swANTONl TNDTAN TKTRKS OF TTIK T.O\VF,R MTSSISSIl'PI VALLEY 178 



known the s('ci-('t of the snci'ed stone, llic piilladiiini (tf the nation, and 

 the real occasion t\)r the existence ot" the teni|)h'. How St. Cosine 

 discovered this fact he does not say, bnt at the time he wrote the let- 

 ter containinii- this information lie had been more than five years 

 amon<; the Natciiez, and in a tribe of '.).()()() souls it would be difficult 

 to keep such a secret. At the same time Du Pratz appears to have 

 li\-ed near tliem for a lon<ifer period without having come ui)on it. 

 At any rate the main fact was most unexpectedly confirmed to the 

 present writer on his visit to the Natchez remnant near Braggs, 

 Okla. During his stay there he employed as interpreter a Cherokee 

 whose grandfather had beh)nged to the people under consideration, 

 and one da}', when we were talking about them, the interpreter stated 

 that his father used to say the Natchez w^ere the only Indians who 

 worshiped an idol, Avhich in their case was a stone. In matters of 

 this kind it is always possible to be mistaken, yet the question natur- 

 ally presents itself whether the sacred stone of the Natchez may not 

 have been cai-ried from its ancient abode in the Natchez temple, and 

 have accompanied the declining remnant during all their vicissi- 

 tudes, and whether finally it may not still be in existence. It would 

 also be interesting to know whether this stone w^as artificially worked 

 into a human or animal form as St. Cosme's words seem to imply or 

 whether it was a natural bowlder; also whether it was an ordinary 

 stone or a meteorite. 



Of the multitudinous beliefs and myths that must have existed 

 regarding the various animals, plants, and natural objects, practically 

 nothing remains that may be distinctly recognized as Natchez. Ac- 

 cording to Penicaut and certain informants of Charlevoix, one of the 

 furnishings of the great temple was the figure of a rattlesnake, and 

 independently of these statements it is highly probable that this 

 reptile was considered to be possessed of great supernatural power. 

 This is confirmed somew^hat by the terror one of these creatures in- 

 spired in the Natchez neighbors of Du Pratz. One of them who had 

 a cabin close to his and had discovered that a rattlesnake had taken 

 up its residence near by, moved to the village, declaring that " if this 

 animal once felt the heat it w^ould devour some one of his household.''"'" 



The honey locust (" passion thorn ") was considered of much 

 power or consequence by the Natchez, and under a tree of this kind 

 standing near the great temple the firewood for the eternal fire was 

 always laid.^ 



" Green flies," says Du Pratz, " appear only every two years, and 

 the natives have the superstition of considering that they presage a 

 good harvest." ' 



" Du Pratz, Hist, de La Louisiane, i, 189-194. « Ibid., 146-147. 



*■ Ibid., II, 47 ; soe also pp. 162-163. 



