois Indians Were formerly the moft 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 t752. the Indians of the tribe of Xfiskias met fix Indians ofthe nation of Poxes, huntinp -f- - VOt. I. * t.- V' .________-^ they *Zfrr*''°!*d'and !"M'y *a-b? 4 _.; ^YZYrfy±y - ._...

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*s« TRAVELS throuch 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 Foxes, or Outagamis was happy enough to efcape from the ftake 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 pofture 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 fifh *. As he was naked and without arms, he was obliged, in order to fubfift upon the road, to eat grafs like a beaft. Being returned to his nation, he told them what had happened to him with the Illinois, and the unhappy fate which they had made his fellow- travellers undergo. Their relations immediately began to grieve for them after their manner. The chief of the nation called an affembly together, for theyundertake nothing without a council ; the 1 refult » The armed fifh in Louifiana is exceedingly voraeioi* His teeth cut the iron of the fifh hooks in pieces.

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L ô Ù I S I A N À. tg« refult was to fend bundles of rods * to the chiefs of the tribes, who were their allies, among whom were the Sioux, the Sakis and the Kikapoiis 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 Koakias. 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- kias where the Chevalier de Volfei, an officer of my detachment, commanded. The van of this fleet of the Foxes, confifted of the beft runners, who were to go on fhore to reconnoitre. They K 2 landed As the Indians have not got the art of writing, the rods mark the number of warriors, and the day of aflembling for the departure of the army.

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i52 TRAV EL S 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 expeding 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 . beft rummers 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 witli 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 wway their bodies, is among the Indians to expo/e their bodies to danger, as thofe do that are obliged to mount firft of all the breach to ilorm a place.

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LOUISIANA. i33 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 fpedator of this flaughter, 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, fhe ran «to my arms, where the barbarians did not venture to fhoot at her, for fear of hitting me. K % This Tins dtfhnaion, of which I have already fpoken, is «ranted by order of the King, through his general, to the valiant Indians, and who are moll attached to the French nation. ¦

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134 T R A V E ES through This account will inform you, -that nothing can be more dangerous, than being taken una- wares by thefe nations. None but thofe, wiio were gone out of curiofity to fee the proceflion at the French fort of Chartres, efcaped the revenge of the Foxes, who contented with their vidory, re-embarked in tlieir boats, and put the prifoners well bound in the van ; and paffing by the French fort of Koakias, they gave a general fa- lute with their guns. The chief, or admiral of the Foxes, had hoifted the French colours on his canoe, and was as proud of his victory, as if he had fub- dued a great empire. M. de Macarty, our governor, has written to thofe in the pofts of Canada, to treat with the poxes concerning the ranfom of the Illinois, whom they have taken prifoners. Thefe cunning Indians had conduded their undertaking fo well, that we knew nothing of it till it was executed ; they hid the knowledge of it from usjuftly fearing that we fhould interpolé our mediation between them and the Illinois, as being the friends and allies of both ; but the offended

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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. ¦if ; 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 take* a great fhare 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 ; 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.

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136 TR A V E L S through recommends it to youtogoahunting, and to take your families with you, 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 beafts from ruining them ; you muft likewife take care to fend one of your people from time to time, Mto . inquire -how matters ftand here. ¦ The Anfwer of the Chiefs of the Tribes. . " It is very well, my Father, that the great chief* " pities us. Itwasa very brave adion to be fur- *« prized in the manner we ha ve been; thou haft been ?* an eye.-witnefs of it, for thou haft faved the life " of one of our girls ; our tribe have been killed *' by the Foxes, who have burnt our huts with our *« viduals, and taken our booty, during our re- "treat at the Kafkakias. Thou muft think, that " we cannot leave any here, or they muft ftarve, " and would ever lament the death of our rela» " fions, who perifhed in this fad adion. But to " convince our father of our fidelity, tell him, " by means of the fpeaking fubftanee (paper), " that from time to time we fhall fend fome one "of .- Thus thefe.nations call, the fuperior officers of a pro-» yince or diftrift,

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LOUISIANA. 157 « of our people to him with game to know what « happens here. 8 " We hope the grand chief of the'French " will proted and help us to fhelter ourfelves a- " gainft the enemy. We beg thee likewife to make " intereft with him that he may be fo good as to " fend word to feveral families of our people, " who flayed among the Kafkakias, to join us, " in order to affift us in the common defence of " the intended fort, of which we have drawn " the plan on the fhore of the Mififippi." c Speech of Chikagou, a Chief with a Medal. m " 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 Si enemies will not fail to throw out againft our " nation, let him remember the promife I made ;' him, it fhall be a true one ; and I preferve his " words in my heart." - Anfwer.. If what thou fayeft be true, thy father will receive thee well, and all the other chiefs will endeavour

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i33 TRAVELS through endeavour to pleafe thee, if thy heart agree with thy tongue. It is neceffary thou fhouldft fet out foon : confider the damage which the dogs of thy village have done among the cattle be- longing to the French inhabitants *, and with what tranquility they fuffer 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 afflided to fee you fuffer hun- ger, and he pities his children. . As to myfelf, I heartily wifh you good fuc- cefs in hunting, and a plentiful crop at your re- turn. I hope the Great Spirit 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 ana * The Indians have many dogs for hunting ; and they themfelves having loll their provifions, 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 dog.

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L O U I S I AN A. *39 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. Adamville. who commands at the Peprias, 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 fhall be furnifhed for that purpofe for the account ofthe king, your father, grand chief of the white men and of the red n\en. ... Among the Indians, thofe who run away or defert in an adion, where their honour, and the defence of their country is at flake, are not pu- nifhed ; but they are confidered as the difgrace of human nature. The others are continually reproaching them, that they are not men, but Old women ; they are defpifed by fhe very wo- men, and the uglieft girls will not accept of them for hufbands, and if ever it happened that a girl Ihould 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 ,¦9 let their hair grow, and to wear an alkonan, like

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ï4o T R A V ELS through hke the women *. I faw one of them, who being afhamed of his figure, went by himfelf to fight the Tchikachas, who are our enemies and theirs. He came near them, creeping like a fnake, and hiding himfelf in the great grafs during three or four days, without eating or drinking. As the Englifh bring goods to the Tchikachas (Chickfaws) in caravans, our Illinois killed one of them who had ftrayed 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 flefh, conformably to the opinion current piong his people, and of which I have already had the honour of fpeaking toyou. The grand chief of the Illinois is defeended from the family of the Tamaroas, who were formerly fovereigns of this country. This Cacique or Indian king, is the fon of him that went to France with his attendants in 1720. He was prefented to the King, who gave him a medal with his portrait, which the fon now wears on his - r. i4>i w * A ihort petticoat,' which 'the Indian women make ufe of, =0 cover th::r nakedfief..

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LOUISIANA. i4r his breaft. There was likewife a woman of the nation of the Miffouris, who was called the prin- cefs of the Miffouris *. The Sieur Dubois, a fer- jeant, and interpreter of thofe American ambaf- fadors, having been created an officer by the King, married this Miffourian lady at his return. She became a widow ; and afterwards married the Sieur Marin, a captain of the militia, by whom fhe had a daughter, who is ftill alive. The Indian princefs defcribed to her country- men the magnificence fhe had feen at the court of France, where fhe had been well received, and loaded with prefents; fhe had, amongft other things, got a fine repeating watch fet 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 Franc- and * She was the daughter of the grand chief of this nation. It «faid the was M. de Bourmont's miftrefs, who, dunnghis command among the Miffouris, never ceafed to praife ar.d «r- toi the wonders of France, and by that means er.g.iged feve- ral to follow him : this girl went over to the Gfejftka reii- fion, and ,va? baptifel at the church ^ Notre Be-:..

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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. Honoré. 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 4he Europeans probably had fafcinated his eyes, that it was impoffible, and that they had always offered the fame objeds to his eyes. He faid that he had feen the huts of the grand chief of the French, i. e. Verfailles and Louvre, 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 Illinois, A puppet-fhow.

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LOUISIANA. 143 Illinois, who had made the fame voyage, told his countrymen, that, in the Thuilleries, 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 breaft; that he fufpeded'they- put rouge on their faces, and that he found they ftnelled like crocodiles *. This Indian fpoke with the greateft contempt of that race of mortals, whom we know under the name of petits-maitres, or beaus, who are born with the weaknefs and the delicacy^eculiar to women ; nature feeming to have begun mak, mg them foch, and afterwards to make a mif- take in the formation of their fex. The Indian had likewife remarked the endr- mous height of the head-dreffes of our women "> that timef, and of the heels of their fhoes. But what would he have faid, if he had feen the extravagant widtlrof their hoops, and their fine fhape

which fmells ftronger than the Faft Indian muft j its effluvia «* ftrong, thatyou can often ^j.^ an.mRj beforc ^ * f During the regency.

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i44 TRAVELS 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, who come to Paris to copy our beaus and our belles, have rendered themfelves infupportable to their countrymen by this unna- tural method of ading : indeed, faid our Ame- rican, fuch effeminate manners difhonour are- fpedable nation. ¦ I have received a letter from the Marquis de Vaudreuil, 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 effed of his generofity, 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 efteem and friend- fhip of every body. The Indians inceffantly com-

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LOUISIANA. i45 compare him now to M. de Bienville, his prede- ceffor. When thefe people do not fpeak in praife of a governor, but, on the contrary, agree with all the inhabitants in deteiling him, it is.the ftrongeft accufation againft him. ¦ Before I conclude, I fhall add a word about the Mffouris, Baron Porneuf, who has been go- vernor of Fort Orleans eftabliihed in that nati- on, and who knows their genius perfedly well, has informed me, that they were formerly very warlike and good, but that the French hunters had corrupted them, by their bad condud, 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 Miffouris againft them ; and therefore, during M. de BienviWs govern- ment, they maffacred 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 ft0ry i p^ji tell you win com.nce ^ that thefe people.are only nominally favages, and Vol. I, t , ^ that

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i46 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, à 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 ftill 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 adion 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 « .favannahs, and that they had crops of it as of indigo or millet in America. The. Miffouris were pleafed with this difcovery, and fowed all the gun-powder they had left, which obliged them to buy that of the French- man,

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LOUISIANA. i47 man, who got a confiderable quantity of bea- ver-fkins, otter-fkins, &c. for it, and after- wards went down the river to the Illinois, where M. de Tonti commandedt The Miffouris went from time to time to the favannah, to fee if the powder was growing : they had placed a guard there, to hinder the wild beafts 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 firft Frenchman that fhould 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 affo- ciated with the man who had impofed upon them; however, they diffem bled the trick which his predeceflbr had played. They gave him the public hut, which was in the middle of the vil- lage, to depofit his bales m -, and when they were all laid out to view, tlie Miffouris came in confufedly, and all thofe who had been foolifo enough to fow gun-powder, took away fome goods ; lo the poor Frenchman was rid of all ms bales at once, but without any equivalent -k 2 from

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t48 T R. A V E L S 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 fhould have juftice done him, but that for that purpofe he muft wait for the gun-powder harveft, his fubjeds 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 fkins of the wild beafts which fhould be taken, fhould be given in return for the important fe cret, which the other Frenchman had them. ¦ taught Our traveller alledged, that the ground of the Miffouris was not fit for producing gun-powder, and that his fubjeds 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 correded by favage men'. This leffon did not prevent others from going to the Miffouris ; one of them intended to play a good trick there ; he got ready a piragua, which he loaded with trifles -, and, being informedof the preceding adventure, he filled a iittle calk with

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LOUISIANA. 49 with allies and pounded charcoal, at the top of which he put fome gun-powder. When he ar- rived, he put aU his goods in the great hut, in order to tempt the Miffouris to rob him ; it happened as he expeded. 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, ,1 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 3 fince

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150 TRAVELS through fince held him in great efteem, giving him the name of a true man, or man of courage. I fhall finifh my letter with the defcription of a very odd and extraordinary ceremony, per- formed by the Miffouris, who came hither as am- baffadors, at the time when the Chevalier de Boifbriant 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 pradical part of geography ought abfolutely to be underftood by them ; and that it is necef- fary they fhould 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- ficiently convince them of this neceflity. Spain faw, with great difpleafure, during the regency, our fettlements on the Mifffippi : The Englifh too, on their fide, fpared no intrigues to ruin this growing colony, as they do ftill" in re- gard to thofe upon the banks of the river Ohio, which they fay belongs to them ; and they have likewife laid claim to the Miffifippi. In

page 151-175 166 0151

LOUISIANA. W- 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 neceffary they fhould entirely deftroy the Miffouris-, but concluding that it would be impoffible 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 affift- ance, to furprife and deftroy their enemies. With that view they formed a caravan at Santa- Fê, confifting of men, women, and foldiers, having a Jacobine prieft for their chaplain, and an engineer-captain for their chief and condud- or, with the horfes and cattle neceffary 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 condudor of the caravan orders his interpreter to fpeak to the chief of the Miffouris, as if he had been that of L 4 the

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15- TRAVELS through the Ofages, and tell him that they were come $o make an alliance with him, in order to deftroy together the Miffouris 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-r 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 affed the fincereft friendfhip for them. They agreed together to fet out in three days. The Spanifh captain immediately diftributed fif- teen hundred mufkets amongft them, with anequal 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 Angular drefs did not feem to be- long to a warrior: they called him a mag-pie, and diverted themfelves with making him ride pn one of the Spanifh horfes, on their days of affembly. The

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LOUISIANA. !5$ 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, or deity of the Indians ; therefore, one day, taking advantage of their confidence in him, he took his meafures to get away before their faces. AU thofe tranfadions the Miffouris themfelves have related, when they brought the ornaments of the chapel hither. They were dreffed out in thefe ornaments : the chief had. oh 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 chafobles on; after them came thofe who carried the flole, 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 Acolothifts, contrary to order, were at the end of this proceflion, not being adorned enough, and held in their hands a crofs or chandelier, whilft they danced in ca- dence. Thefe people, not knowing the refped due to the facred utenfils, hung the chalice to a .hone's neck, as if it had been a bell. Reprefent

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154 TRAVELS through Reprefent to yourfelf the ridiculous fight which the fingular order of this proceflion muft 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 rnafquerade arrive, ran laughing to give M. de Boifbriant intelligence of it ; 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 deflroy. ed fome French fettlement i but when he faw them near by, his fadnefs vapifhed, and he had much to do to'keep himfelf from laughing with the reft. The Miffouris told him, that the Spaniards intended to have deftroyed them ; that they brought him all thefe things, as being of no jife to them, and that, if he would, he mighf 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, who was then goyernor-general of the province of Louifiana.

