THE NATCHEZ INDIANS. 205 



or her conjugal partner should be put to death at the time of 

 "burial. To fulfill these two laws they only married stinkards. 



McCulloh states that the Natchez believed mankind to be im- 

 mortal, and that after death their souls went to reside in another 

 world where they would be rewarded or punished according to 

 their present life. They believed that such as had been faithful 

 observers of the laws were to be conducted to a region of happi- 

 ness, where their days would pass in pleasure, in the midst of 

 feasts, of dances, and of women ; but they believed that the trans- 

 gressors would be cast on lands unfertile and marshy which 

 would produce no grain. There they would be exposed naked to 

 mosquitoes, and they never should eat but of the flesh of alli- 

 gators and the worst kinds of fish. 



The sun was the principal object of their veneration, and to 

 its honor a perpetual fire was maintained in their temples. The 

 Great Sun, supposed to be the brother of the sun, honored the ap- 

 pearance of his elder brother every morning by a repeated howl- 

 ing, and, having had his pipe lighted, he offered him the first 

 three mouthfuls of smoke ; after which he raised his hands above 

 his head and turned from east to west, the course the sun 

 would follow during the day. The temples of the Natchez, like 

 the abodes of the Suns, were built upon mounds erected for the 

 purpose. They were usually about thirty feet square and built 

 of the heart of the cypress tree, which was supposed to be incor- 

 ruptible. 



Du Pratz, who lived among them eight years, relates from 

 their traditions the following history of the institution of the per- 

 petual fire so religiously preserved : The original Sun told them 

 that, " in order to preserve the excellent precepts he had given 

 them, it was necessary to build a temple into which it would be 

 lawful for none but those of royal blood to enter to speak to the 

 Spirit ; that in the temple they should eternally preserve a fire 

 which he would bring down from the sun, from whence he him- 

 self had descended ; that the wood with which the fire was sup- 

 plied should be pure wood and without bark ; that eight wise 

 men of the nation should be chosen to guard the fire night and 

 day ; and that if any of them neglected their duties they should 

 be put to death/' etc. 



Though oral traditions are considered to be of little authority, 

 and are materially perplexed in being handed down from one 

 generation to another, we can still admit that these accounts were 

 originally true. The historical tradition of the Natchez was this : 

 " Before we came into this land, we lived yonder, under the sun " 

 (here the relator pointed nearly southwest, toward Mexico). " We 

 lived in a fine country, where the earth is always pleasant ; there 

 our Suns had their abode, and our nation maintained itself for a 



