596 THE MOUNDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 
or 12 cubits deep, and 50 paces wide in most places, and in others only 
40. This ditch was kept full of water by means of a canal that had 
been dug from the town to the river Chucagua. The canal was 3 
leagues long, a pike’s length at least in depth, and so broad that two 
large boats could navigate it side by side. The fosse, filled by this 
canal, surrounds the city except in one place, which is closed by heavy 
posts planted in the ground, and fastened by means of others placed 
crosswise, the whole being covered with earth and straw. Within this 
town was the temple, in which were deposited the bones of the ances- 
tors of the Capaha chief. This the Indian allies of De Soto pillaged, 
breaking open the coffins and scattering the bones. They also removed 
the heads of their countrymen, who had been killed in previous wars, 
and substituted those of the Capahas who had fallen in the recent bat- 
tle.* This is the account left by Le Vega of this village, and though 
it is evidently exaggerated, as are all of his descriptions, yet there can 
be no doubt that it is substantially true, as it is confirmed in all im- 
portant particulars by the other chroniclers of that expedition. Thus, 
for instance, Biedmaf tells us that “ they reached a village in the midst 
of a plain, surrounded by walls and a ditch which had been made by 
the Indians, filled with water;” and, according to the Knight of Elvas,t 
this town, which he calls Pacaha, ‘was very great, walled, and beset 
with towers, and many loop-holes were in the towers and wall. - - - 
Where the governor was lodged was a great lake that came near unto 
the wall; and it entered into a ditch that went round about the town, 
wanting but a little to environ it around. From the lake to the great 
river was made a wear by which the fish came into it. - - - With 
nets that were found in the town they took as much as they would; 
and took they never so much, there was no want perceived. Within a 
league and a half there were other great towns all walled.” 
Proceeding still farther to the northwest, we are told that, within the 
present century, the Mandans, Arikaras, and other tribes living high 
up on the Missouri, when they were first visited by the whites, were 
accustomed to fortify their towns by ditches, embankments, and _ pali- 
sades. Lewis and Clarke made repeated mention of recently abandoned 
Indian villages, surrounded by earthen walls, which in one ease at 
least, are said to have been 8 or 10 feet high;§ and Brackenridge, || who 
visited these same tribes in 1811, tells us of a citadel or fortification 
oval in form, and 4 or 5 acres in extent, around which a village had 
*Ibid. Seconde partie, livre second, chap. vi and vii. Compare this with the 
account of the Temple of the Tensas, by Tonti, on p. 42. 
t Hist. Coll. of Louisiana, part 11, p. 105. 
tl.e., part 11, p. 172. 
§ Lewis and Clarke, vol. 1, pp. 62, 92, 94, 97, 98, 108, ete.: Philadelphia, 1814. ‘‘The 
Omahas and Pawnees too, sol am told by Miss Alice C. Fletcher, formerly dug 
ditches around their villages, and made walls from 3 to 5 feet high.” 
\| Views of Louisiana, p. 242. He adds: ‘‘ Probably, in case of siege, the whole 
village was crowded into this space.” 