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LOUISIANA. i55 As the Indians had got a great number of Spanifh horfes from this caravan, the chief of the Miffouris gave the fineft to M. de Boifbriant. They had likewife brought with them the map which had conduded the Spaniards fo ill, who came to furrender themfelves, by confeffing their intention to their enemies. I fhall 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. lam, SIR, &c. At the Illinois, the \$th of May 1753. . LET-

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ï56 TRAVELS through MSSîSliSîlllîiM ae 18E_«*$«££M# LETTER VIII. To the fame. The Author leaves the Country of the Illinois, and goes to New Orleans. Arrival of Monfieur de Kerlerec. Departure cf the Marquis de Vau- dreuil. The Author's fecond Voyage to the Illinois. Heroic Aflion of a Father, who facrificed himfelf for his Son. S I R, 2ÇK3*. N June I arrived at the Capital of % I (fi Louifiana, where I found a letter from &m y°u> which save me real 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 heard he was already gone to France ; and to compleat my misfortunes, Mr. Michel de U Ruevilliero was dead of an apoplexy ; he had wrote

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L OU IS I AN A. *57 wrote to me that he had with forrow heard of the lofs of my boat, and that notwithftanding it was not the king's cuftom to re-imburfe foch expences, yet he would repair this lofs with plea- fure for my relief: that I fhould make an exad 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- ceffity, that this article may at leaft have fome appearance, and thus be entered in the accounts ; he promifed that as foon 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 fucceffor M, de Kerlerec, who has not paid any attention to his recom- mendation ; his qualities are quite the reverfe of thofe of his predeceffor ; 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 Favero.t 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 fubjed to M. de Kerlerec, who made me fuffer all kinds of difagreeable circum- ftances

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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 ; that being a foldier, his majefty had fent me to Louifiana to ferve him, and that I placed all my glory in that fervice, at laft M. de Kerlerec 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 cofts 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- duded 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 fucceffively, 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 almoft finifhed. It is built of free ftone, flanked with four baftions, and capable of con- taining a garrifon of three hundred men. I afked

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LOUISIANA. ï5g afked M. de Macartfs leave to go to change the air at the Kaokias, who are a day's journey from Fort Chartres, and the road to it is either by water or by land. In this poft there is a little fort on the left fide of the Mifiifippi, 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 eftablifhed a miffion here under the name of the Holy Family of Jefus. There are but three priefts. I have been particularly ac- quainted with the Abbé Mercier, a Canadian by birth, and vicar of the whole country of Illinois. He was a man of probity, whofe friendfhip could not fail of being of ufe to me, by the knowledge he had acquired of the manners ofthe Indians, who were edified by his virtue and dif- intereflednefs. He fpoke the language of the country, and on account of the fluency with which he expreffed himfelf in it, he was highly efteemed 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

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TRAVELS through have always refpeded him. A man of his cha- rader could never have lived long enough for the happinefs of thefe people. This worthy apoftle 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 Abbé, they cried out aloud and made doleful lamentations. Thefe poor people were in a great confiera ation, 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 Louifiana; I mean the father Hennepin, a Recollet friar, of whom I fhall fpeak to you. In 1683, he pub- lifhed a relation, the title of which is not right : for

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L O U I S i  N À. toi for the country which the Recollet, and the Sieur Decan difcovered in going up the Mifififippi from the river of Illinois to the fall St. Anthony, does not belong to Louifiana; but to Canada. The re- lation of a fecond voyage of father Hennepin, in the Recueil des Voyagùs 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 Miffifippi, they have ftill been at a great diftance from the frozen ocean; When the author publifhed this fecond relation lie had quarrelled with M. de la Salle ; it feems that he was adually forbid returning to America^ and that the difpleafure this reftridion gave him4 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 Mexico and the frozen ocean; with refledions on M. de la Salle's undertakings and other things concerning the defcription arid hif- tory cf North America.

§_.UHHK«.jfw_'} -** <_f. £ l. è m* ! ^¦¦*-tM|W_»l«lu

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 fubjed of the Ca- YoL- L M tholic

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;6z TRAVELS THROUGH ¦ tholic king * ; but he ought to refled that it was at the expence of France that he travelled in America, and that it was in the name of his moft Chriftian majefty, that he artd the Sieur Decan took poffeffion 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 Miffionaries thither, to teach the Indians the Chriftian religion ; a proceeding which excited the ridicule of the Catholics, and fcandalized the Proteftants, who were furprized to fee a prieft who called himfelf a miffionary, exhort a Proteflant fovereign to found a Roman church in America. All his works are befides written in a pompous ftile, which Ihocks the reader, and offends him by the liberties which the author takes, and by his indecent invedives- Father Hennepin thought he might make 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 a native of Douay*

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L O U I S i AN A. tints. It appe2 163 faithful in all his accounts, it appea there was more vanity in his undertaking, than true zeal in making profelytes in A* fiièrica. Whilft I was at the Koakias, fome Indians of the nation of Ofages arrived there ; their Mani- tou, or falfe deity, was a dried ferpent, of a monftrous fize, Thefe people faid that this prodigious animal had committed great devaf- tadons 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 fcales, like thofe of a crocodile. They fucceeded at laft in putting it to death by fhooting balls and arrows at it, which blinded it. Fie that had killed it carried the mark or impreffion of it on his body, in the fame manner as the Akanzas imprinted the toe-buck on my thigh. They make this laft. ing mark in the following manner. They firft draw with black, or with gun-powder the figure of the animal or objed they mean to re- prefent, on the flefh ; after which they fting the fkin in the out-line, with one or more needles to the blood ; the figure is then fli^htly wafhed «_» / M 2 over

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IÛ4 t R A V E L S THROUGH over with a fine fpunge dipt in a folution of rock fait, which mixes the blood with the black, con- trading the fkin which has been ftung, 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 intitled by great adions, they fuffer with pleafure, in order to pafs for men of courage. Thefe marks of diftindion multiply in proportion to the fine adions they do in war. If one of them fhould get himfelf marked, without having previoufty diftinguifhed 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- pofé their lives in defence of their country. 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 an Indian, who, though he had never fignalized himfelf in defence of the nation, however chofe 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 ofthe nation in marriage, who, favage as fhe was, was

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LOU I S I N A. 165 was however not without ambition. As he was

on the point of concluding the match with her relations, the warriors, full of indignation on feeing a coward boaft with a mark due only to militarv merit, held an affembly of chiefs of '1 s- 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 flruck a blow at war, fhould have the mark torn off, that is, the place fhould be flayed,. and that the fame fliould be done to a!J who would offend in the fame cafe. As there was no pardon to hope for, his con- demnation being pronounced by an ad 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 takeoff the fkin and the mark without hurting him, and that my remedy would change the blood into water. The Indians, ignorant of my fecret, believed I jell- ed with them : therefore, counterfeiting their jugglers, I gave the pretended bravo a calabafli full of fyrup of the maple-tree, into which I had put a dofe of opium ; and, whilft he was afleep, M 3 I ap-

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t66 TRAVELS through I applied Spanifh flies to the figure of the club which he bore on his breaft, and over them fome plantain leaves, which caufed tumours; 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 fight in night-time ; and even the fmaileft types can be read, by holding the infed near 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 amongft themfelves. The following example is a proof of it. An officer belonging to the regiment of the Ifle de France, having fallen in love with a young lady at Paris in 174.9, the mother of the lady told him, that fhe 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 diftindion from himfelf, whjeh the King alone can give away. The lady already looked upon him as her fon-in-law ; but a few days after, the falfe chevalier is met by an officer of his regi- ment, who, being before him in the fervice, is furprifed

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LOUISIANA. 167 furprifed to fee him obtain the crofs before him- felf. The new chevalier told him, that, with protedions, 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 Belle-ifle prefided. 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 wifhed to have this pretended relic in my pof- feffion, in order to adorn your colledion of na- M 4 tural

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iÇ8 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- prefeming to him that the adoration pf this ani- mal was an abufe ; that he ought, as we do, to worfhip the Great Spirit, or Author of Nor- ture ; but this cunning prieft pf the devil, in owning that his fuperftitious countrymen adored every thing uncommon, told me, that he ex.- peded t,o make a great profit of his Manitou-, that, being a phyfician, and a juggler befides, he could eafily make them believe that his deity eat with the evil fpirit at night, and that they muft bring him viduals inro hjs hut, and fine furs to drefs him put. . Thus this impoftor, by his artful difcourfes, gives weight to the errors and prejudices of theie ignorant people. Thefe fellows make them be- lieve, that they cqnverfe 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 fhall fmifh my letter by an account of the tragic death of an Indian of the nation of Qolla- pjffas, who facrificed himfelf for his fon ; I have admired

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L 0 U I S I A N A. i69 jadmired this heroic deed, which raifes human generofity to the higheft pitch. ! A Chaffaw, fpeaking very ill of the French, faid, that the Collapijfas were their dogs, i. e. their flaves ; one of thefe, vexed at fuch abufivè language, killed the Chaffaw with his gun. The nation of Chatlaivs, which is the greateft and moft numerous on this continent, armed imme- diately, and fent deputies to New Orleans to afk from the governor the head of the murderer, who had put himfelf under the protedion of the French. They offered prelènts to make up the quarrel, but the cruel nation of Chafiaws would not accept any ; they even threatened to deftroy the village of Collapijfas. To prevent the effu- 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 fhore of the Miffifippi, was charged with this commiffion. The rendez-vous for this purpofe was given between the village Collapiffa and the fettlement of the Germans ; and the facrifice Was performed there as follows : ¦ The Indian was called Tichou Mngo, i. e. Ca- cique's fervant. He flood upright, and held a Ipsech, according to the cuftom of the people, faying,

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71)0 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 " young, and of my father ahd mother, who " are old, and for whom I got fubfiftence by " hunting *. I recommend them to. the French, " becaufe I die for having taken their part." He had hardly fpoken the laft word of this ihort and pathetic fpeech, when his good and tender father, penetrated with his fon's filial love, got up, and fpoke to the following effect: " It is through courage -j~ that my fon dies ; but " being young, and full of vigour, he is mora *' fit than myfelf to provide for his mother, wife, " and four little children ; it is therefore necef- "fary he fhould ftay on earth to take care of " diem. As to myfelf, I am near the' end of my, il career, I have lived long enough, and I wifh my "fon may come to the fame age, in order to " educate my little children. I am no longer fit " for any thing, fome years of life more or *' lefs afé indifferent to me. I have lived as a " man, « He was the bell hunter in the nation. f Cour.ige is a word which, in their language, fignifies fomething great or extraordinary.

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L O U I S I A N A. 171 " man, and will die as fuch ; therefore I go to " take his place V At thefe words, which expreffed paternal af- fedion in a very ftrong and moving manner, his wife, his fon, his daughter-in-law, and their little children, fhed 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 ChaEiaw, and they accepted it: after that he laid himfelf on the trunk of a tree, and they cutoff 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- ther's head f; in taking it up, he faid to it, ------------___________________" Pardon t dc h and lt fufficient £o fuM.tute any oneof the^ thett_£PUtit0n3 POk' and Ctoiedî^a a trophy into

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11 TRAVELS THROCCH- " Pardon me thy death, and remember me im " the country of fpirits." All the French who 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 fliould fuffer fo much, came to prefent himfelf to the murderers, and begged the foldiers to kill hira, and to fave his fon's life ; the fon conjured them to kill him, 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 laft voyage to the Illinois, fell into the Mifffippi 1» the fevereft feafon, whilft his foldiers were exer- cifing . 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 W boat, faved him from the precipice. The offi- cer told him, that he hoped to recompenfe him generoufly for this piece of fervice ; but the ln- ' ¦ ' d'Un,

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L O U I S I '¦" T A N A.' *73T diari immediately anfwered, that he had only done the duty of a brother, who ought to fuc- 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. Ail the Indians, both men and women, learn to fwim from their infancy. I have often feen 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 queftion I fpeak of here is of the utmoft confé- quence, efpecially in a country where almoft eve- ry body goes by water, and on fea-voyages. L fhall not enter into thefe details, which might prove tirefome : I ftall only fay, that, accord-r '"g to found reafon, the firft thing which it is neceffary to know in nature, is how to preferve one's exiftence ; and that it is to be-wifhed, that the European mothers would imitate the Ame- ricans in that particular, and likewife in fuck- Hng their own children. This adion, which is didated by nature, would prevent many acci-, dents with regard to children fuppofed to be ultimate; and, without quoting many fads 1 to

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tf4r T R A V E L S through to this purpofe from the Caufes Célèbres, I have 2 recent example before my eyes of the confu- 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 nurfe. As foon 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, uport 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 trufled with this child, had put it in her apron ; as fhe was flepping into one of thofe carriages deftined for thefe journies, her apron, which was tied behind, got untied, and the' child fell upon the pavement, 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 wowld think themfelves abufed, if they were to leave

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LOUISIANA. I?3 leave tlieir children to the care of a woman far from their own infpedion : they are not afraid, as fome European women, that their hufband's tendernefs will diminilh, becaufe they have borne the tokens of their mutual affedion; 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 fopporting therm The. white women, whom we call Creoles, fol- low in America the European cuftom, difdaining to fuckle their own children ; they give .them, as loon as they are born, to a tawny or red flave, without refleding, that her blood may be cor- rupted. Many able phyficians have demonftra- ted, that the milk has an influence on the incli- nations of tlie children. I have often feen many, an innocent fall a vidim to the irregular life of their nurfes in America ; which is a circumftance fatal to the propagation of the human fpecies. I leave this fubjed to the gentlemen of the fa. c«ky, who will certainly handle it better than myfelf. "> I conclude, by affuring you that I am, &c

P.s. An

page 176-200 191 0176

176 TRAVELS ThROucrt 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 hâve 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 Rivieres, commanded the Canadians and Indians ; he had taken poffeffion of an advantageous poft, in of 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 lh» America with the title of Governor General of Canada and Ne-tu trance.

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LOUISIANA. i7y at the beginning of the attack : we, on our fide, hat/e loft but three foldiers. M. de Bour- lamaque, a colonel of foot, has been flightly wounded, together with feven or eight Cana- dians ; but unhappily M. Decotnbk, the engineer, was fhot by one of our own Indians, who took him for an Engliftman, 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 21ft of July 1756. Vol. I. N LET

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<i78 T R AV ELS through LETTER IX. _-. .i y To the fame. nisibfll 3V_.V The Author fets outs from the Koakiasfor Fori Char- ms. His Obfervations on the Population. Ac- count of a Caravan of Elephants arrived in tht Neighbourhood of the Ohio. . SIR, ^S&sT*. Ccording to an appearances, this is the % A ^ laft letter I ftall write to you from the 'kjpglj& Illinois -, I prepare to fet out by order of the phyficians, who have judged it neceffary that I fhould return to France, to ufe the baths of Bourbon, in order to prevent the bad confe- quences of a fhot 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

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L O U I S J A N A. 179 Yefterday an exprefs arrived here from Fort faÇiuêne 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 vidual the fort. The Cheva- lier^ Villiers commands it in my ftead, my bad ftate 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. .. ¦ . In *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 j 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 ¦NT N z witjj. the Alps It was taken the ,9th of July i7 underthe command of the Prince of Conti. The brigade of Poitou, commanded by the brave M de Chevert, diftingdihed 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- *na, F,

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rfo T R AV EL. S THAotrfcH with: â 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 thei entirely ; it is poffible that feven arrived at place near* the Ohio, which, in our maps of Loui- fiana, 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 ftay there *. In 1751, the Baron Pornetif, who command- ed Fort François in the country of the Miffouris, received the fkin of an animal from the Indians, which was hitherto unknown in America. That officer fent it to the Marchionefs de Vaudreuil^ Who made a muff of it : this creature was about 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 teeçh 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. >35- Philofoph. Tranf. vol. LVIH, and pennant's Synopfis of Quadrupeds, p. or. F.

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L OU I S I A N A- iH fine and foft as velvet, mottled with black and pearly white. Many authors pretend, that it is poffible 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 ftreights which feparate it from the con- .:, has high mountains of ice on its eafii e : 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 fubjed : 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 j 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, that men went from "N 3 ' the

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A TRAVELS M the weft to Mexico and Loufiana*. The ele- phants who came thither are a proof which con- firms my obfervations -f. Further, when I afk- ed the Indians called Sioux des prairies, who are a nomadic nation, they told me, that they had heard other Indians fay, that, to the weftward of their country, there lived a nation of clothed people, who navigated on great falt-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, Fk- rida and the Englifh colonies on the eaft, and Nitv 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. % The Indians call die fea a great lake, and the ihips great piraguas,

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L O U. I & I -A N A. 183. of .a friâr, to which they faften 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 -'¦¦a *t 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 naturalift 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 got reafon for the purpofe, that truth ihould be the objecl of his enquiries ; and if he ihould 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 abilrufe, has been difcovered by an indefatigable application. The way in which America was peopled, and the manner in which the fkeletons of great bulky animals approaching to the kind of elephants came to the river Ohio, 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.

