SWANTONl TNPTAN TRIBES OF THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 103 



it in (lie iiJituriii iiistory iiudtT tiio uiiim' of passion tiiorii." I liavo novel' 

 been al)le to find on( why tliey liave respecl for tliis tree wiierever tliey find it, 

 unless it be on aeconnt of the employment to which it is destined. These guar- 

 dians are interested in preservintr flie (ire, for it eos(s (heir lives to let it ko ont. 

 'J'here is i)esides, for the scrv lie nf ilic tcmi'le, a nias(er of eereuionies, who is 

 also the master of the mysteries, since, accordinj: to them, h(^ speaks very fandl- 

 iarly to the si)irit. In (he j^reat ceremonies he wears a crown which has feathers 

 only in front and is tlins a half crown. He also has in his hand a red haton 

 ornamented with red or white feathers accordinj; to tlie rcMpiirements of the 

 feast. Above all these; i)ersons is the j^reat Sun, who is at (he .same time high 

 pries( and sovereign of the nation.* 



AMiile the main tVatiiiv.s of this tomplo aro hrniight out clearly 

 enoug^h in the foregoing descriptions, tliey are not sufficiently de- 

 tailed for an accurate reconstruction of the edifice. By piecing to- 

 gether the separate bits of informal ion, however, the following facts 

 may be stated with some degree of confidence. The temple, along with 

 most of the other houses of (he grand village, was to the right of the 

 trail from Fort Kosalie. It stood on the we.st side of the great .scjuare 

 which was 250 paces wide by 800 long (Iberville).'^ Directly opposite 

 was the cabin of the great chief, the dimensions of which are given 

 by Iberville as 25 feet wide and -15 feet long, but by Dii Pratz as M) by 

 30 and 20 feet high. IJoth of these edifices were raised on mounds of 

 earth, brought from some distance, to a height of S or 10 feet above 

 the level of the s(|iiare. The temple mound fell otl' gj-adtially on the 

 side toward the s(iiiare. i. e.. the east side, but elsewhere more abruptly, 

 partictilarly on the south, where St, Catherine's creek ran very near 

 it. Charlevoix gives the dimensions of the temple as 40 feet by 20, 

 Du Pratz about 30 feet each way. and Penicaut 20 fathoms each way. 

 This last estimate is greatly exaggerated, as is the same author's 

 figure for the thickness of its walls, 3 fathoms, although since the 

 walls of the Taensa temple were 7 or 8 feet thick, we may judge that 

 this was considerable. Probably the ground plan was not <iuite 

 square, though Charlevoix may have elongated it too nuicli. Still the 

 proportionate length he gives is not as extreme as the only dimensions 

 given for the Taensa temi)le, 30 feet by 12 inside. The door was to 

 the east, toward the s<iuare, and on the roof were three birds carved 

 out of wood facing in the same direction. One of these was at each 

 end and one in the middle. Charlevoix mentions but two birds, but 

 Du I*ratz says three, Avriters on the Tai'iisa temple unanimously 

 speak of three, and it is therefore i)robable that the Natchez temple 

 pf)ssessed the same number. According to Du Pratz. the southern 

 third of the building was cut otf by an inside partition which com- 

 municated oidy with the larger space. This is not mentioned by any 

 other writer, but there is little doubt that Du Pratz was correct. In 

 the middle of the building or of the larger room burned, or rather 



" It seems to be the honey locust. ' Margry, D^couvertes, iv, 411. 



* Du Pratz, Hist, do La Louisiane, iii^ 15-20. 



