THE NATCHEZ INDIANS. 201 



gress at Paris, in 1887, decided to photograph, the whole sky down 

 to stars of the fourteenth magnitude. Could this enterprise have 

 borne all the fruits it has if the planets of the thirteenth magni- 

 tude had been let pass unperceived ? 



For all these reasons, I think that the search for minor planets 

 ought to be continued. It demands, indeed, considerable work in 

 calculation ; but that can be divided among several scientific es- 

 tablishments. The Bureau of Longitudes is disposed to do its 

 part in the matter. Translated for the Popular Science Monthly 

 from the Revue Scientifique. 



-*+- 



THE NATCHEZ INDIANS. 



By HOWARD A. GIDDINGS. 



THE Natchez were the ancient head of the demi-civilized 

 people inhabiting that part of America called Florida by the 

 first discoverers. It is evident, from the historians of De Soto's 

 expedition, that a state of society prevailed among this people 

 very different from that of their neighbors. The Natchez can not 

 properly be classed as North American Indians ; differing widely 

 from all other tribes in language, customs, and condition, they 

 seemed in most respects like another race. They came originally 

 from Mexico, and closely resembled the Aztecs, both in appear- 

 ance and habits. Possessing none of the roving disposition com- 

 mon to the savage, their houses, furniture, and domestic imple- 

 ments were comparatively comfortable and convenient. "We are 

 told that their houses were gathered together into towns, and re- 

 sembled farm-houses in Spain, being surrounded with bake-houses, 

 granaries, etc., showing a nation no longer in the hunter state, 

 but attached to the soil, with all the corresponding effects of a 

 life advanced a step toivard civilization. 



Their houses were nearly always a perfect square. They con- 

 structed them by bringing from the woods young trees about 

 fifteen feet in length and four inches in diameter, which they 

 planted in the ground fifteen inches apart, the strongest at the 

 four corners; the tops being bent inward to the center and fas- 

 tened with split canes. The chinks in the walls were filled up 

 with a mortar of mud mixed with a tufted herb called Spanish 

 beard, leaving no opening but the door. The roof was thatched 

 with turf and straw, and over all was plaited a mat of split canes ; 

 the walls were covered both inside and out with mats of the same 

 material. With occasional repairs these buildings lasted twenty 

 years. 



The Natchez lived under a despotic government, and it is but 