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ï^4 TRAVELS through I fhall add here, by the way, that when the Spaniards difcovered the ifles of St. Domingo and Cuba, they found them weft peopled with In- dians, whom they murdered under pretence of a religious principle, but really in order to get their gold. Therefore a Cacique or petty king of the ifland, efeaping from the Spaniards, gave his people to underftand, that gold was the deity of their enemies, fince they came fo far, 2nd expofed themfelves to fomany dangers, in order to get poffeffion of it ; 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 declared he would not go there, if there were any Spa* niards in it. Thefe unhappy Indians abhorred the Spaniards fo much, that they did not eyei» converfe with their wives for fear of begetting flaves to fuch mafters : and whenever they eat of their flefh, it was more through revenge than any appetite j for they plainly faid, that the flefh pf sl 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- riors,

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LOUISIANA. 185 riors, and march with the Chevalier Villiers. This gentleman obtained leave from the gover- nor to raifê a party of French and Indians, and to go with them to avenge the death of his bro- ther, 'M. de Jumonville, who was killed by the Englifh before the war broke out. The grand chief of the Illinois is called Papa- pé-changouhias ; he is related to feveral Frenclv- men of diftindion, fettled among thefe people. This Cacique fucceeded Prince Tamaroas fur- named Chikagou, who died in 1754. He wear* the medal of the late Cacique: this Illinois prince has convinced the French, that he is worthy of wearing it, by his friendfhip for our nation. The detachment of the Chevalier de Villiers * being ready to fet out, Papapê-changou^ Mai f The Chevalier de Villiers, who commanded this detach- ment, muft not be confounded with M. de Villiers., called the Great Villiers, who went to avenge the death of Jumon- ville immediately after his murder in 1753. See the poem which the famous M. Thomas wrote on this fubjeét. Of the feven brothers who compofed this family of Villiers, fix ,werç killed in Canada in defence of their country. The Chevalier de Villiers is the laft j he was taken prifoner in the aaion at Niagara in 1759, being in the party of M. Aubry ; this officer had defeated a body of Engliih troops at Fort du

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X86 TRAVELS through hias defired to ferve him as a guide with his.waf- riors. They4eft 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 refinous combuf- tiblewood, 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- « lift dogs, or elfe you ftall be burnt or eaten." The foldiers, intimated by his threats, and be- ing without a commander, furrendered at dif- 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 vidim 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 or later. -M The

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LOUIS I A N A. ,87 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 tha't nation who treated their prifoners like dogs, only be- caufe they were our enemies, and becaufe they thought of making themfelves great with us *; swgnsi -nad;. From the village of the Koakias we arrived at the Peorias, 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 fticks, 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 paffage, and that they affemble in flocks every year like fparrows, ' _ * From a natural kind of antipathy between the two na- non., the French take every opportunity to deprefs the Eng- ' aRd t0 raife themfelves above them, fometimes at *e expence of trath. F.

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TRAVELS throvgh 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 tlie hut of the grand chief-, they brought me to a great hut, where the whole nation was affem- bled, on account of a party of their warriors, who had been beaten by the Foxes, their mortal enemies. I was well received by the Cacique and his firft warriors, who came one after another to fqueeze me by the hand in fign of friendfhip, faying, hau, hau ! which fignifies, ycu are wel- come, or I am glad to fee you. A young Indian or a flave, 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 calebaft full of the vegetable juice of the maple tree. The Indians extrad it in January, making a hole at the bottom of it, and apply a little tube to that. At the firft thaw, they

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LOUIS! ANA. they get a little barrel full of this juice, which they boil to a fyrup : and being boiled over again, it changes intb a reddifh fugar, looking like Ca- labriàn 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- tifms. Ât the end of thc feflion of this affembly; they brought a kind of bread which they catf Pliakmine, bears paws, and beavers tails; I likewife eat of the dog's flefh through complai- fance, for I have made it a fuie to conform oc- cafionally to the genius of the people, with whom am obliged to live, and to affed their man- ners, in order to gain their friendfhip: they likewife brought in a difh of boiled gruel, of maize flour, called Sagamité, fweetened with fy- rup ofthe maple tree ; it is an Indian difh which is tolerably good and refrefhing. At the end of the repaft, they ferved a defert of a kind of dry fruits which our Frenchmen call bluets, and which are as good as Corinth raifins ; they are very common in the Illinois country. Thç

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1GO TRAVELS through The next day I faw a great croud in the plain: this affembly was for making a dance in favour of their new Manitou ; the priefts were drefied ina 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 prieft 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 burft out, becaufe it would be reckoned a want of religion, and an indecent adion 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 mafter of the ceremo- nies begged me to go in ; I was not yet fuffici- ently acquainted with their cuftoms, and ftewed fome reludance, 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, ii , , i . i - . * Thefe animals are found at the Mifouris, their horns are of a fine black, and bent backwards.

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L O U I S I A N A. ^r 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 his 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 thofê 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 Sainte Barbe, which communicate to the rich mines of Santa Fern Mexico. The general affembly was called together on purpofe to invoke the protedion 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 Fetes, who were their moft cruel enemies, to gam a vidory over fome of their countrymen ; that they ought to quit him as foon as poffible, and

* The mafter of the ceremonies, or prieft, that is ap- pointed to guard the temple, before he made his offerings, «ranted his body with rofin; he then ftrewed 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 honouFSF the fair» -._.:_.. ° the falfe deity.

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Ï92. TRAVELS through and be revenged on him. They anfwered, tika- hbê, houé nigué, 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 : " Mon- " fter, arifen from the excrements of the evil «'fpirit, to be fatal to our nation, who has " wrongfully taken thee for her Manitou-, thou « haft paid no regard to the offerings which we " have made thee, and haft allowed our enemies, * whom thou doft plainly proted, to overcome " a party of our countrymen, and to make « them flaves : therefore our old men affembled «« in council have unanimoufly decreed and with « the advice of the chief of the white warriors, " that to expiate thy ingratitude towards us, «'thou fhalt be burnt alive." At the end of this fentence all the affembly faid, hoU, hou, hou, 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 â fmall prefent, and bid my interpreter tell him, that he fhould perfuade tiis countrymen, that if they burnt this evil ge- «ljus» there might arife one from his afhes which would

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L G U I S LA N A. m 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 monfter, without being mutilated, I inform- ed them that they muft deliver it to my people, who would ftrangle it ; 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 fliould carry it far from their country, It was accordingly ftrangled ; but having neither fpirits of wine nor brandy to pre- ferve it in, I was obliged to get ic diffeded, in order to be able to bring it to France, to fatisfy your curiofity in regard to fubjeds of natural hiftory *. I fhall finift this letter by another account of the fuperftition of thefe people, and of the divine fervice they give to horrid animals. In Vol. ï, Q 1756 The Skeleton of this monfter, or falfe divinity, is now in the natural hiftory cabinet of M. de Fayclles, clerk of the office of the American colonies belonging to .Be French.

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194 TRAVELS THRotjctt 1756 there arrived a deputation of Indians at Fort Chartres, of the nation of Miffouris * ; there was an old woman among them, who paffed for a magician ; fhe wore round her naked body, a living rattle fhake, whofe bite is mor- tal, if the remedy is not applied the moment after. This prieflefs of the devil, fpoke to the fer- pent, which feemed to underftand what fire faid : I fee, faid ihe, 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 Miffouris. If I had been inclined to be fuperftitious, I fhould have told you that I had feen the devil appear to thefe nations under the figure of a fhake. Many Miffionaries 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 Louifiana j on a ri- ver which bears their name, and falls into the Mifftfefpi..

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LOU I S I A N Â. i 95 You know befides, that all animals, even the moft ferocious, are tamed by man, I do not pre- tend to fay that the fnake of the pretended witch went into her country. All I cart 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 P'ean- guichias, a nation allied to the Illinois, one of our foldiers Was very near getting into a very bad fcrape. He went into an Indian hut and found a live fnake, which he killed with à hatchet, not knowing that the mafter of the hut had made his Manitou ' of it. The Indian arrived at the fame time in a terrible paffion to find his deity dead ; he afferted that it was the foul of his father, who died about a year be- fore -, he having fhot two ferpents which were pairing upon the point of a rock, fell fick and died foon after: The imagination of the old man being trou- bled by ihe height of the fever, he thought he faw the two frtakes coming to reproach him with their death ; he therefore recommended it to his fon in dying, never to kill any of thefe ani- O z mais*

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jcj6 TRAVELS through mais, 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 -f- 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- fpeded very much. I prefented the mafter 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 oifr foldiers.

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LOUISIANA. t9y Indians are exceffively 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 condud by acknow- ledging that they had loft 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- ped 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 if56. O 3 LET.

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iû8 TRAVELS through

LETTER X. To the fame. '» The Author leaves the Illinois.: His Navigation dow» the Mtffifippi : he encamps in an Ifland formed hy, that River. His Soldiers make him Governor of it. S I R, ÎÇMWU inquire, whether the Indians have ^y| captains amongft them, and whether ^t^'skiyi ^ltY a^ governed by a king ? The time I have (pent among them procures me the pleafure of fatisfying your curiofity on that head. You muft 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, pr Supreme Being ; thefe Caciques reign defporicaily, without making their. authority odious, and know how tp make them- felves

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L O U I S I A N A. 199 felves refpeded and beloved. They likewife have the fatisfadion of being, regarded by their fubjeds almoft 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 ail the pompous titles of the Grand Sfgnior 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 fliould be bold enough to attempt any thing againft their lives, lie. would be punifhed 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 feveral 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 4 cient

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*oo TRAVELS THROUGH cient to diftinguifh them from the reft, and ferva 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, muft of courfe have more ex- perience and knowledge. When I admired the countenance whjch 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 prifoners of war are always given to the oldeft people in the nation, who make them their flaves. The old warriors who cannot go to war any more, harangue the foldiers. The orator begins with ftriking againft the poft with a club, and mentions all the fine adions he has done in war, that is, how many fcalps he has taken from different nations. The hearers anfwer, hau, hau, i. e. that is true. The Indians abhor lying, arid fay that a liar is not a true man. The

page 201-225 216 0201

LOUISIANA. 281 The old fpeaker begins his difcourfe, and fays : " If I were younger and more vigorous, «' to condud you againft our enemies, as I have " formerly done, you fhould fee me go on the " tips of my toes. ' Go my comrades, as men " of courage, and with the heart of a lion * ; " 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. " 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- " tunity, ufe all your arrows on the enemy, and " after that break in upon them with your clubs " in hand ; ftrike, flay, and extirpate ; 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 offi- cers, who fmoke it, each after their rank ; and .all thofe who have not yet been to war come to fmoke * An hyperbole no Indian in America would make ufe of, next knowing that creature, which is not to be met with in $ a. country, f.

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?02 TRAVEL S THROUGH fmoke it, by way of enlifting themfelves ; they dance the dance of war, and, after that çeremo- ny, they diflribu.te dog's fiefh, which, as I have already obferved, is a difh principally appropri. ated to warriors *,

M. du Tiffenet told me of an accident that hap- pened to his father, who was one cf the firft offi- cers that came to Lmijiana with M. de Bienville, M. du Tiffenet being at an Indian nation, toge- ther with fome Frenchmen who came to barter goods ; the Indians wanted to fcalp .them -, M, du Tiffenet 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 incxpreffible, for M. du Tiffenet 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 luftratiot) 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.

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L O U I S I A N A. 203 an allianpe 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 ; he got a little pot, and put fome brandy in it, and fet 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 glafs, and let fire to a rotten tree by means of the fun. Thefe people really believed, that the officer had the power of burning their rivers and their woods; they careffed him, loaded him with pre- fents, and fent him home well efcorted, that no one might do him any harm. Since that time M. de Bienville has made ufe of M. du Tiffenet m feveral négociations towards making alliances with the Indians. M. du Tiffenet's 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, tq 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 Miffifippi, if he could have been with him in time ; hp likewife faved his life by a fingular Pxatagensj. Some Indians being willing to kill him,

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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 ftould do what they pleafed with him. Then, fixing a little mirror on his breaft, the Indians, who were much fuprifed to fee themfelves, 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. Aubri brought up : M. de Macarty trufted 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 Papéchangouhia took. I have made hafte to come to the capital before the thawing of the ice, which breaks loofe in the northern rivers, and follow», the current ; I ran the rifk of being ftopt by it, if I had not given orders for rowing as hard as poffible; I even made ufe of the Englifh prifoners to relieve my foldiers : as every one has an equal right to his life on fuch occafions, the officers likewife lent a helping hand, to encourage the crew. After

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LOUISIANA. 205 After paffing the rocks at Prudhomme*, there are no others in the Miffifippi -, and when there are feveral boats, they are faftened together, and go down with the current day and rright. 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 Mffifippi, 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 ihores of the Miffifippi, 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. *

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266 TRAVELS t_4rougï_ 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 of a tree, or- dered0 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, ftall acknowledge our commander «' as your governor, and obey him in all that he * he fhall command you for his fervice ;" one of the foldiers then fired the fwivels of the boats, which were accompanied with a general falute from the fmall arms. The Hidden ex- plofion of thefe fire arms, frightened the wild oxen, who went into the river in order to fwim through it and to gain the continent : the ft» - dierswent after them in a piragua and killed four of them, together with two roe-bucks that juft reached the fhore, and prefented them to me as my property, which obliged me to ftay here in order to dry the flefh for confumption,' - during * De par k Roit

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LOUISIANA. 207 during the remaining part of our voyage. In order- to take advantage of the fun of my foldiers, 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 of the animal, which was monftroufly fat ; as foon a3 he felt the wound, he wanted to come up tti me, but he was too heavy to run ; then feigning to run from him, I drew him towards my foit 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 aded as the king's attorney-ge- neral, gave it as his opinion, that in order noE to rum the fine coat of the beat, who had re- cited againft his mafter, he fhould only be foot in the head, which was pundually ex- ecuted. " He was then flayed, and I have taken his *"J. which is a very black one, and which I ail not relmquilh, any more than Hercules did that of the Nemean lion which he conquered.

The

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2o8 T R A V E L S through The foldiers melted the fat, and got above one hundred and twenty pots of oil from it* , you muft know that the bears come out of their holes as foon as the fruits begin to ripen, and they do not go in again till they are all eaten up. They then ftay in their retreats till the next fea- fon, and 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' fkins, and treat their friends with their paws and tongues ; they have often regaled me with them on my voyages, and I found them extremely good. . I dired this letter to Campeach, to M. de Ana- gory, the agent of the French marine, who will fend it to Cadiz, from whence it will come fafer to you than by our veffels, as Spain is not at war with England : 1 do not write duplicates of this letter, befides, I hope to fet out for Europe next April. I am, S I R, &c. &c. At New Orleans, the ztyh of February 1757. LET- * Bears oil is very good to eat, in Louifiana they make ufe of itforfallad, for frying, and for fauces, and prefer it to hog's lard. The pot holds about two quarts Englifli.

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LOUISIANA. 209

LETTER XI. To the Same. The Author fets out for Europe. He fights an Fnghflt Privateer. He embarks at Cape Fran- çois on a Veffel belonging to a Fleet of twenty-fix Merchantmen, which were almoft all taken in vJi \ irivateers- Tak^ °fa «m Veffel from the Enemy. Arrival at Brefi.

SIR, £**3 A V1N G found no veffel here to re- PJLïf £",*?mCe' IwaS °bliged t0 g° on UQtU board the brigantine Union fitted ouS Gat? f W3r' 3nd Commanded by captain ClnZ^t " Wdl kn°W Shaving taken Vol. I. We

225 0210

2IO TRAVELS THROUGH We fet fail'from the Balife on the firft of April 17 tn for Cape François. On the 20th of April befog in fight of Turk's ifland *, we per- ceived a fhip, which we fuppofed to belong to the enemy ; fhe chafed us at night, and be- in<r a prime failer, came up with us in three hours' time : the Englifh privateer faiuted m 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 fmall arms ; after which I haled him to ftrike his colours for the king of France, or elfe he fhould be funk ; the privateer finding that he had to meddle with a dealer in bullets, made off, and got among the rocks near Turk's ifland, hoping to draw us nearer to the ftore, 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 François on the firft 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 kino- had appointed governor and lieutenant-ge- 0 neral * L'ifle Turque.

