SWANTONI IXDTAX TRIBES OF TTTK LOWER MTSSISSTPIT VALLKV 101 



fruits (if tln'ir luirvcsl we iiiiisl (I'ltirnily .•iIimIc m ^'I'ciil dc.-il of .'ill this. I 

 never saw anything more slovenly ami tiirly, nor more in disorder. Tlio 

 billets burnt upon the i»are Ki"<>'ind : and I saw no nials on II, no more than 

 the walls. M. le Xoir. who was with me, only told me tiiat every day tliey i»ut 

 a new l)illet on the lire, and that at the begiunins of every moon they made a 

 provision for the whole month. Hut he knew this only by report ; for it was 

 the first time he had seen this tenijile, as well as myself.'* 



The (le.scriptioii of the Natchez temple given by Le Petit is I'eally 

 that of the Taensa temple, though it is impossible to say fiom what 

 soui'ce it was derived, whether from Penicatit, Toiiti, or some other 

 of the former companions of La Salle. From the absence of any ref- 

 erence to the riches of the i)la('(\ however, it would seem to be from 

 some authentic narrative. Dumont's account is as follows : 



The Natchez also had a temple; that is to say, a good-sized cabin, to which it 

 has pleased our Europeans to give this name; but it was never ornamented 

 in the manner described by a certain author who says that this pretended 

 temple was covered with gold. If he has taken for gold the cane mats which 

 covered this cabin, well and good. I will not oppose him at all. But I have 

 difficulty in excusing what he adds, that this temple was surrounded by a 

 palisade of pointed stakes on which these savages planted the heads of their 

 enemies taken or killed in war,^ since it is a well-known fact that the savages 

 do not amuse themselves in cutting off the head of their enemy, and that 

 they content themselves with taking his scalp. Besides, it is certain that this 

 pretended temple, situated in a corner of the plain to the right in going from 

 the Frencli post to the village of the savages, was not surrounded with any 

 palisade, and that there was no other ornament which distinguished it from 

 ordinary cabins. It is also false that in this temple, as the same writer dares 

 to state, there were 100 or 200 persons appointed as guard of the perpetual 

 tire. I admit that fire was always preserved here without any savage ever 

 being able to explain on what this ceremony was founded. Besides, it is certain 

 that there were in all only four guardians destined to the service of the 

 temple, who relieved each other by turns every eight days (tnur-d-ioiir tous 

 Ics hurt jours), and who were charged with the duty of bringing wood to 

 preserve the fire. If by their negligence it became extinguished, it is a fact that 

 not only would it cost them their lives, but also those of their wives and their 

 children. But as only the great chief of the nation as well as some Honored 

 men and the female chief ever entered the temple, as they did not go there 

 every day but only when the fancy seized them, it may be imagined that the 

 guardians were the entire masters of this fire, that if it happened by any 

 chance to be extinguished they were not obliged to boast of it and could 

 relight it at once. It was in this temple that the Natchez interred their chiefs 

 and preserved the bones of their ancestors.'' 



Dn Pratz says : 



Of all tlie temples of these people fof Louisiana] that of the Natchez, which 

 it was easy for me to examine, is also that of which I am going to give the 

 most exact description that I can. None of the people of the nation enter this 

 temple except the Suns and those who are attached to the temple service by 

 their employments, whatever they are. Ordinarily, strangers never enter there, 

 but being a particular friend of the sovereign he has allowed me to see it. 



"Charlevoix's .Journal, In French, Hist. Coll. La., 160-162, 1851. 

 " It was the Taensa temple that was so surrounded. 

 <■ Dnmont, Mem. Hist, sur La Louisiane, i, loS-160. 



83220— Bull. 43—10 11 



