46 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 43 



'J'lie cabins const it utiiiii: these villag-es were so far apart that the 

 hitter might rather be described as neii>:hl)orhoods, and in conse- 

 quence they often covered a considerable tract of country. De la 

 Vente states that " the Natchez, the Tonicas, the Chattas, the Chica- 

 chas, etc., are in villages of 6, 10, and as many as 20 leagues,'-" while 

 on the other hand St. Cosme says that the Natchez and the Arkansas 

 cabins Avere often a quarter of a league apart.'' 



Penicaut describes the general location of the Natchez villages in 

 the following romantic and decidedly exaggerated manner: 



' The villMge fmeaniny either the Natchez villages collectively or the Gi'eat 

 village I of the Natchez is the most beautiful one can find in Ijouisiana. It 

 is situated 1 league from the shore of the Mississipy. It is embellished with 

 verjf beautiful walks, which nature has formed there without artifice. There 

 are prairies around it, ornamented with flowers, cut up with little hillocks, 

 on which are groves of all kinds of fragrant trees. Many little rivulets of 

 very clear water come from inider a mountain, which appears at 2 leagues 

 from these prairies, and, after having watered very many places, they unite 

 into two great rivulets, which pass around the village, at the end of which 

 they join, to form a little river [St. Catherines], which runs over a fine gravel 

 and passes through three villages, which are half a league apart, and finally, 

 2 leagues from there, it falls into the Mississipy. Its water is very agreeable 

 to drink, because it is cold as ice in summer, and in winter it is tei^id.*" 



Very curiously, the names of all nine villages are enmnerated but 

 once, and then by Iberville in the place referred to above on the 

 authority of a native a year l)efore he had seen one of them. The 

 names given are as follows: Naches, Pochougoula, Ousagoucoulas, 

 Cogoucoulas, Yatanocas, Ymacachas, Thoucoue, Tougoidas, and 

 Achougoulas. This information was obtained through the medium 

 of the Mobilian jargon, and oiigoula or oucoula suffixed to five of 

 the names means ' people ' in that language. From this circumstance 

 Doctor (latschet has assumed that the rest of each name is also 

 in Mobilian, and on the authority of Allen Wright he interprets them 

 thus: 



I'oclKiiificmJa, 'pond-lily people," from Cha'hla panlchi. 'pond lily;' Ousa- 

 (/oKcoiiIdx, 'hickory people," from ("ha'hta I'l's.'^n/,-. ossal: 'hickory;' Cogoucoulas, 

 ' swan people,' from okoJc ' swan ; ' * * * Touijoida.s, ' wood or forest peoi)le,' 

 from itl, ' wood ; ' AchougouhiH, ' pipe people,' from ashunga, ' pipe,' literally, 

 ' il:c thing they smoke from.' '^ 



These intcr])retations must be understood as conjectural on "Wright's 

 ])art. Of the other names Gatschet considers Tboucoue '' probably 

 identical with Theloel and llic Thioux of hiter authors," and notes 

 that Ymacachas is " almost homonymous with the Arkansas village^ 

 Imahao, mentioned above." It is well-nigh impossible, however, that 



° Letter of Sept. 20, 1704, Compte Rendu Cong. Internat. des .^m^r., 15th sess., i, 47. 

 '' Compte Rendu Cong. Intornnt. des .Vin^T., l.'itli sess., i, 48. 

 '" Margry, Df'couvprtrs. v. III. iss:',. 

 "f Gatschet, Creek Mig. Lug., :',!, 1884. 