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L O U I S I À N A. âtt neral on the ifle of St. Domingo. My firft care on going on ftore was to pay my refpeds 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 fhould have been at if I had flayed on this ifland, he procured me a free paffage at the king's expence, as a fleet of twenty-fix merchantmen were ready to fail for France, under the convoy of M. de Beauffremont, who brought them as far as the Cayques iflands, where he left them, in Order to proceed on his deftination according to the orders of the court. I 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 ftewn 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 : fte came to Breft in forty- five days, after taking an Englifh ftip ft the la- titude of the Newfoundland bank. I landed at Zreft the fifteenth of June 1757, and immedi- ately waited on the Count du Guai, commander « the marines in this port ; I then paid a vifit to P 2 M.

227 0212

212 TRAVELS THROUGH M. Hocquart, the counfellor of ftate and in- tendant of the marine in this department, whom I informed of the death of M. Auber-ville,, who had fucceeded for a time to M. Michael de la Rouvilliere, as commiffary general of the marine, and regulator of the provifions of* Louifiana. M. Hocquart 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, his fucceffor ; but if he has not brought back treafures from his adminiftratiotH he has at leaft the fatisfadion of paffing 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 ordeP M. Gaucher, clerk of the treafurer of the co- lonies to give me fome. He likewife offered me his table during my flay in this town, which I intend to leave the twenty-fecond of this month. You Ordonnateur.

228 0213

LOUISIANA. 2I3 You will, perhaps, be amazed to hear, that in the fpace of eight months, I have feen two winters, two fommers, and two fprings ; I ftall now explain it to you. I wrote to you, that I left the Illinois at the end of December, if à when the Miffifippi began to freeze, and defcend- ing that great river, I came to Me Orleans in January 1757, the climate of which is comparable to that of the Hierian iflands, where our regi- ment was in ,744. That is, it was the feafon of gardening or fpring. I left Louifiana the foft of April i757, and came to Cape Francois Wie firft of May, and found fummer there I embarked for Europe on the fourth, and after coming out of the Bahama Channels met with Jpnng; continuing our voyage to the great fands of Newfoundland, we faw on the twenty- ftcond at fon-rifing, a floating mountain of ice, which at firft we took to be a fail\ but the keen_a,r coming from it convinced us at odf "'n W£T P"" °f ke fr°m the froze» ocean. On the fifteenth of June i757, we therefore is « pretty extraordinary cafe. f am, S I R, &c. At Breft, the T8./. 6f June iyt)-j% LET-

229 0214

ii4 TRAVELS through LETTER XII. To the Same, The Author arrives at Court, receives a Gra^ tification from the King, and an Ord* to go to Rochefort. He embarks there for Louifiana, S I R, |«"®^AM now once more at Rochefort & I § f^m whence I failed for Louifiana, fi»3 eight years ago. I come from the court, where I prefented to the comptroller general and minifter of the marine, M. & 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. * la Porte, chief of F the

230 0215

L O U I S L A N A. 2i5 the board of plantations. He queftioned me on the prefent ftate of Louifiana. I allured 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 ofthe Eng- lifli attempting to attack it, on account of the difficulty of coming in through the mouth of the Miffifippi at the fort of Balife ; and that ihe colony 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 fhould take ; after which I re- ceived an order from his majefty to go back to Louifiana, and continue my fervices there; therefore I came hither without lofs of time in order to embark ; we intend to fet fail as foon as the convoy will be fitted out for Cape Breton. M. Druis Imbuto fucceeds M. Normant de as Intendant of the marine. The kins; P 4 could

231 0216

4i6 TRAVELS through could not choofe a better perfon both on ac, courat of his abilities, and of his integrity, and likewife on account of his zeal for the Ring's intered in this important place. This intendant made me the fame offer as his pre- deceflbr. I am, S I R, &c. At Rochefort, the xztk of September 1757. ¦ LET-

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LOUISIANA. 217 *s^H*a^s*G_^ LETTER : XIII. To the fame. The Author leaves Rochefort ; he meets with three Englifh 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.

S I R, H ¦^ Wrote to you from Rochefort, that we ( I yÇ intended to fet out in December 1757- *JF%lJ& but the convoy deftined to fuccour Cape Breton having in part been taken by the Englifh 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 Amis, that has retarded us till the month of May. This fquadron difappearing, we fet fail on the tenth of the fame month. I was

233 0218

ziB TRAVELS through I was on board the King's frigate La Fortune, together with M. de Rochemvre, cdmmiffary-ge- neralof the marine, and ordonnateur of the pro- vince of Louifiana. 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 coft us three cannon-ftot. 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 Bphvoufi, 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 Louifiana, keeping alongfide of Jamai- ca, to avoid thé great fhips of the enemy, which never come to thofe fhores : we took that courfe in order to deceive the fpy, and we arrived hap- pily at the mouth of the Miffifippi on the twelfth of Auguft. ¦ M. de Rochemore *, an honeft ordonnateur, who is very zealous for the intereft of the King, will have ______ - * The brother of a M. Rochmore who is now commodore.

234 0219

LOUISIANA. 219 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 difturbed in his adminiftration : what I forefaw really happened ; and by the farhe fhips which brought us hither, the court has been prejudiced againft 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 Allibamons, an Indian nation two hundred and fifty leagues from the capital. I take advantage of the op- portunity of the King's fhips, which will fail for France at the end of the year-, and I write to you by duplicates, that if one fhip be taken, you may get the letter by the other. When I fhalt be informed of the manners of the nations which I ftall pafs through, and which are fitua- ted to the eaft of New Orleans, I ftall defcribe that country to you, which is reckoned very fine and very good. fît New Orleans, the 10th ' cfNovember 1758, LET

235 0220

z_to TRAVELS through r3?«»-S3H_.3«ra» LETTER XIV The Author departs from New Orleans for the Allibamons. His Navigation on the Lake Pont- chàrtrain. Short Defcription of Mobile. S I R, KHi^ty Left New Orleans on the fourteenth of Sl! I *$ December, according to M. de Kerle- &t_&_s£:_X_ rec's orders, and fet out for the Alli- bamons. I failed from the little creek of St. Jean, which is fituated in the lake Pontchartrain. 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 x ¦¦ . ...... i... * JBayouc, a fmall inlet where the tide goes up.

236 0221

LOUISIANA. 22r at the bay and fort of Mobile, which is fifty leagues diftant from the capital; > : The Mobile was formerly the chief fettlement in Loufiana, 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- filling 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 Chaffdiss, the other is more confi- derable 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-

237 0222

222 TRAVEL S through fur-trade with the Indians, the officers carry it 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 $ ; the latter is very fine, and very good for inlaid work ; its fmell expels infeds, 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 abound with a gum like tur- pentine. There are likewife cypreffes § of fuch a fize, that the Indians make piraguas out of one piece, which can contain fixty men. Before the French came into Louifiana, the Indians conftruded their boats in the following manner. * The bays are probably the Laurus jli-vaïis Linn, which have white flowers; and the Laurus Barbonia Linn, which has 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 Virginiana, Canadenfis, and Lufitanica, Linn. % The red cedar is the Juniperus Virginiana Linn, and the White cedar is the Cupreffus Thyoides Linn. § Or cedars.

238 0223

LOUISIANA. 22. manner. They went to the banks of fome 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 feraped away the live coals with a flint, or an arrow ; and having fuffi- ciently hollowed it out, they fet it afloat. They are very well fkilled in conduding thefe little veffels 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 flint, or pebble as fharp as a razor, and they put a ftone cut in form of a hatchet into the incifion ; therefore, as the tree grew up, it enchafed the ftone, 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

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224 TRAVELS through As to their inftruments of agriculture, they only made ufe ofthe bones of animals, or of fpades of a very hard wood. The ground throughout 4fmerica 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, piftachios, and water-melons ; gourds are likewife very common there, and the French inhabitants call them gi~ romonds. Their kitchen-utenftls were difhes and pots of earthen ware, and deep wooden difhes. They made cups of calebaftes, and lpoons * of the horns of wild oxen, which they cut through the middle, and form into the proper fhape by means of fire. As foon as we ftall have got ready the provi- fions for our voyage, and for the garrifon of the fort, we ftall fet out, M. Aubert and myfelf in a boat armed with foldiers and Mobile Indians, whom Which they call Micouens.

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LOUISIANA. 2 24' 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.Je Kerle- rec, to command Fort Touloufe at the Allibamons, i 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. If any fhips arrive from Europe, I ftall per- haps receive letters from you. M. de Velle, who commands here, will be fo kind as to fend them to me with the firft convoy. I am, SIR, &c. At Mobile, the 6th of January 1759.

Vol. I. Q. Let-

page 226-275 241 0226

22 6 TRAVELS throuch

¦ ¦

LETTER XV. To the fame. The Author fets cut from Mobile for the AUiba- mons. Defcription of the Manners.of this Na- tion. Their Way of punifhing Adultery. S I R, FÇ)^}^ AM at laft arrived at Fort Touloufe | I | among the Allibawons. I have been IfcW^âà fifty days a-coming ; becaufe, taking boat in the rainy feafon, the water in the river was often fwelled to twelve or fifteen feet f 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 againft the rapidity of the current, and there were days during which we fcarcely advanced a - league.

242 0227

LOUISIANA. 22' 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 along the fhores. One day I had the misfortune to fee my boat hemmed in by the branches of à 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 horfeback, by croffing the fir-woods, which Q:-* ar * 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 ofthe country, and be£de_ this its climate is one of the moft healthy.

243 0228

228 TRAVELS through are very thin. M. de Montberaut is to give him- up the command of this poft by order of the governor, after having inftruded him during 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 fpeeches 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 ; and was fucceed- ed by M. -fuhert, the brother of Father Aubert, a Jefuit miffionary in Louifiana. M. Montberaut is a declared enemy to thefe miffionaries. Whilft Father Le 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 ftewed 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 fufpeding his letter to be in the officer's hand, affured him by all that was facred he had not. Then M. Montberaut * He is. the brother of the Count de Montant, who be- longed to the houfehbld, of the Dauphin.

244 0229

' ' I LOUISIANA. 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 ; and fince that time there were no Jefuits among the Allibamons. ¦ Whilft I am here going to fpeak of the Alli- bamons, I ftall have an opportunity to treat like- wife ofthe Tafkikis, theOftajhepas, the Tonicas, the Kawuytas, the Abekas, theTalapoaflias, the Conflia- kis, and the Pakanas, 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-ftaped 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 charader, and for the Greater part beautiful, but they come to receive vou at the landing-place, ftaking 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 fpent on the toad; what ftay you intend to make among them, whether you have a wife and children * ~~>~ -________ ______iey * The politenefs ofthe Indians goes even fo far as to offer the Europeans their girls, and for that purpofe the chiefs . Q~3 ' fpeak

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a3o 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 *. They likewife ferve up bread made of the flour of the fame corn, baked in hot afhes, roafted young turkies, broiled venifon, pan- cakes baked with nut-oil, chefnuts when in fea- fon, boiled with bears greafe or oil, roebucks tongues, together with hen and turtle f eggs. The foil of Louifiana refembks, in the lower parts of the colony, that of Egypt after the Nile has overflown the country ; 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 fdolifh, love the mailer of life; 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 lhall get wit like the?!), and be refpe-Jted by our enemies, f T^îs is called Sagamité. -} Sea-tortoife:

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LOUISIANA. 231 are fo delicious, that they are given to the fick to quench their thirft during the burning fits of the fever. Potatoes are plentiful here ; 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 objedion 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 muft 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 ; and if they have any children, he takes the boys, and the wife the girls ; fte muft remain a widow for one year ; but he can marry again immediately. Q^4 He

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23 ? TRAVELS through He can likewife take his wife again, therefore flie muft not enter on a fecond marriage till a whole year be paft. The marriage of the Indians js quite fimple,. as I have already obferved ; the mutual confent. of the parties is the only tie which joins them. The future hufband makes fome prefents of furs and viduals in the hut of his bride's father ; if they be received, afeftival is made, to which the whole village is invited ; after the meal, the ex- ploits of the new hufband's anceftors are fung, and a dance enfues. The next day one of the oldeft men in the village prefents the bride to the relations of her hufband ; 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 on that fide, and accordingly of their having their mother's blood in their veins ; but that claiming their defcent from the men was uncertain. The great warriors and the beft huntfmen cliufe the prettied girls ; the others have only their refufe,. »-;.h! all the: ugly ones left. The girls, know- ing that they cannot be miftreffes of. their hearts after they are married, know how to difpofe of 'vhem to the greateft advantage : for when once lliey have a hufband, all coquetry mull ceafe; thev

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LOUISIANA. 233 they muft apply themfelves to their duties in their houfes, fuch as preparing their hufbands meals, dreffing the fkins, making ftoes, fpin- ning the wool of the wild oxen, and making little bafkets in which they are very well fkilled and induftrious. The manner of punifhing the infidelity of their wives is as follows : the hufband muft firft be perfedly convinced of his wife's mifbehaviour by his own eyes, and then fte is watched by his relations and her own. The hufband is then no longer allowed to keep his wife, though he fhould 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 expofe themfeves to be fined ; but there are hardly ever any abfent : in the midft of the dance the guilty woman is extended on the floor, and beaten on the back and ftomach without mercy, and her feducer undergoes the fame ceremony. When

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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 fte has done wrong to ad as fhe had dohe with him, that he'had let her want for no- thing, but that fince fhe had however tranfgref- fed, fte 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 muft 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 ftick 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 fnatch away the fticks. Phyfic, * The Indian women have long hair in tre-Tes.

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LOUISIANA. 235 Phyfic, war, hunting and fifhing 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 ; 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 muft on this occafion prove that they are true men, by uttering no complaints *. When the harangue is. finifhed, the chief fca- rifies their thighs, breaft and back, in order to ufe them to pain, and he then gives them great blows with leather ftraps-f. 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 pofterity. t Thefe leather ftraps are of the breadth of three fingers. The Indians ufe them for carrying their bundles when they fef out on a.journey,

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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 ; 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 nien ; they regulate their condud by their advice, for they undertake nothing with-

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LOUISIANA. 237 without their confent. They likewife take great care of the old men, and I have feen their chiefs on their return from a hunting party, before they fhared the game, lay afide the ftare of the old people, which is likewife appropriated to the ufe of widows and orphans, - hofe 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 in 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 againft theEng- Mh 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 ftrength and fuu- » of the colony, and buy up all the furs they can get. ^»ne allowance muft be made for national prejudice and Trench pertnefs. F.

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238 TRAVELS through added, that in his country they fpoke to their enemies with the club in their hands, as foon as ychct is dug up; a phrafc which denotes, ody ought to have any commerce or cor- ndence with the enemy, diredly or in- diredly, under any pretence whatfoever, after war is declared, unlefs he wili 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 friendfhip and good underftanding 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 whtt , ground; which is a metaphorical expreffion which means the ground of peace. The cacique I mentioned before, is called Tamathlemingo, and he is very warm in the French intereft. I know that he has foornfuUy rejeded the prefents which fome Englifhmen would have loaded him with, and he had a great mind to break their heads-for making him fttfjj a propofuion. He wears a fovet medal fattened * round

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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 ftewn 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 effed upon thefe people; thus they were greatly moved when I pulled off my fhirt and gave it them in the name of their father, telling them that he pitied them, becaufe he knew by means of the fpeaking fub- ftanee* that his children were naked. Thefe nations have no idea of the political fyftems 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 J: a long and fe"Ous conference with one Allexi Mingo, who is a juggler and likewife the chief of a diftrid among them, and pretends to have been Paper, or letter*.

