HISTORY OF THE PECAN TRUE. 439 



pecan. 1 In addition to the few words of description he mentions the 

 common name used by the natives : 



lis sont de trois sortes de noyers : il y en a dont les noix sont grosses comme 

 le poing, et qui servent a, faire du pain pour leur soupe, mais les meilleures 

 ne sont gueres plus grosses que le poulce ; 2 ils les appellent pecanes.* 



While it must be admitted that there is little said to distinguish 

 the nut, the high quality mentioned in connection with the charac- 

 teristic name seems to point to that now known as the pecan. 



Another somewhat later reference based on trees seen in the 

 northern part of the range is made by the Jesuit missionary, Father 

 Gabriel Marest, who in writing to Father Germon, of the same 

 order, from "Cascaskias, an Illinois village," on November 9, 1712, 

 observes that "there are different kinds of nut trees. The pecans 

 (Les pacanes) (it is thus that the fruits of one of the nut trees is 

 called) have a better flavor than our nuts in France." 4 



Unless we assume that the name facane was applied with accuracy 

 to this very distinct type of nut, there is but little Hbasis for an asser- 

 tion that Marest had in mind the pecan as we understand it. On the 

 other hand, the location and the flavor of the nut would seem to favor 

 the presumption of accuracy. 



The situation is somewhat clearer with Charlevoix. In an entry 

 made in his Journal on October 20, 1721, likewise at "Kaskasquias," 

 he observes: 



Parrui les Fruitiers, qui sont particuliers a ce Pays, le plus remarquables 

 sont les Pacaniers * * * Le Pacane est une Noix de la longueur & de 

 figure d'un gros Gland. II y en a, dont la coque est fort mince * * * 

 Toutes sont d'un goat fin & delicat, l'Arbre qui les porte, vient fort haut : 

 son bois, son ecorce, l'odeur & la figure da ses feuilles m'ont paru assez 

 semblebles aux Noyers d'Europe. 8 



1 P<§nicaut"s Relation in Decouvertes et Etablissements des Frangais dans l'Ouest et 

 dans de Sud de 1'Amorique septentrionale. (1614-1754.) Memoirs et Documents origi- 

 naux recueilles et publics par Pierre Margry, etc. Premiere Formation d'une Chaine de 

 Postes entre le Fleuve Saint-Laurent et le Golfe du Mexique (1683-1724). Tome V: 445. 

 Paris, 1SS3. 



2 " Poulce," an old form of " pouce," meaning the thumb, as indicated in Hatzfeld 

 and Darmesteter (Dictionaire gene'rale de la Langue francaise, II; 1784), probably gives 

 the measure of the siae. As an old measure of length it equals the twelfth part of the 

 old French foot, or, roughly, a modern inch. 



3 There are three sorts of walnuts. There are some with nuts as large as the fist, and 

 which serve in making bread for their soup, but the best are not larger than the thumb ; 

 they call them pecans. 



4 Thwaites, R. G., The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents. 66 : 229. 



e Charlevoix, P. F., Journal d'un Voyage fait par ordre du roi dans l'Amerique sep- 

 tentrionale ; addresse a Madame la Duchesse de Lesdigueres, constituting vols. 5 and 6 

 of Histoire et description generale de la Nouvelle France, &c. Paris, 1744. T 6 : 140 

 Lettre XXVIII. 



Among the fruits that are peculiar to this country the most remarkable are the 

 pecans. * * * The pecan is a nut having the length and form of a large acorn. 

 There are those with a very thin shell. * * * All have a fine and delicate taste ; the 

 tree which bears them grows very high ; its wood, its bark, the odor, and the shape of 

 the leaves appear to me similar enough to the walnuts of Europe. 



