254 THE HIVE OF THE BEE-HUKTER. 



had so often jDrayed, and the same sod covered him that 

 drank his heart's blood. 



According to Indian custom, all that he possessed, 

 as well as those articles appropriated to his use, were 

 buried with him in bis grave. His little crucifix re- 

 posed upon his breast, and he was remembered as one 

 who had mysteriously come, and as mysteriously passed 

 away. 



A few years after the events we have detailed, a 

 Jesuit missionary, who understood the Choctaw lan- 

 guage, announced his mission to the tribe, and was by 

 them kindly received. His presence revived the recollec- 

 tions of Rousseau, and the story of his having been among 

 them was told. The priest explained to them his ofiice, 

 and these wild people, in a short time, erected over the 

 remains of Rousseau a rude chapel ; his spirit was called 

 upon as their patron saint, and Chechoula was the first 

 to renounce the superstitions of her tribe, and receive 

 the Holy Sacrament of Baptism. 



In the year 1829, a small brass cross was picked out 

 of the banks of the Mississippi, near Natchez, at the 

 depth of several feet from the surface. The crucifix was 

 in tolerable preservation, and was exposed by one of 

 those caviugs of the soil so peculiar to the Mississippi. 

 The speculations which the finding of this cross called 

 forth, revived the almost forgotten traditions of the story 

 of Rousseau, and of his death and burial at the Place 

 De La Croix. 