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24o TRAVELS through been abufed by fome Spanifli 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 Englifh, whom they re- ceived into their ports, though at that time, they were our enemies. I anfwered this difcourfe of the Cacique in exprefs terms and fuch as were moft 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 fpoke to him in a manner analogous to the genius and charader 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

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LOUISIANA. _.4_ fide of the great falt-water lake, 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, ahd accordingly, I muft fay, I difapprove very much of thy bold defign. I fairly declare to thee, that if thou perfifteft in it, thou canft do ho better than to begin with breaking my head. The Ca- cique anfwered, " Thy blood is as dear to me M as my own ; befides, the French hâve never done " me any harm, and I am ready to give my " life for them ; thou canft affure our father of " that. Oh that I had the fpeaking fubftanee " which thou haft; to let him know my words, " but no, 1 rather wifh I had a hundred mouths " which he might hear f» " - After this proteftation of friendfhip he gave 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 ; and as a ratification I gave him a bot- tle Vol. I. R The Indians call their allies brothers. t Some time after the author's departure, the Indians of tiiek parts maffacred feveral Englifhmen, that were come within two leagues of fort Touloufe, where M. de Grand-Mai- M then commanded, who is now Major of the troops at Neiv Orleans.

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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 friendfhip, which is cuftpmary among them. I wifhed, however, to perfuade this Cacique, who was piqued at the.Spaniards, who receive Englifh veffels at Penfacola, becaufe they are at peace : for he faid they came to inform them- felves of the fituation and ftrehgth of thefe coafts. By way of appeafing the Indian, 1 told him, that the governor daily waited for the arrival of a great piragua*, which fhould bring him fome of the fpeaking fubftanee, wherein the great chief of the Spaniards fhould order him to dig up the hatchet of war, and" to lift up his club againft the Englifli. This An European Hup.

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LOUISIANA. 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 their 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 Spaniard's, had difavowed all the mifchief which his generals had done in thefe climates, as being' contrary to his intentions.

R 2 I told : HlftoI7 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 fire, becaufe they were armed with guns and piftols : they aid, that the cannon was thunder, and that it caufed the earth to tremble, by killing people at a great diftance.

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244 TRAVELS through 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 defeended from Atahualipa. Don Francis, after foch an execution, «pedted to be raifed to the greateft dignities o_ 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 harfh 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 affift 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 Hoolahl, 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 « fayeft, fo angry at the viceroy, on account " of the cruelties which he had com- « mitted againft his will, why did he not put » him

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L O U I S I A N A. 245 «* him in the frame * ? or why did he not cut off "his head, and fend it back to Peru? This " example of feverity and juftice would in part " have fatisfied the people whom this general " had ill-treated, by hanging on a gibbet, like " a thief, the heir of a great empire, who de- " pended only from the Lord cf life, or the Su- " preme Being. Thus we red men, whom the " Europeans call favages and barbarians would " ad cowards the wicked and the murderers, " who ought to be treated like the fierceft beafts " of the foreft." I again replied to 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 abfolute, and " that when they drive from their prefence their " generals or warriors, who have abufed their fub- " jeds without caufe, this affront is much more : fenfibly felt by thofe proud chiefs, who are " hated by the Great Spirit, or by God, on ac- " count of their mifdeeds, than the punifhment bn* R 3 « of __________________-_-_ ___________________ JncjODDs no . " ~~~" .rm\>y PHn!(nment which the Indians adjudge to thofe that nave committed cruelties, and are taken at war : they are put into a kind of frame, compofed of two polls, and a pole laid acrofs them, and burnt alive.

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246 TRAVELS through f of the frame, or a hundred blows with the " club upon thc head, would be by a red If man." ¦ At laft I fucceeded in foftening the ha- tred which thefe people had conceived againft the Spaniards, and I imagine every hoftile inten- tion is foppreffed now ; for my explication was very fatisfadory 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 thc quarrels between two Indians ; I told them that they ought to live together as good bro- thers, forget the paft, 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 them, 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 ; whim pleafed the women very much, who have nothing s,yjld about them, but the name which people give

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LOUISIANA. 247 o-ive 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 deftroy. What I have ftill to fay of this nation is fo ample, that I am obliged to divide it; I ftall, therefore referve their mourning and their fune- ral cuftoms for another letter. I am, SIR, &c. &c, Among the Allibamons the zZth of April 1759. R 4 LET-

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*4$ ï RAVELS THROUGH

LETT Th //.£ _/2.»._¦. E

R XVL ¦ Mourning and Manner of burying the Dead among the Allibamons ; Juftice done to the Chevalier d'Er- neville, for a Soldier killed by a young Indian . their Religion ; their Means of catching the Ros- '¦ buck and. the wild Turkies. ¦ ¦ ¦in lforf! %~%Mf^i H E day before yefterday I received ^ T f£ one of your letters, which informs me ^3k%l thaÇ y°u are i" good health, 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 ; I ftall now proceed to deforibe their mourning. When a grand chief of the nation dies, this mourning confifts in not wafting nor combing themfelves ; the men daub their whole body with foot, mixed up SIR,

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LOU I SI A N A. 249 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 Allibamons drink the Cafflne * ; this is the leaf of a little tree, which is very fhady ; the leaf is about the fize of a farthing, but den- tated on its margins. They toaft thefe leaves 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 ont of: whilft you drink they howl as loud as- they can, and diminift the found gradually-, when you have ceafed drinking, they take their breath, and when you drink again, they Jet up their howls again. Thefe forts of orgies fome- times laft from fix in the morning to two o'clock _ in This is the Prinos glaber of Linnaeus. Sp. pi. p. 471. and Cajfena -vera Fkriddnorum. Catelby's Carol. 2. t. 57. '

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250 TRAVELS 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. Llowever the Chevalier d'Erneville, fays that he faw a wo- man, who was the grand chief's wife, go in, becaufe flie was a female warrior, and had a quick, penetrating mind. Her opinion fome- times prevailed in the conclufion of treaties. The Allibaawns 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 laft accident happened whilft the Chevalier d'Er- neville commanded the fort at the AUibamons; 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

page 276-300 266 0251

LOUISIANA. 251 valier d'Ernville did not put up with this excufo ; 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 thc 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 laftly 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 fieep fince 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, conduded by a young chief of the war- riors. He went immediately with his men to the murderer's mother, and told her that fince her fon was npt to. be found, flie muft die in his ftead.

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H 2 TRAVELS THROUGH ftead. The poor woman fuffered herfelf to be led away, and was all in tears ; 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-laiv dies through courage, as flie has not " ftruck the blow." He propofed they fhould wait whilft he went to fetch the murderer ; he adually brought him into the affembly, where the Chevalier d'Erncville was, and faid, See, there is the guilty man, do what you pleafe with him. The officer anfwered, that they ought to do him juftice ; and they immediately killed him-p.

- Juftice * 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 muft be killed again, unlefs it be by accident, as in a drunkennefs, in a fit of madnefs, or i* their exercifes, f The relation of this ftory, is by no means favourable, to the French. They afted upon a barbarous and cruel principle, by bringing the mother of the guilty man ro a punifhment which Ihe did not deferve ; and had not her fon on this occafion preferred filial duty to felf-prefervation, tlie French Chevalier would have committed an inhuman atlion, by infliaing death on an innocent perfon. The In- dians

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LOUISIANA. *5S juftice being thus done, the chief harangued the young people, and recommended it very ftrongly to them, to keep their hands from the French, dkns aft 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 ideas, 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 whule nation as a body of brethren, and a fingle family, they are, therefore, of opi- nion that all the Europeans muft be anfwerable for the death of one of their brethren. But as the Europeans boaft to be civilized, inftruaed and Chriftians, they ought to act ac- cording to the principles of their religion, the knowledge and inftntaiôa they erijoy, and their own conftitution ; all thefe oblige them to fhew the Indians, by their example, the fuperiority of their religion, knowledge and conftitution ; make them fenfible, that if they afted like Indians they would commit an open injuftice ; and to enforce the return of fuch aaions in fimilar cafes. The Europeans inftead of in* falling principles of humanity into the minds of the poor Indians, very frequently fcalidalize them by their uncharita- ble and barbarous manners ; and thus the high refinements of our manners, our boafted civilization, our pride, founded upon the fuperiority of our knowledge, and that real great advantage of being inftruaed in a religion founded upon reafqri and charity, inftead of bringing our immortal minds to that pitch of excellence they are capable of, according tc/ the true intention of thefe advantages, prove only our deep corruption, and the wilful depravity of our hearts, and.. Sirvayfay, the barbarity of our manners. F>

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254 TRAVELS THROUGH

French; and added, that as often as they fhould lofe their fenfes and kill our people, they would do us the fame juftice again. The Chevalier iErnsviile held a fpeech to the affembly in his turn, and made the nation a pre- fent which the governor had fent 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 amnefty; afterwards they drank the Caffine, ' which is the potion of the white word, i. e. the potion of ob- livion and peace. Since that time this nation has never_ offended us. The Allibamons offered, in 1714, to build upon their ground, and at their expence; a fort, which was afterwards called Fort Touloufe, and they introduced the French into' it. til. de Bien- ville, who was then governor, went to take pof- feffion of it in the King's name*. They _________________ . ______________;_____________,i .,- ........ ¦¦¦¦¦ ,i»- * This governor is in fuch great efteem with them, that 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 deaf 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 thef were highly pleafed.

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LOUISIANA. 255 They never would permit the Englifh 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 upon the Mafter of life, or the Great Spi- rit.

The Allibamojis 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 difregard the Ma - " fter of life.; 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 " with

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256 TRAVELS through " with the Europeans, who will bring us what " 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 miffive letters with admiration. When they are trufted with letters, they bring them very exadly to the per- fons they are direded to ; and though it fhould rain ever fo hard, and they had a great many rivers to pafs, thofe letters are never wetted. The Allibamons trade with the French, Englifh, 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^ bie, they always remember the wrong which is done to them. Thofe whom I fpeak of here acknowledge a Supreme Being, whom they call Soulbieche. I afked them what they thought of the other world ; and they anfwered, that if they have not taken another man'-s wife, or if they have not robbed nor killed any one during their life,

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LOUISIANA. 257 they ftall go after their death into a very fertile country, where they ftall want neither wives nor proper places for hunting, and that every thing will be eafy to them there ; but that on the contrary, if they have behaved themfelves fool- iihly, 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- fture ; in order to juflify this cuftom they fay, that man is upright, arid has his head turned to- wards heaven, which is to be his habitation. They give to them a calumet, and fome tobacco to fmoke, that they may make peace with the inhabitants of the other world. If the corpfe be df a warrior, he is buried with his arms, which are a mufket, 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 themfelves in the other world. Vol. L S When * The young Indians are never without a little hatchet or » mirror hung on their wrift.

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I 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 prifoners, and deftined to be burnt ; on fuch an occafion an Indian fays : " 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 : " Thou art at liberty to go away ; but remem- " ber, that if thou art killed, the nation ftall ". difowh thee ; we ftall not weep for thee, nor " avenge thy death." So irregular a life is pu- nifhed 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.

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LOUIS t A N A. *59 The Indians generally fet out a hunting to- wards the end of Odober. The AlUbamons 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 fow- ing their corn-grounds. They bring back many furs, and a great quantity of dried flefh, Wheri 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 Angular 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 2 titude, rapes occafion the wars among the different tribes ; for they fight not for land, having more of that than they can culti- 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 cliiéf.

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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 fure to kill them.

There are Indians who, by means of this ffra- tagem, have deftroyed four hundred roe-deër in bne winter's hunting. They employ very nigh thé fame trick to get the wild turkies in the Woods; fome of them put the fkins of thefe birds on their ftoulders, 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 whilfl there are any turkies on a tree, thev continue to ftoot them with great dexterity; thefe birds are commonly foolifh enough to ex- ped 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 fifher- 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-ftine, ftarpen ohe end like a dart, and faft

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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 ftoot 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 Allibamons, I fhould 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 firftlings of their fruit: they finifh the day in religious dances. This nation has likewife jugglers or quacks ; I ftall relate to you a very droll adventure which happened to me with one of them. As I was going up the ûvex of Allibamons, 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 thing, he thought he would intimidate S 3 me,

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2Ô2 TRAVELS THROUGH me, by telling mc he was a magician, and would praclife phyfic * 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 aftonifted my adverfary. This pretended magician told me to fhew him the effeds of my art ; I anfwered, that he ought to begin, but he replied that I fliould do it be- ing a ftranger ; at laft, after many debates, I began to make ridiculous geflures, and looked into a book which the juggler underftood no- thing of; 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 fkin of a tyger-cat, the flefh and bones of which had been extraded through an incifion in the neck ; I gave this fkin to the Indian quack, telling him to reftore 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 fhall per- form it. I muft * This is an expreffion which the Indians make ufe of, de- moting the application of their flight-of-hand tricks, and grimaces intended for to make their countrymen believe that çhey are magicians or conjurors.

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L O U I S I A N A. 263 Lmuft previoufly inform you, that, in my laft voyage, I brought with me from France enamelled eyes, which perfedly imitated the natural eyes; a thing which the Indians here had never feen ; I faftened 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 inftruded 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 dodor 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 Indi ans 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 fpedators, 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 ¦ai)d the glafs-eyes, then preffing the teeth in the S 4 cat's

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2É>4 T RAVELS THROUGH cat's head againft my ftomach, I cried out as if the creature had bit me, flinging it on the ground immediately; the foldier whom I had armed with a club, ftrikes at the revived tyger-cat, in order to kill it for having revolted againft its mafter, and for having been willing to attack red me:% 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 mafter. in the art, and he an ignorant fellow *. All the fa- vages ¦ '* The Indians repoi'e a great confidence in their doaors ; the juggler's hut is covered with furs, with which he covers and drefiès himfelf. He goes in quite naked, and begins with pronouncing fome words which no body underftands'; they are, as he fays, to invoke the Spirit; after that he riles, cries, agitates himfelf, appears quite frantic, and gets intç a profound fweat f. The hut (hakes, and the fpeaators believe it is done through the prefence of the Spirit ; the language which he (peaks on this occafion, has nothing iu common with the or- ¦_!-.-ary Indian language ; it is nothing but the ravings of a hoi

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L O U I S I A N A. 265 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 moft cun- ning people have ajways deceived the reft. t The heathen nations in the Ruffian empire have exaaiy fuch jugglers or conjurors as are here defcribed. In the go- vernment oîÇazan are the Tcheremifss, the Tchwwafhes, and the Wotiahs, three nations ; the firft of which call their con- jurors MufJian, the fecond Yommas or Yymmas, and the third Tona or Tuno ; they are of both fexes, and make the fame grimaces as thefe American jugglers. In Siberia the Tun- guft, the Yakut i, and the By rati, call their conjurors Sha- mqns, and they perform the faîne tricks, and make many antic geftures at their pretended conjurations. Their drefj; is on thefe occafions likewife very remarkable, fometimes ornamented with the fangs and talons of beafts and birds of prey, fometimes hung with fuch 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 ftriking is thé Kkenefs between the favâge inhabitants of North America, and fflg ftivage Nomadic nations of the north-eaft parts of Afia, Some more hints of this fimilarity are pointed out in a note to Kalm's Travels into North America, vol. III. J>. 126. F,

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£é6 TRAVELS THROUGH not do it over again, left fome one of them fhould be devoured by the revived creature, and the better to convince them, I ftewed them the marks of the animal's teeth on my ftomach. 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 ftate, 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 dodor ; 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 I had been bitten I had abjurated the office of a magician, and that I knew no other phyfi- cian than the Mafter 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 brothers. The

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LOUISIANA. 267 The pretended refurredion of my tyger-cat, however, gave me great reputation among the quacks or jugglers of this country, and even among thofe of Spanifh Florida, whofe natural curiofity led them to pay me a vifit ; they join- ed the Allibamons dodors, 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 poft * ; 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 dodors 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 governor to divide it among them. I further told them, that as Î was glad to get acquainted with them, and to converfe with them, * The Indian manner of fwearing is^-o ftrike againft a poft with a club,

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them, I wifhed they would tell me their proper names. As thefe people are neither baptifed nor circumcifed, they commonly take t hename of fome animal, fuch as bear, v/olf, fox, &c. The gravity which I affeded, in order to com- mand the refped of thefe Indian dodors, made them afk me, whether I wrote their names in or- der to give an account of them to their father, by means ofthe fpeaking paper? to which I anfwered, that it was for that very purpofe. 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 ftoulder of the ji^ggler, and with a little rod ftruck him as many times as there were letters in his name ; I being within eafily guefied what man my foldier laid his hands upon ; and fo on with all the reft. They could not comprehend how I could guefs fp well with- out feeing them, and they owned that it went beyond their imagination, The

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LOUISIANA. 269 /The Sieur Godeau, chief furgeon and keeper of the magazine at the fort of AUibamons, had al- ready before me pradifed phyfic 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 wifhed 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; they could never-do it, for it rolled away on all fides ; the aftonifted favages called it a fpirit which divided itfelf into feveral parts, which being collected together formed only one' body ; but their aftoniftment was much greater when the Sieur Godeau took up all the mercury 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- fortis upon it, which diffolved it, and made li difappear entirely ; fince that time the Indians have revered him as a great dodor. M.de Montberaut has put the command of the fort of the AUibamons into the hands of M. Au- bert, 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 refped, that being thefenior officer of that gentleman, I could 110° ftand O

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2 JO TRAVELS THROUGH o ftand here under his orders-; that he might not be further obliged to do any fervices foreign to his fundion *, the King's order concerning that particular being very explicit ; that as our infti- tution is founded upon honour, I fhould 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 was 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 fhould beg him to recall me to New Orleans, that I might feize the firft opportunity of fetting out for Europe, where I fhould have the pleafure of affuring you that I am, SIR, &c. Jt the AUibamons, the zd of May 17 $9. P.S. I * I muft, however, do M. Aubert juftice; he has had the Command of the fort at the AUibamons to my prejudice, but I muft praife the regard he has had for me, in offering to divide the authority, and jo live upon the footing of à friend with rae.

