MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 



477 



of Orleans, but by proceeding 

 alonjr the Lakes, and descending 

 the Illinois or Miami rivers, and 

 may be consideied as a distinct 

 colony, the history of which, so 

 far as may be gathered from them- 

 selves, does not present those hor- 

 rid examples of treachery and in- 

 justice to the Indians, which will 

 for ever dig-race the memory of 

 those who first formed the lower 

 settlement. The consequence has 

 been, that although individual nets 

 of injustice or aggression, com- 

 mitted against the Indians, have 

 met with dxie and appropriate pu- 

 nishment, )et no gfneral act has 

 been committed of a nature so 

 atrocious as to provoke general 

 extermination ; a thing extremely 

 easy to have been effected by the 

 Indians in the early part of the 

 settlement, as there were several 

 pow'erful tribes in their vicinity. 

 The inhabitants of Kaskaskias say 

 that it was coeval with Philadel- 

 phia, and the common term for 

 Vincennes, (Old Post) shows that 

 it must have been one of the first 

 settlements, if not the first. Both 

 these are on the east side of the 

 Mississippi, as also are Cahokia 

 and the small settlement of Prairie 

 du Roche. Besides tlicse four, on 

 the west side, there were fi\e vil- 

 lag;es originally settled, each of 

 which, besides its pioper name, 

 has a nick-name given to it. St. 

 (•ienevieve is Mmne ; Carondolet, 

 Vuide Puclie ; St. Ijoiiis, Pain 

 Couri ; St. Ferdinand, Florissaute ; 

 and St. Charles, Petit Cute. These 

 nine villages were scattered some 

 more than 100 miles distant from 

 Mch other, and no two of them 

 were so situated as to be capable 

 of rendering muttial aid, in case of 

 attack from the Indians, and for 



more than sixty years five of them 

 existed, isolated in a wilderness, 

 GOO miles at least from any other 

 white settlers. 



The villages w ere regularly laid 

 out in squares of 300 feet on each 

 side, the houses standing towards ' 

 the streets, and the interior of the 

 area composed of gardens and or- 

 chards. To each of these villages 

 was appropriated a large space of 

 ground, and fenced in the form of 

 a parallelogram. In this space al- 

 lotments are laid out, correspon- 

 dent in number and relative mag- 

 nitude with the town lots. These 

 allotments extend the whole length 

 of the field ; but their macnitude 

 is determined by the breadth, 

 which is marked on one of the 

 fences, being once, or once and a 

 half, or twice, &c. the length of 

 the side of a square ar])ent of land. 

 In the common field belonging to 

 Carondolet, these nanow stri|)es 

 are more than a mile and a half in 

 length. Besides the appropriation 

 of land for cultivation, an exten- 

 sive tract was laid out for each 

 town as a forest, or demesne, from 

 which each individual cuts what 

 wood he tiiinks pi'oper. All these 

 appropriations have been ratified 

 by the commissioners appointed 

 by the government of the United 

 States, since tlvc cess-ion of Loui- 

 siana, to examine into claims. The 

 Fiench, who are the descendants 

 of the first settlers, are very indo- 

 lent, and so much attached to tl.e 

 manners of tlieir ancestors, and 

 even their practices in husbandry, 

 that although they see their Ame- 

 riciHi neighbours, by the ai>plica- 

 tion of improved implements and 

 methods, able to cultivate double 

 the quantity of ground in the same 

 time, nothing can induce them to 



abandou 



