SWANTON] INDIAN I'KIHKS OP THK LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 155 



happened nt the vilhif-'c I told iiiin tlinl witiiout doubt some ollit'f iiiifurtunate 

 victim had come to ofl'er himself to de;itli. At the same moment we saw a 

 sjiva^e nmiiiiif; witii all his mijiht, who from as far off as ho saw us cried to 

 us: " Freiidimeii, come quickly. The >;reat war diief wishes to lii^ll himself," 

 which made .M.\L St. Hilaire, Duclos, and I determine to run to tlie great 

 village to try and prevent this misfortune. 



As we ai>proached it we met M. lirontin on horseback, who askeil us if 

 M. Duuiauoir was coming. WC answered that we did not know, and that he 

 was not at the settlement, uiutn which he told us that we had done ill not to 

 bring arms, and that he was not too sure that those rascals would not want 

 to take the Frenchmen at one sweep. He addi'd : " They came to search for 

 me, like you, and for the same I'eason, and as 1 arrived St. Cosme" came 

 before me and told me he did not dare to wrest the gun from the hands of 

 the great chief of war, and that the chief of the Apple and many other chiefs 

 were with him. I'lion that I entered his cabin and saw at once that he had 

 been drinking. The chiefs held his gun bj' the butt and he by the end. Im- 

 mediately I had one of my people cut the cord by which his powder horn was 

 hung, which I had them hide. Then I took away the flint and priming from 

 his gun and had it flashed in the pan. That is the condition in which I left 

 him, to go and inform you." During this recital we continued on our way 

 and we arrived at tlie village, where we found the great chief of war his eyes 

 wandering, who held one end of his gun and on seeing us cried, " What do 

 these Frenchmen wish? Why do they come here? Am I not chief, then? Am 

 I a Stinkard? " No one answered him. A moment later he descended from his 

 mound and approached the cabin of his brother, where he had his people 

 called, and I saw that after he had spoken to them they rubbed him with their 

 hands and also rubbed themselves. It was not possible to hear a word of what 

 he said to them because he never allowed anyone to approach him. Then he 

 abandoned his gun and said: "I am treated like a dog. .My powder is taken 

 away from me. My gun is flashed. Is not my gun then mine? xVm I not the 

 chief? My brandy is taken from me, and I have none. All is precious to 

 them. Why should I walk on the earth undisturbed? Does my brother walk?" 

 I had it said to him, " O chief, listen to me. The merchandise is not dear to 

 the Frenchman. You alone are dear to him. Do not you see our hearts bleed 

 for the death of your brother? Do you wish them also to weep for yours? 

 If the Frenchman was not one of your friends his heart would laugh to see 

 the savages kill themselves. Are your eyes closed that you do not see that 

 your brother has now been a long time in the country of the spirits, and those 

 whom you wish to send after him, will they recognize him any more?" "Be 

 silent," SJiid the great chief to- the one who si)oke in my name, "you are still 

 too young to know that. The spirit of my brother is yet in his cabin, for I 

 speak to him. I know that the Frenchman lacks rain, that his grain and his 

 tobacco are perishing. It is very grievous. Therefore I will fast five days 

 more. Then I will bathe myself, and the rain will fall, but I fear much that 

 the beams of White Earth will go adrift." M. Brontin had him told, "That 

 is not of imi)ortance. I will know what to have done with other things (je 

 SQaurai Men en fuirc fairc d'autres).'' The great war chief then entered his 

 brother's cabin. He mourned him. He spoke to him and began to howl 

 frightfully. The old chief of the Flour village also wept. A short time after- 

 ward MM. de Villainville and Dumanoir reached the village with a detach- 

 ment and had the great chief of war addressed still more to turn him from his 



" One of the lesser Suns was so named, the name having apparently been adopted Into 

 the tribe from that of the second Natchez missionary. 