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LOUISIANA. zn P. S. I have forgot to mention to you a vifit which the emperor of the Kawytas has. paid ua fome time after M. de Montberaut's 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 horfe, with an Englifh faddle, and with a houfing of a, tyger's fkin f. This emperor marched gravely at the head of his attendants ; I could hardly keep from laugh- ing, on feeing tall, well made naked me% painted with all kinds of colours, follow each other in a file, according to their rank, like fo many Capuchin friars. O The Indian prince appeared enraptured with the honours that were ftewn him; he had never * The Indians are without compliments and cérémonies.» they laugh at our bows, or method of faluting with the body bent,. and the foot advanced forwards or retreated haekwards.

t American leopard.

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Q

"o 272 TRAVELS THROUGH never feen cannons; mufkets. and called them great He Wore oh his head a creft of black plumes % his coat was fcarlet, with Englifh cuffs on it, and befet with tinfel lace ; he had neither waift- coat nor breeches, but only an apron made of a bit of fcarlet cloth, which was 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 with a kind of bufkins, 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. Aubert, who told him after the firft compliments were over, that he fhould go to reft>_ it being the cuftom among the Indians, not to fpeak of political affairs till the next day, in or. der to have time to make refledions. The Sieur Laubéne, the king's interpreter, tranflated the difcourfe of the regent, who like- wife aded 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 them,

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LOUISIANA* 2 73 the fon had always been willing to come to fee them, in order to renew the friendfhip, which had never ceafed to exift between his nation and ours, and to fmoke the .fame calumet with them. It is true, his predeceffor 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 AUibamons to acknowledge the emperor as their grand chief; but they refufed it faying, that it was quite fufficient that every village was fobjeded 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 dodor 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. I. T dreffed

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274 TRAVELS throuch dreffed as Adam was in the terrcftrial para- dife *. This young prince had a noble fhape, and a handfome appearance; he was fprightly 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. o M. Aubert likewife 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, eaftward of Mobile ; thefe people have never been conquered by the Spaniards, who are become their declared enemies. The empe- ror always dined at M. Aaberfs table, with his regent. The others had not the fame honour done K> -'¦ The coat which the emperor had on when he arrived at the AUibamons, 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 die French.

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LOUIS I A N A. 271 done them, in order to infpire them with a greater regard for the French officers. I muft tell you, that the fon of that noble Kawytas whom the French had honoured with the pohr- pous title of emperor, was very much at a lofs the firft time he dined with us ; 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 repaft we had a little farce with the hired fervant of the Ernpe^ ror, who flood behind his Indian majefty 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 relift fo much ; as this officer fpeaks the language of tha nation, having lived forty years amotig them, he anfwered, that the French were by no means covetous of what they poffeffed ; the Indian immediately took a fpoonful of muftard, which being very ftrong, forced him to make many ridiculous contortions, which made his mafter burft out laughing -, his fervant was far from T 2 laughing

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276 T R A V E L S through laughing -, for he thought he was poifoned ; 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 Kawytas are very referved towards ftrangers in matters of religion ; they never fpeak in public till they have refleded fuffici- ently on what they are going to fay. Thefe people annually hold a general affembly 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 fervices he has done his counjtry. The grand chief of the tribe opens thefeffion by a fpeech, which concerns the hiftory or tra- dition of their country ; he tells the military ex- ploits of his anceftors, who have diftinguifted themfelves in defence of their country, exhort- ing his fubjeds to imitate their virtues, in fup- porting the wants and miferies of human life with » The Indians difapprove ofthe European habit cf fpeak- ing all together in an affembly.

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LOUISIANA. 2,77 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 liye as a vile flave. The chief having ceafed fpeaking, the oldeft 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 adion and declamation throws him into ; his geftures 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 affemblies ; 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. T 3 L E T-

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>78 TRAVELS throug IT LETTER XVII. To the fame. Thc Author leaves the AUibamons, His Naviga- tion in the River of Tombekbé. How he ef- capes the vcracioufnefs of an Alligator, He meets with a Party of revolted Chadaws, and brings them to thdr Duty again. He returns to Mobile. X) SIR, fÇ^^H NSTEAD of an anfwer to ihe letter w I H which I had wrote to the governor, I Jl)ï<)xSl received an order at the AUibamons to ço to Mobile, and ferve there under the orders of M. de Velle, the king's lieutenant in that place ; thus in ftead of going to France as I had told you, I have got orders to command a con- yoy of provifions and ammunition to the fort Tkwfi

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LOUISIANA. 79 Tombekbe, which is fituated on a river ofthe fame name, this ftation is about ten lègues from the nation of Chaflaws, I have followed my inftruc- tions with the greateft exadnefs, and to the en- tire fatisfadion of my foperiors ; 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 junc- ture of two rivers which fall into the Mobile, viz. the river of AUibamons and the river Tom- bekbe; I entered into the laft 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 fifhing there- abouts, made me a prefent of a barbel, a fift 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 T 4 upon

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*8o TRAVELS THROUGH upon a kind of plat-form covered with green fods, which overlooked the river, thinking that place the moft convenient for retting : 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 was" near colling very dear to me as you ftall fee. I had put my fiih at my feet, left it fhould be flolen ; 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 affure you I never Was more fright- ened, and I believe that a thing of lefs confé- quence will often have the fame effed*, 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 * ; he was come * His fize frightened me, and I was likewife infe&ed with tn< bad fmell of rnufk which that animal carries with it.

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LOUISIANA. 281 come out of the river in the calm of night, and voracious as thefe creatures are, being attraded 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 Collapijfas 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 ftarpens it at both ends ; he takes hold of it in the middle, and fwim s 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 v/ood, and the alligator pierces both his jaws through with it, can neither open nor fhut his mouth again, and is brought on ftore, by the Indian ; they often take this diverfion -, and.

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282 TRAVELS through and the negroes of Guinea or of Senegal ào the fame. After going up about fixty leagues between forefts 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 head 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 Chaflaws, going to the Englifh; I exhorted them to return; they croffed the river in a place, called in their lan- guage Tafkalouffas, which fignifies the white mountain f ; their chief, whofe name is Mingo Hoivmcs, had the infolence 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 a kind of marie or cl-dk v. hich would be of great value in Europe.

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LOUISIANA. _83 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, who were but fow, 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 réfoïution -, 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 paft, 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 fhould 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 ChaSlaws, chil- dren of the grand chief of the French. To convince them that I would forget the paft, I told them that the fire would be produced of itfelf. In * That is, devoted myfelf to die for my country.

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284 TRAVELS 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 fky in pronouncing fome words addreffed to the Great Spirit ; 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 thefe 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 ftook hands with me, and went back to their village. They told me, they were afhamed of their foolifh condud, and we feparated, fatisfied with each other. Some time after this adventure, the rains were fo frequent, that they fwelled the water in the river very much, As I had difpatched an Indian to M. de Cha- rt, governor of Fort TombekU, he fent me a detachment

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LOUISIANA. 285 detachment commanded by M. de Cabaret, a ve- ry fkilful 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- guift 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 ^uêne ; he was maffacred with his 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 adion. At laft I happily arrived at Fort Tombekbé on the 25th of September, after going a hundred leagues by water, without feeing a fingle habita- tion. Every night we are obliged to camp in the ' woods

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2b( TRAVELS through woods upon the banks of the river ; but the greateft inconvenience are the Mufkitoes or Ma- ringoins, a kind of gnats which are infupportable m-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 ate done in-the fame manner by wa- ter.

After going on fhore to camp, the command- ing officer fhould-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 Chickfaws, he would not have been furprifed, as he was, by a party of warriors of that nation. It may be afferted, that the negled 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 Natches ; this boat laden with powder,

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LOUISIANA. 287 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. D * * * was furprifed and ta- ken prifoner. One day when it blew a north wind, he was obliged to bring his boat to the ftore, and fo encamped thereon, in order to wait for better winds. He went out huntino-, 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 fhe 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, he fhould always have an Indian fcout to go before him, both for the fake of reconnoitring the enemy or prevent- ing furprifes, and likwife for finding out game. . Ir

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288 TRAVELS thr.ough It happened to me as I was going up the river of Tombekbé, that I was in want of provifions, but Providence fupplied it vifibly. The In- dians, who are like ferrets in the woods, came to give 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 * The eagle here called the royal, is called in JLnglifh the» Golden Eagle, Penn. Br. Zool. p. 61, tab. A. and in 8vo vol. l. p. izi. Falco chryfaëtos, Linn, and Le grand aigle royal, Planches enluminées, tab. 410. Mr. Pennant relates, from Smith's hiftory 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- ' g-lets of the food the old ones brought." This in fome meafure confirms our author's account. M. Buffon, in his Bift. naturelle des oifeaux, i_mo. edit. vol. i. p. 117. at: tacks M. Salerne, for having related the account he got from a friend, <who found three ftrong eaglets of-this hind in a neft; ftxed between tivo roch. M. de Buffon, though a great natu_ ral hiltorian, is frequently fubjeft to have his peculiar opi- nions, which he defends againft all fafts proving the con- trary : and, by his eloquence, he explains away the ftrongr eft arguments ; and invalidates even fads, in fo much,..that their ftrength in proving againft him dwindles quite away. Our author had no peculiar opinion to favour ; he muft have fenown the bird, which is not uncommon in France, and may be feen in the menageries of the King and the nobility, and,in various,cabinets; and therefore I think our author's account

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LOUISIANA. 289 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 neft; fuch as fawns, rabbets, wild turkies, grous, partridges, and wood-pigeons, there were four eaglets in it, already pretty ftrong ; thefe the In- dians took for themfelves, to the great forrow 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 majefties, who Vol. I. U feu. account a ftrong proof againft M. Buffbnh opinion, 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 hiltorian, who, with all his abilities, indulges too much his opinions, in fpite of fads that are againft him. I know and acknowledge the merit of this able zoologift, but as his fine language, the fine prints, the vanity of the French nation, and tlie prefent fafhionable tafte, have prow cured him a high reputation, it is no more than natural that his authority fhould be decifive with many, who like rather light fummer-reading, than the heavlnefs of a Critical.difcuf- fion in natural hiftory. I therefore thought, that fuch a hint might be ferviceable to thofe whom M. de Bafon would carry a-ftray by his florid ftyle. F.

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29° TRAVELS THROUGH fell the vidims of parental love. The Indians told me, that the great Spirit fent us thefe pro- vifions ; 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 Englifh ftip which is arrived from Jamaiia as a fmuggling veflel, commonly called there an in- terloper. . This fhip is called the.Texel, commanded by Captain Dias-Arias, a Jew, born an Englifh fubjed. The Ordonnateur having found, that it ought to be confifcated according to the orders ofthe marine, has feized it for the King's ac- count-, M. de Belleifle, who is fort major, and the governor's locum tenens, has been requefted to affift^with the military for that purpofe ; but M. de Kerlerec returning from Mobile, has fufpended M. de Belleifle in the performance of his func- tions ; that governor afterwards has had M. de Rochemore'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-

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Louis! ANA. 291 à veffel, the deftination of which remains un- known : upon this M. de Rochemore has fent to the minifter, Monfieur de Fohtenelle, counfellùr in the fuperior Council; When I ftall be better informed of all that has happened there, I ftall impart it to you ; I write to the governor to grant me my. recall to Nelv Orleans. I am, SIR, &e. At Tombekbi, the 19th of September 1759, U a L E T-

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tQZ TRAVELS THROUGH 3*^1 mm n mm p** mm k* mm f~% Shu». MM kji..MM kjtf MM kja. MM kj^ i

LETTER XVIII To the Same, .. Defcription of the Country of the Chadaws. Their Wars ; their Way of treating their Sick ; their Superftition ; their Commerce ; their Plays of Exercife. Country of the Tchicachas or Chick- faws, our Enemies. SIR, F"MM"^ Thought of fetting out from hence in g I 5 two days, but the defire of knowing )hlMMj«( l^e m°ft wa!"hke 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 Chaftaws 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 punift the Nat- ches

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L O U I S LAN A. 293 ches who maffacred 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 fing their fongs of war, and ftir them up to revenge us againft the Englifh, who are committing hoftili- ties in our poffeffions 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 fiegè of Quebec. 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 deftroy 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 Chaflaws love war, and are acquainted with flratagems. They never fight in order, or ftand their ground, they only ha.rrafs and teaze their enemies much, without being cowards -, V 3 for

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2Q4 TRAVELS through for when they come to clofe engagement, thçy fight very coolly. Some of their women are f© 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 men. The Chafîaws are very fuperftitious ; when they go to war they confult their Manitou, who is carried by the chief. They always expofe him to that fide where they are to go towards the ene- my, a°d place fome warriors as fentinels round him. They have fuch a veneration for him, that they do not eat till the chief has given him firft his fiiare. During the continuance of the war, they obey their chief very exadly ; but as foon as they re- turn, they only confider him according to the liberality with which he difpofês 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 muft diftribute it to the warriors, ¦and to the relations of thofe who have been kill- ¦ . , ... - ed

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L :0 -U I S I A N 'À.- 295 ed 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 ftipport 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 faid, 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 favages, 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 being. 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 hufbands, as the European women do; nor does any Cacique's wife get her hufband ftrangled, as that Neapolitan princefs did . with her's, becaufe he would not fatisfy her brutal paffion ; no girls there deftroy their own off- fpring, in order to. appear chafte in the eyes of men. The Indian' women abhor the Chriftian girls who fall into that cafe-, they oppofo the U 4, fierce ft

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29<S TRAVELS t .trough fierceft wild beafts to them, becaufe they take great care of their young. If the chief of a party of Chafiaws 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 t» 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 thf- enemy, This defertion is attributed to a bad dream ; if the chief of a great party, halving dreamt that he will lofe 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, i. 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, ftfhdue.d. a. great empire. . A general who fhould gain a vidory witih the lofs of many of his men, would bexlil received by them ; becaufe they do not value .-a vidory when it is bought with the blood of their friends and relations: their chiefs are always careful to. preferve

