92 BUREAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 43 



ETIQUETTE 



When the natives meet Frendmien with whom they are acquainted, they 

 grasp the hand and shake it a little, bending tlie head slightly and saying to 

 them always in their language, " Is it yon, my friend?" If one has nothing of 

 consequence to say to them, or if they themselves have nothing of consequence 

 to propose, they pursue their way. 



If they are going to the same place as the Frenchman whom they meet or 

 whom they join they never pass him, unless they are pi-essed by something 

 well worth the trouble. In this case they pass at some paces from the person 

 and reenter the road only when they are at a little distance. 



When one enters their houses they utter the word of salutation, ichla mon- 

 goula, w^hich signifies what I have just said, "Is it you, my friend?" They 

 give the hand and tell him to be seated (chpencM, ' seat thyself), pointing to a 

 bed which serves for this puriiose. They let the person who has arrived rest 

 and wait for him to speak first because they presume he must be out of breath 

 from tlie walk, and no one dares disturb the silence which then reigns in the 

 cabin. 



As soon as the one who has arrived begins to speak the wife brings some of 

 the food which they have already prepared. The master says: "Apas-ich 

 (eat)." Whatever they present must be taken, however little one wishes it, for 

 otherwise they imagine that they are despised. After these little ceremonies 

 one says what one wishes to transact with them or what one desires them to do. 



When the natives meet together, however many there be, only one speaks, and 

 two persons never speak at the same time, but always one after another. If, in 

 the same comi»any, a woman has something to say to another, she speaks to her 

 in such a low voice that no one in the company hears anything. No one is inter- 

 rupted, even for the purpose of scolding an infant, and if the infant is fractious 

 he goes very far. When a question is agitated and deliberated upon in council, 

 silence is kept for a short time. Each one speaks only in his turn, and one 

 never cuts the w^ord of another short. 



This usage, which may be considered prudent conduct, is why the natives 

 have difficulty in keeping from smiling when they see many Frenchmen or 

 French women talk together, and always many at a time. I noticed this for 

 two years, and very often asked the reason for it without being able to learn it. 

 Finally I pressed my comrade so much on this point that he said to me : " Why 

 does that trouble you? It does not concern you." Finally I solicited him so 

 earnestly that he was unable to refuse me, and after having begged me not to 

 be angry he said to me in the common [i. e., Mobilian] language what I here 

 translate: " Our people say that when many Frenchmen are together they speak 

 all at once, like a flock of geese." " 



Shaking of hands was introduced after the arrival of the French. 

 The ancient form of sahitation was that described b}^ Iberville, al- 

 though the people who used it w^ere the Bayogoula, living farther 

 down the river. 



Having come to the place where my brother stood, the chief, or captain, of 

 the Bayogoulas came to the edge of the ocean to show me friendship and civility 

 in their manner, which is, being near you, to stop, pass the hands over one's 

 own face and breast, and then pass their hands over yours, after which they 

 raise them toward heaven, rubbing them on themselves again and embracing.^ 



« Du rratz, Hist, de La Louisianc, in, 6-8. * Margry, D^couvertes, iv, 154-155. 



