74 BUREAU 0:^" AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 43 



as the fist, some of which bear as many as 800 grains and more arranged hori- 

 zontally on the ear and as large as peas, fi-om which one is able to jndge what is 

 the infinite bounty of the Creator, since from a single maize stalk which is able 

 to produce from seven to eight ears and which grows from a single seed. 

 Providence, always to be admired, knows how to bring from two to thi'ee 

 thousand. 



Two kinds of maize are distinguished, one of which is suitable for making 

 meal and the other not. This last has a very round grain. The other has one 

 a little flatter and is distinguished by a kind of scratch or groove which extends 

 the entire length of the grain. Both have their uses and serve equally for the 

 nourishment of the savages, the negroes, the French, and travelers (voyageurs) . 

 They can be prepared in 42 styles, each of which has its special name. It is 

 useless for me to enter here in detail all the different ways In which maize 

 may be treated. It is sufficient to inform the readers that there is made of it 

 bread, porridge (bouillie), cold meal (farine froide), ground corn {farine 

 yroUe), smoke-dried meal or meal dried in the fire and smoke, which being 

 cooked has the same taste as our little peas and is as sugary. That is also made 

 which is called gruel igrut), that is to say that having beaten and pounded it 

 for some time in a wooden mortar, mingled with a little water, the skin or 

 envelope with which it is covered is taken away. The grain thus beaten and 

 dried is transported to great distances and keeps pei-fectly. The finest which 

 remains serves to make hominy {sagamiM), which is a kind of porridge cooked 

 with oil or meat. It is a very good and very nourishing aliment.*^ 



Louisiana produces many kinds of maize, such as the flour maize which is 

 white, flat, and corrugated, but more tender than the other kinds ; the gruel or 

 grits maize which is round, hard, and glossy. Of this latter kind there is 

 white, yeUow, red, and blue. The maize of these two last colors is more com- 

 mon in the highlands than in lower Louisiana. We have besides the little 

 grain or little maize, so named because it is a variety smaller than the others. 

 This little grain is sowed as soon as [the settler] arrives in the country, in 

 order to have something to live on very soon, because it comes up very quickly 

 and ripens in such a short time that a person can gather two harvests in the 

 samo field and the same year. Besides this advantage it has that of flattering 

 the taste much more than the large kind. 



The maize which we call in France Turkish grain is the grain proper to the 

 country, since it was found cultivated by the natives. It grows on a stem 6, 7, 

 and 8 feet in height. It puts out great ears of about 2 inches in diameter, 

 on which have been counted 700 grains and more, and each stalk sometimes 

 bears 6 and 7 ears, according to the quality of the earth. That which suits it 

 best is black and light. Heavy earth is less favorable to it. 



This grain, as is known, is very wholesome for men and for animals, above all 

 for poultry. The natives adapt it in many ways to vary their dishes. The 

 best is by making of it cold meal. As there is no person, even without appe- 

 tite, who does not eat of it with pleasure, I will give the manner of preparing it 

 in order that our provinces of France which harvest this grain may be able 

 to draw from it the same usefulness. 



First, this grain is half cooked in water, then drained and well dried. When 

 it is well dried, it is ground or scorched in a dish niadt> expressly for the 

 purpose, being mixed with ashes to keep it from burning, and it is moved inces- 

 santly in order to give it the red color which is proper. When it has assumed 

 this color all the ashes are removed, it is rubbed well and placed in a mortar 

 with ashes of dried bean (favioles) plants and a little water. Then it is gently 



" Dumont, Mem. Hist, sur La Louisianc, i, 32-.'i4. 