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L4 O U I S I A N A. a^ preferve their warriors, and never attack the ene- my unlefs they are lure of an eafy vidory, either on account of their numbers, or their advantage- "ous fituation ; but as their adverfaries are like- wife cunning, and evade all the fnares that are laid for them, it depends then upon fuperior fineffe; therefore they hide themfelves in the Woods in day-timé, 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 firft fometimes carries a very thick bufh before him, and as they all follow each other in a file, the laft 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 firesi, which they can fmell to a very great diftance, and their tracks or footfteps, which they can diftinguïîh in an incredible manner. One day an Indian ftewed me, in a place where I had feen nothing, the footfteps of fome Frenchmen, Indians, and Negroes, ahd the time when they had gone that way ; I own that this knowledge is amazing : it may well be faid, that when the Indians apply to any fingle thing, they excel in it. Their

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298 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 ftrength to fupport hunger, thirft, the rigours of the weather, and the labours and fatigues in- feparable from war. He that has done a fine adion 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 îafts a month, he muft 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 rivers. 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 Chaftaia 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 flefh, the whole family affemblés ; fome one difmembers the fke- leton,

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L O U I S I A N A- 299 leton, and plucks off all the mufcles, nerves and tendons that ftill remain ; they bury them and depofit the bones in a cheft, after colouring the head with vermillion. The relations weep during this ceremony, which is followed by a feaft, with which thofe friends are treated who come to pay their compliments of condolence ; after that, the remains of their late relation are brought 4:0 the common burying ground, and put in the place where his anceflor's bones were depofited. 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 feaft, which they call the feaft of the dead, or of the fouls ; all the families then go to the burying-ground, and with tears in their, eyes vifit the chefts which contain the relics of relations, and when they return, they give a great treat, which finiflies the feaft. It may be faid in praife of thefe Americans, that the friendfhip fubfifting 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

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3O0 TRAVELS through love of the Indians towards each other, inclines them to affift 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 exift no more. The Indians in general have a great vene- ration for their dodors or jugglers, who are real quacks, that impofe upon the people, and live handlbmely 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 Chaftaw 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 phyfic, and not to his indifpofition ; and can confequently kill the dodor if they have a mind to do it * ; how- ever, this cafe fcarce ever happens, as they ge- nerally have an excufe at hand. Thefe dodors are, however, acquainted with feveral excellent plants for curing the difeafes common in their country ; ¦ There are, likewife, people in France, who lay the death of their relations to the charge of the phyfician, and referable the Indians very much in f&eir thoughts on this fçbjeft.

page 326-350 316 0301

LOUISIANA, got 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 dodors 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; but they have the powder of a root, which they blow into the wound, to accelerate its fuppuration, and they make ufe of another which dries and heals it* they preferve wounds from mortification, hy bathingt them with a decodion of fome roots, which they know *. When they are tired and exceffively fatigued, after returning from a war, or from a hunt, they ufe fweating in ftoves f, as a reftorative. 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 hum_|_jity and curious inquiries. F. f Thefe ftoves are round huts, built like ovens in the middle

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302 TRAVELS ïiîROuCH In thefe baths they boil all forts of medicinal and odoriferous herbs, whofe effences and faits rifing with the fleam of the water, enter into the body of the afflided perfon, and reflores his loft forces. This remedy is equally good for abating and deftroying all kinds of pains ; of courfe you fee no Indian affeded with the gout; the gravel, and other diftempers which we are fubjed 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 Chadaws put a firm belief in5 enchantefs and magicians, and when they meet with one fuch pretended forcerer; they cut off his head * without any ceremony. . I faw an Indian of the nation of Chaffaws, who had lately been baptized : as he had no luck ¦-¦¦¦¦¦ ¦-...¦ - - ' ' ' ¦¦¦- irtidélé of the village, j they are kept in1 orcfef by an Aliti, at ptrfjKc doctor.- * In 17*52, when I wa sat Mobile,- MévV an Inefiair whom the others killed with a hatchet, becaufe he pretended to bè a forcerer. The other ¦ Indians attributed to him all the iftisfortunes that happen to their nation.

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L a U I S I A N A. 3®3 ; lack in hunting like his companions, he ima- gined he was bewitched ; he went immediately to Father Lefévre the Jefuit * who had Converted him, and told him that his medicine or trick was good for nothing, becaufe fince he had pradifed 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 fkill, and thus thought himfelf freed from the enchantment, and was content. The mind of this nation in general, is very rough and unpolifted. 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, moft of them being addided to fodomy. Thofe defiled men, wear long hair, and a little petticoat like the women, who defpife them very much. -*4~ The * The Indians 'call the Jefuits the men with thé black robe ; they fay that they are not like other men.- and oi| them women, in derifion.

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304 TRAVELS through The Chaftaws are very adive and merry.; 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 affemble 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» guifhed 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- guifted 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 coyered with roe-lkms. An old man ftands 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 ftrike the ball with their battledoors ; it is a pleafure to fee

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L O U I S I Â N A. $°$ fee them run naked, painted with various co- lours, having a tyger's tail faftened behind, and feathers on their heads and arms, which move as they run, and have a very odd effed : they pufh and throw each other down ; he that has been expert enough to get the ball, fends it to his party -, thofé of thfe oppofite party run at him who has feized the ball, and. fend it back to their fide ; and thus they clifpute it to each other reciprocally, with fuch an ardour, that they fometimes diflocate their ftoulders by it. The players are never difpleafed ; fome old men, who affift 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 adive, and run againft each other with extreme fwift- nefs, pUfhing eafch other like the then, they hav- ing the fame drefs, except on thofe parts which modefly teaches them to cover. They only put ¦ Vol. I. X - rouge

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3o6 TRAVELS through reuse on their cheeks, and vermillion, inftead of powder, in their hair. After playing well on both fides all the day long, every one retires with his glory or fhame, 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 likewile very fwift, for I have feen fome run as fait as ftags. . The children exercife themfelves in fhooting with a bow and arrows for prizes ; he thatflioots 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 fhooting 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 Chafiaws axe held in night-time. Though they are barbarous and ferocious, itis neceffary, in order to gain their confidence, to take great care"to keep your promiles

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L OU I S I A N A. 3°. promiies to them, without which, they treat you with the greateft contempt, proudly telling you that you are a liar, an epithet which the Indians have given to the prefent governor, whom they call Oulabé Mingo, i. e, 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 receiv- ing any affiftance. 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 flat head. They never twaddle their children. ' They never wean their children till they are difgufted with their mother's milk. I have feen fome children grown up fo as to be able to tell thenrotliej., felWutfi, that I may fucUe, and the mother immediately fit down. Their cradle is made of reeds, they put their children into it fo X 2 t^at

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TR A V E L S THROUGH that their head lies three or four inches lower than the reft of the body, therefore you never fee any contraded 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 ftate, they would fall fick, and that if they went to war af- ter it, they would have bad luck. ¦ Though the. Jndians only value themfelves upon their origin from the fide of the women, yet the. latter are not allowed to corred the boys. ; they have only an authority over their daughters. If a mother fhould ftrike her fon, fte would be reprimanded and ftruck again ; but if the boy difobeys her, fte muft bring him to an old man, who infiids a punifhment on him, and then throws fome frefh water over his body. If a woman commits an infidelity, fte muft pafs through the meadow, i. e. all the young men, and fometimes even the old ones, fatisfy their brutality on her, by turns. Such is the punifh- ment

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LOUISIANA. 309 ment of adultery among the Chatfaws. 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 fte. muft be difgufted with a criminal Condud,: that has drawn fuch a punifhment on her; and that fte will confequently behave better for the future. Be this as it will, fte is always' locked upon as a depraved and immoral wo-: man. . Before I finift my letter I muft fay a word of- the Tchicachas, or Chickfaws. This nation is not fo numerous as the Chaflaws, but more terrible, on account of their intrepidity. All the northern and fouthern Indian nations, and even the French, 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 1753., they attacked Meff. Benoift and de Reggio, who commanded the convoys from the Illinois ftation, defcending the river Miffifippi: thefe Indians always choofe fome advantageous fitua- tion, to make an attack in, their moft common poft is at.the rocks of Prudhomme, the river be- Hhnuqadj x X 3 ina-

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3io TRAVELS through ing narrow there, they can annoy the boats, which have no decks. It is believed that the Chickfaws killed Meff. Bouffelct and de la Morliere -, thefe two officers, though they were very brave, fell into an afflfo bufcade for want of experience, not knowing the topography of the country they were in any more- than general Braddoçk. An officer ought, therefore, always to apply to that, in order to avoid furprifed, or eife he fliould always be op the defenfive and prepared. The Englifh have, always been in alliance, with '.: v.-.-iiant warriors ; they have always traded with thc.m, and fupplied ail their wants. The Indians of this nation ride well on horfe- back : they leave the care of cultivating and fow fog their grounds to their women, who are hand- fornc and cleanly. When a Chickfaw has killed a .roe-deer, lie tells his wife whereabouts it lies; flie goes to fetch it, dreffes it, and ferves it up to her hufband : the women never. e_tt with the men, who feem verv indifferent about them, but really love them better than any other nation. The

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LOUISIANA. 311 x The Txhicachas, or Chickfaws, only punift adultery with whipping the two offenders who have been caught in the fad, making them run naked through the village ; after which the huf- band repudiates his wife. As thefe Indians gave fhelter to the Natches, after the maffacre of the French, the latter armed in 1736 againft, 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 Sénat a Jefuit, who went with M. d'Ar- taguette in the quality of chaplain. The detail of this tragic feene has been related by a ferjeant, called Louis Gamot, who was a foedator of the fad fate which his companions underwent ; he X 4 . »vas O

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312- TRAVELS through C referved to be burnt laft, but he efcaped by an odd ftrat^gem. As he was acquainted with the language of the Indians, he employed it on this occafion to ytter inyedives 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 too, I.fear > neither fire nor death, for I am a true man, make me fuffer much, becaufe I defire it. The Chickfaws, feeing his réfoïution, looked upon him as an extr xrclinary fellow, and granted him his life; he wgs afterwards ranfomed by an Englifhman frox Cat Una, and is nqw at Charles- town the capital of «.hat colony. ' In another expedition againft the Tchicachas, 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 nis father, who ier-t> ved as captain in our troops, had been in this» Unlucky expedition; this officer has... likewife» told ipe the ftory ofthe Chevalier, .& Grondel,. who now belongs to the garrifon of Mobile, and commands

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L O U I S I AN A. 3r3 commands the Swifs troop of the régiment of Halwill, belonging to the fefvice of tîlfé marines; he had thenthe command of a detachihent of grenadiers of the regiment of Karrer, in M. £ Bienville's army againft the Chickfaws. 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 objed of the enemy's vengeance and fury, if feveral foldiers of his troop had not ge- neroufly expofed their lives to fave his, not- withftanding the balls and arrows which were fent at them from the fort of the Chickfaws, killed five of them one after another.

However, one, without fearing the danger, returned to the field, and happily arrived irThis troop carrying his officer on his ftoulders. The chief forgeon of the army tried all he knew to 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 confideration of the wounds M. de Gron* del haû received, granted him an extraordinary g/ati-

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3M T R-A V ELS. THROUG tr gratification, .till he could . get the crofs of St. 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 tfoat.weli-efta- hlifted fubordination is, among the troops: of mc Helvetic k;> y, that are io inviolably attach- ed to the fervke of our King, and how much thofe that keep it iti for: xc happy effeds of it. v. The adion of thefe foldiers, which was really an heroic one, well defenses that their names fhould he tranfmitted to pofterity. - Tn 1754, '* Barqn de Porneuf imparted to mc his intention of going upon a diicovery into the weft of Lcuifianay -up the. Miffjippi and t?x rivéi x, the fources.of which are.un- Known to us. This officer, who is a Canadian, has the proper ouannes for undertaking luch an expedition ; but tlie war which arofe between Prance and England, on account of the bounda.

nes r s r.ûise was Regniffe.

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LOUISIANA. 315 ries of thefe countries, has been an obftacle to the execution of this projed. I can affure you, that I fhould have been very happy to accompany him, both for the honour of my King and- for my own fatisfadion ; for, notwithftanding the fatigues and dangers I have undergone in my voyages, I liave never been difgufted or tired out of patience. Misfortunes pafs like dreams, and I fee nothing fo happy as the life of a traveller ; he conftantly .fees new objeds, which inftrud 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 ther?»»are as many fyftems, opinions, and contradidions, as authors. If you. were in my place, you would have room to make philofo- phical refledions. I am, SIR, &c. At the fort of Tombekbi, the 30 th of September 1759. 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 ftall add here an abftrad concerning the differences which have arifen be- tween

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3i6 TRAVELS through.'. tween us and the Chatlaws. Some time after » the war with the Tehkac-kas or Chickfaws,- the French had fome quarrels with a party of Choc-': taws, who followed the intereft of a prince of their nation called the Red Shoe, who was info- lent, and committed feveral hoftilities againft the French. M. de Vaudreuil, then governor of Lou- ifiana, having heard of this adion, 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 ftop thefe commotions foon, and without bloodflied. The Marquis de Vaudreuil, after thefe précau- 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 Shoe, had loft his fenfes: After this anfwer, he got a prefent, but was much furprifed to find neither arms nor powd,er and fhot hi it, at a time when he was our, friend I as before. This proceeding, together with the; prohibition of felling them arms, -whfoh they knew had been iffue'd out, redoubled their afto- niftmenr,

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LOUISIANA, 3*7 niftment, 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 ked Shoe had not found his wits again ; becaufe, if they got powder, they could not help, being all bro- thers, to give a ftare of it to the warriors of captain or chief Red Shoe. This anfwer deter- mined them to fpeak to the tribes that infolted us ; they told them, if they did not foon go with 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. " ,noiîsn aril Thus* M. de Vaudreuil, as a wife politician, put a flop to this war, without expences to the ftate; and without expofing a fingle man ; it was M. de Grand-pré, a captain of our troops, who was charged with this important négociation ; the Marquis could not pitch upon a fitter perfon. Mieft yjïand-pré is a Canadian, and ferves the King Avith zeal, bravery, and difintereftednefs. I was upon the point of going to ferve under him at Fort Tombekbi among the Chaffaws, < when I firft arrived here in 1751. -ofti. v- L E T- ^

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i8 TRA VE L S thrôcch ^^^^s^^^m^i^tih^M <^^ssw^ LETTER XIX. To the fame. The Author returns to Mobile. Remarkable Events which happened in ihe Cat's Ifle. Tragic Death ofthe Sieur Duroux governor of that ifle.

S I R, $Ç%ygfft A M now returned from my voyage W I y up the river of Tombekbé. I have ful- ||>oâ filled this important and troublefome miffion, to the fatisfadion of my foperiors. In waiting for my recal to New Orleans, my curio- fity led me to vifit the little ifles on the coaft of Louifiana. The ifle of Maffacre was the firft where the French made any fettlements. It got its name becaufe the French, when they landed there, found a great quantity of human fkeletons but

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'LOUISIANA. 3*9 but could not diftinguifh whether they were of Spaniards or Indians. It has fince been called the Dauphin ifle*. It was peopled by degrees ; they built magazines, <a fort, and barracks there. In -------------! ' . ----------------'------------NrtJ-------------;------.----------- * It muft not be confounded with that which is mentioned jn the relation of the firJt voyage of the Eaft India company to the ifle of Madagafcar, which they called too precipitate- ly the Dauphi4s iiland. The author'of this relation, who wrote in 1665, atta had done that fame voyage, agrees that the Englifh. and Dutch. .who were already eftaolifhed in India, were the models which M, de Colbert propofed to imitate, and afterwards t;> furpafs ; but all the projeds 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 tlje 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 " 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 every one fhould be guided "who v. ifli.es to acquit himfelf with hoftour." It feems to me, that this ufefiti ieflbn fhould _}e graved in- to the hearts "of all thofe who go to our colonies with foave authority. . Ihave

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320 TRAVELS through In 1717, the entrance of the harbour was flopped up by a prodigious quantity of fand, colleded together by a hurricane ; the whole ifle was almoft overflowed, and great numbers of cattle were drowned ; it was neceffary to feek another port, and they chofe the ifle Surgere, which has fince been called Ship îjlând ; it has a pretty good harbour. In ifzzU.de Bienville tranfported every one from thence to New Or- leans, and that place became the capital of Lout- fiana. Six leagues from the Ship Ifland is the Cats Ifle, fo called on account of the number of wild cats which have been fouhd there. This ille 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 I7S7, 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 muft not be confounded with thole who have got for- tunes with rapidity, and in an odious manner, from the pu- blic safeties; and from the blood of many unhappy people.

