538 THE MOUNDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 
La Vega,* Laudoniére, + and others, { some of whom wrote in the 
latter part of the sixteenth century, bear witness to the fact in the most 
unmistakable language, and their statements are confirmed by all the 
later writers.§ To enumerate these latter would be simply to call the 
roll of all who have written upon the subject, and however interest- 
ing this might be to the special student in a bibliographical point of 
view, it would soon become monotonous and ‘caviare to the general.” 
For this reason, I shall confine myself to a rapid survey of some of the 
religious customs that prevailed among these tribes, and will only make 
such use of authorities as may be necessary to establish the truth of the 
propositions advanced. 
Speaking in a general way, then, it may be said of these nations that 
among some of them “the sun was regarded as one of the great 
deities; by others it was looked upon as the symbol or representative of 
the chief deity, and yet again by others it was considered as the 
supreme deity himself.”|| As part and parcel of this worship, there 
were certain rites and ceremonies, among which that of keeping up a 
perpetual fire was one of the most striking. This fire was kept burn- 
ing in honor of the sun,{] and was regarded as being too sacred to be 
*“Ties peuples de la Floride tiennent le Soleil et la Lune pour des Divinites:” 
Histoire de la conquéte de la Floride, p. 11; Paris, 1709. According to the Gentle- 
man of Elvas, De Soto, in order to ingratiate himself with the tribes through whose 
dominions he was passing, represented himself as being achild of the Sun. ‘“‘ Dry up 
the river,” answered the Cacique of Quigalta, ‘‘and he would believe him:” Narra- 
tive of the Expedition of Hernando de Soto in Hist. Coll. of Louisiana, part U, p. 187. 
t ‘They sing praises to the Sun, ascribing unto him the honor of the victory. 
They have no knowledge of God, nor of any religion, saving that which they see, as 
the Sun and the Moon:” History of the first attempt of the French to colonize 
Florida, A. D. 1562, in Hist. Coll. of Louisiana, new series, pp. 171-252, and 253: 
New York, 1869. 
tLe Moyne, plate xxxy and explanation, Franckforto ad Moenum, 1591. See also 
plate in preface to vol. vi of Herrera’s History of America, in which the Indians 
of Florida are represented as ‘‘ sacrificing their first-born to the Sun:” London, 1740. 
“Les Apalachites adoraient le soleil de méme que la plupart des plus celebres peu- 
ples de VAmerique:”’ Rochefort Histoire des Antilles, p. 412: Rotterdam, 1665. 
Confirmed by Herrera, pp. 328-355 of vol. v, and p. 24 of vol. v1: London, 1740. 
“Le Soleil est en quelque fagon Vunique Divinité des Floridiens, tous leurs Tem- 
ples lui ont consacrées:” Charlevoix, Nouvelle France, vol. 1, p. 41. 
§ Consult Jones, Antiquities of the Southern Indians, chapters i and xix: New 
York, 1873. Brinton, Floridian Peninsula, chapter iii, section 3: Philadelphia, 1859. 
Tylor, Primitive Culture, vol. 0, p. 287 et seq.: Boston reprint, 1874. Squier, Ser- 
pent Symbol in America, chap. iv: New York. 1851. Ancient Monuments of the Missis- 
sippi Valley, p. 123: Washington, 1848. 
This is the classification made by Tylor, Primitive Culture, vol. 0, p. 287, of the 
beliefs of “the ruder tribes” of the northern continent. It seems to me that it is 
equally applicable to the tribes living on the lower Mississippi and along the Gulf 
coast, and I have adopted it, even though those nations are sometimes considered, 
on what are believed to be insufficient grounds, as occupying a somewhat higher 
place in the scale of civilization than their neighbors north of the Ohio. 
q Charlevoix, Letters, p. 313; London, 17638, 