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LOUISIANA pr pern of troops fronith.e marines, and from the Sjwifs regiment of Halwyl. The Sieur Duroux was no fooner come thither,* than he looked upon himfelf as abfolute ; he immediately affumed the right of having a gar- den made by-the foldiers of the garrifon ; he likewife employed them to make for him lime from fhells, and. charcoal, but'he never paid them ; and thofe who refufed to fubmit to thefe vexation.s, were faftened quite naked to a tree, and expofed to the infupportable attacks of the maringoins or gnats. This was the punifhrnent which the officer made the foldiers of his garri- fon undergo ; an unworthy treatment, unexam- pled even among barbarians. The SlevsDuroux obliged them to make their bread of the flour faved from the wreck of a Spanift fhip, which 'was loft on the coaft ; and fold for his own account the 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 ftew- ed fome .of 'the bad bread they were forced to ?*U. JâJiS M- de Kerlerec paid no regard to their juft rant>nft«mces, and font them Jaack at the Voi». I; Y......... . difcretion 1 ---w*m fM* .

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322 TRAVELS through difcretion of their commander. Then thefe wretches, fearing his refentment, refolved to make an example of him, which they executed in ceremony. One day, when that officer was gone 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 réfoïution could only be occafioned by their not having obtained the de- fired juftice 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, hoifted the French flag, upon which the garrifon took to arms, and went out into the field. The rebellious foldiers ad- vancing to the ftore 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 " he lands, and as he fets his foot on fhore, the corporal gives the fignal, and at the fame inftant the foldiers fire, and their commander fails, pierced with wounds ;

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L O U I S I Â N A. 323 wounds ; 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 T'hiton, the governor's firft fecretary. The fol- diers, become mafters of the ifle, fet at liberty an inhabitant whofe name was Beaudrot, who had been unjuftly imprifoned by the late command- er. The Sieur Duroux had affumed the privi- leges of an admiral of France, and pretended to ihare with the foldiers and inhabitants all that they ftould fave of any veffel wrecked upon the Cats Ifland; and all that refufed to pay him his fhare were feverely punifhed, as if they had committed fome great crime. This was the crime of Beaudrot ; he was put in irons becaufe he would not ftare fome goods with the com- mander, which he had faved from the wreck of a Spanyh ftip called the Situart, which was wrecked on the ifle in 1758. 0 t) ' The foldiers who had killed M. Duroux, ha- ving afterwards pillaged the effeds belonging to the King in the Cats Ifle, took the inhabitant whom they had fee free, and obliged him to bring them into the road to the Engliih colony of Carolina. When they arrived in the country

D

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3*4 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 Englifh ; but thofe who remained among the In- dians, were foon feized by order of M. de Mont- O héraut, then governor of the fort at the AUiba- mons % among this laft party was a corporal of the regiment of Halwyl, who, in order to avoid being fawed afonder, 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 reludance, 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

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LOUISIANA. 325 Beaudrot the inhabitant, for guiding the mur- derers of the governor of Cats Ifle, was fenten- ced to be broke upon the wheel, and his corpfe to be thrown into the river ; which was accord- ingly executed ; a foldier fuffered the fame pu- nifhment, and a Swifs was fawed alive through the middle of his body. Wh«n one refleds 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 punifhment which he underwent. If politics require that for preferving public fafety, no crime fhould be left unpunifted, juftice demands in favour of humanity, that the judge fhould always be more afraid of punifhing too much than too little, according to the axiom, It is better to let an hun- dred guilty men efcape, than to punifli one fingle in- nocent man. If the man ought to be punifhed in order to ferve as an example, according to this law, the punifhment might have been mitigated ia fa- vour of his wife and four children, whom his death threw into the greateft defoliation ; among the four children was a girl of an admirable Y 3 figure,

page 351-407 341 0326

326 TRA VELS TH ROUGH figure, who was admired in the whole colony for her beauty, and ftill more for her virtue ; this charming Creole, and the reft of the family, are retired into an habitation far from the com- merce of men, to lament the depth of their un- happy father. This unhappy man had been fuccefsfully em- ployed in fome important négociations 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 thernfelves. He had likewife an extraordinary bodily ftrength. All thefe qualities had fo far gained him the efteem and friendfhip of the Chatlaws, 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 ÇYhfi Ifland. That * This officer knows that nation perfe»niy well, having been governor of Tombekbe for feveral years ; the Indians efteemed hira much on account of his bravery arid difinterelt- ed behaviour.

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L. OUÏS I A N A. 327 AsThat 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 font in their own ftead, with the governor's confent, for the fervice of the place. - Thefe vagabonds flayed in the Cats Ifle 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 pofts, according to the rule of fervice, take opportunities to lay fchernes for deferting, as it has happened in many ftations of Louifiana. In March 1759 there appeared, in fight of this ifland, a three-mafted 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 Spanifh failors, who abandoned Captain St. Criq upon the coaft of Louifiana near Balije ; this obliged him to em- bark in his long-boat, with a few men who re- mained with him. He arrived at New Orleans, and addreffed himfelf to M. de Belle-Ifie, fort- major and commander during the governor's Y 4 abfence ;

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328 TRAVELS through abfence; he begged this officer to give him peo- ple, in order to go out in feaieh of his fhip, which could only be loft on the coaft of the Cats Ifland. M. de Belle-IJle gave the Sieur St. Criq an in- telligent ferjeant and ten foldiers, to navigate his ftip ; at the fame time he wrote to the Sieur C------: " That if this ftip were loft near his " flation, he fhould immediately place, a guard " on her, and forbid, under pain of death, that ¦" nothing fhould be unloaded cut of her, with- " out the confent of the Sieur St. Criq, the pro- "prietor; and laftly, that he fliould not fail " to conform to the orders of the King's.marine, " fpecified under the title Shipwreck," &c. Un- happily for the Sieur Si. Criq the advice of M. de Belle-Ifle came too fate ; the Sieur de C------had already taken care to have the cargo of the ftip unloaded by the foldiers apd inhabitants, who hid it in the neighbouring lands ;. they took ali the neceffary precautions to cover this trick. The Sieur St. Criq arrived at the Cats Ifle, put the major's letter into the commander's hands, and then went into his ftip with his people in or- der to fearch her ; but perceiving that he had forgotten his pocket-book, in which he had the xil of lading, he left her immediately, and

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LOUISIANA.' v. Went on ftore to fetch it : a happy accident of Providence ! he was but juft come on fhore, when his ftip- 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 fwimminp- on fhore *. o The Sieur Si. Criq complained to M. de Kerle- rec ; but after a long delay, the governor obliged the captain to terminate his quarrel with the Siéur de C , the latter giving the former the fum of 1500 livres. This commander being re- called to New Orleans, gave himfelf up to fiich debaucheries, that he fcandalized the whole colo- ny. .^________________________________________ _> , , , , t At the time when the Sieur St. Criq reclaimed his fhip with M. de Bell-IJle, and received his orders addreffed to M. de'C------, to take care of the prefervation of the cargo, the governor of the Cats Ifle wrote to'M. de Bells-Ifle himfelf: " That, on fuch a day, a fhip with three malts was loft in " fight of his flation, and he having made figns without re- " ceiving any anfwer, he took it to belong to the enemy, " who kept his men in chofe quarters ; that he having arm- " ed the boat belonging to his flation, and going into it " with all his people, after getting no anfwer upon a re- " peated fignal, came on board the fhip, but found no living " foul in her, and the cargo taken out of her ; he only " found a cut cable upon the deck, and faw that the fhip f was bor.ed for twentyrfix guis.

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33© TRAVELS through ny. When he had confumed all that he had gained by his iniquitous pradices, he went on board a Dutch ftip from Curaçao, a colony be- longing to that republic. The opinions are di- vided upon the clandeftine evafion of this offi- cer ; fome believe, thaf he efcaped in order to avoid the puniftments 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 reftiturion 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 confeffion to the Sieur fa Perliere, who fucceeded him in the government of Cats Ifland. He has however efcaped the ca- pital punifhment which this .piracy deferved*. For the quoted order fays, " That all who ftall " endanger the life of fhipwrecked perfons, and " lay hands upon their goods, ftall be punifhed " with death." This crime is fo enormous,. that, though one were not a Chriftian, natural ..,: religion * The .Sieur de C------, hoping to enjoy the fruits of his iniquity in France, died there as he had lived, that is. ii) a debauch, by a decree of Providence.

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LOUISIANA. 331 religion engages us to affift the unhappy in time of danger. Such were the officers in whom the governor of Louifiarla 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 Englifh governor of it, M. 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 fome to others. If I do not fet out for France, I ftall 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 ordonnateur. I am, S I R, &c. At Fort Mobile, the \oth ef January 1760, ¦ LET-

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332 TRAVELS through

LETTER XX. To the Jame. The Author goes to New Orleans. Caufe of the Troubles which agitate that Place. Moving Relation of M. de Belle-Ifle'.. Captivity among the Attakapas. Curious Animals and falutary Simples lo be met with in Louifiana. SIR» K^^K HAVE fo much news to communi- $*' I *$ nicate to you, that Ik now not where Û_3o£.^. t0 begin : I wrote to you from Tom- bekb'e, that every thing was in confufion in the capital ; indeed every body talks of quarrels and divifions ; avidity and intereft are every where lighting the torch of difoord. As I neither have, nor will have, any part in all thefe quarrels, and as I cannot fatisfy my zeal for the king's fefv'ce in this colony, where every thing is in diforder, I have

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LOUISIANA. 333

I have not ceafed to demand leave to return to France. The moft faithful fubjeds, who will do their duty, are contradided and difgraced, and their zeal is rewarded with the moft cruel perfecutions. But without enquiring minutely into the fufferings of a number of brave officers, moft of them ftill alive, I ftall only fpeak of thofe which M. de Belle-Ifle has undergone. This worthy officer, whofe probity and unqueftionable condud 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 Vaudreuil, &c. well de- fences that I fhould tell his ftory to you, having heard it from himfelf with all its circum- ftances. I ftall give you an account of what has hap- pened during the forty-five years which he ferved the king in this colony *. I ftall fay nothing but ¦ truth, * The hiftory of M. de Belle-Ifle, Chevalier of the royal military order of St. Louis, Major of Ne<w Orleans, and who has formerly ferved as Major General of the troops of the marine in Louifiana, has been inferted in a Relation cf Loui- fiana printed at Paris in 1758. The author of it left the co- lony in 1733, has forgotten the moft interefiing circumftances, and the fafts he has mentioned, have.been difowned by M. lie

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33'4 TRAVELS through truth, though fome circumftances may appear' very wondrous. As I know the goodnefs of your heart, I am fare you will pity the unhappy fate of this poor officer ; great fouls are not afhamed to fteW 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 1719, M. de Crozat put Louifiana into the hands of the Weft India company, who fent a thoufand men to people it. M. de Belle-Ifle em- barked in one of their fhips at port l'Orient, with fome other officers and volunteers, for the new colony. The winds and currents carried the ftip to the bay of St. Bernard in the Mex- ican gulph The captain fent his boat on ftore 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 ftore again, and having taken in de Belle-Ifle himfelf: my relation is an abftr.-id of a mami- fcript memoir, written by tiiat officer's own hand.

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LOUISIANA. 33S in the neceffary 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 ftore. Their agitation and anxiety, when they re- turned to the ftore and found the boat and ftip 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 ftore in the miftaken opinion, that the ftip was gone to the weft, imploring divine mercy, and complaining of their unhappy fate. They lived upon infeds and herbs, not knowing whether they were good or bad ; what was moft troublefome to them was the abundance of gnats in that place, as they had nothing to defend themfelves againft them. They continued fe- veral

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336 TRAVELS through veral days in this fituation. M. de Belle-Ifle had taken a young dog from the ftip, which was very fond of him. His companions were often tempted to kill him-, their hunger was ex- treme : M. de Belle-ffle gave the dog up to them, but would not kill it himfelf; one of his com- panions feized 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 beafts : 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 days after the death of his comrades, he faw at a diftance his dog holding fomething in his mouth ; he called him, the creature came to him fawning, and with great demonftrations of joy, threw at his feet an opoffum; the dog howled, as if he would fay, I bring thee fome- thing to fupport life. The opoffums are good eating, and of the fize of a fucking pig. ML it

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LOUISIANA. i^f ai Belle-Ifle, having no other company than his dog, looked about for food every where. At night he always made a little intrenchment at the foot of a tree, in order to fhelter himfelf againft the wild beaftsi One day a tyger * came near 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 Bélle-IJlè awoke, and haftened to his affiftance ; the tyger let the dog loofe, but had wounded him : his mafter was obliged to kill him, left he fhould turn mad, and afterwards he eat him. Then being left alone in this defart place, he fell on his knees, lifted up his hands to heaven, and thanked the Almighty for preferving him till now ; and refigning himfelf to Providence he went into the country in order to feek for mëm He foon found foot-fteps, ahd followed them to the banks of a river, where finding a piragua, he croffes the river in it. On the oppofite fhore Were fome Indians, dryipg human flefh and fifh -, they were of the nation of the Atfakapàs -j- ; Voi,. I. Z they * By this rmfft always be underftood the American tyger, 1. e. the broixn cat of P. SynBffis of Y^uad. p. 179, and the Cugucuara of Pifo and Margrave in their Nat. Bift. Braftl. f This name fignifies men-eaters among the American na- tion*.

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.. 338 'L R A V E L S through

they went towards M., de Belle- Ifle, whom thçy .took for a ghoft, becaufe he was lean ; he pointed to his mouth, and made figns of, being hungry. The Indians woufd not kill him .be- caufe he was exceffively lean ; they offered him fome human flefh,. but he preferred fifh,..of which he eat greedily. The Indians looked at this cloathed man, ftripped 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 holts would facrifice him to their falfe deities, and afterwards make a feaft of his flefh ; his imagination was ¦ always ftruck with the terrible fight of the feafts u which thofe barbarians made of the flefh of their . fatteft. prifoners of war, which I cannot help .-;. fhuddering at, whilft I relate it. He alwayssex- .. peded to receive a blow with the club, as foon x as he fhould be fat. The Indians held a coun- cil, » ! ! ».----------------------- , .------------,-----------1 ¦ îfl ¦ dons. When they take an enemy in the wars, they make a _ .great feaft ^nd eat his flefh. They commonly live upon f,fh and drink the Caffine. They can fpeak by figns, and hold long pantomime converfations. - * An expreffion which fignifie? fave..

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LOU I S î A N A. 339 Cil, in which they refolved that it would be ftâmeful and cowardly to kill à man, that did not come to them to do any harm, but to de- mand their hofpitality ; in conféquence of this réfoïution^ he remained a flave of the widow. The foft days of his flavéry, 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 fhoulders, which was very troublefome to him ; for he was naked like them, having no more cloaths than were fufficient to make his nakednefs lefs indecent ; but the widow above- mentioned, having taken him under her protec- tion, he was better treated in the fequeh

As M. de Bell-Ifle was young