194 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 43 



I was then among the Natchez, anil in spite of the precautions which they 

 had tal^en I did not fail to discover this, by seeing among them the goods 

 which these Frenchmen had brought in their canoe. I told the young M. de 

 la Loire, with wliom his brother had left me as guard over the goods which were 

 in the stoi-ehouse of the French among the Natchez ; but we did not allow our- 

 selves to act as if we had learned it. A shoi't time afterward M. de la Loire 

 the elder arrived from Mobile with three canoes loaded with goods and 14 

 Frenclimen. There was also an officer named M. de Varennes, who was sending 

 up goods to the Illinois on liis own account. M. de la Loire, before leaving 

 Mobile, had had orders from M. de Lamothe to ascend to the Illinois in order 

 to deliver to them the goods which they had lent him to pay the savages who 

 had been to discover the mines. M. de In Loire remained fifteen days among 

 the Natchez in order to obtain provisions for his people. While he was there 

 the Natchez held councils many times in order to kill us; but, although we 

 knew nothing about it then, we always kept on our guard because we had 

 learned of the murder of the 4 Frenchmen, of whose death we appeared 

 Ignorant. 



We asked S men of the great chief of the Natchez, paying for their services, 

 to set out with us in two days. He had them informed at once. 



Before setting out M. de la Loire had nuich difficulty in making his younger 

 brother consent to remain to guard the storehouse of the goods of the company, 

 for he saw the evident danger that he ran, which would have been yet greater 

 than we thought had not God protected us. After having embraced this young 

 man, we left him among the Natchez, very sorrowful that we were obliged 

 to leave him thus, and we parted, along with the 8 savages, which the grand 

 chief had given us to aid us in rowing (paddling) in ascending the river. 

 W^hen we were embarked that traitor of a grand chief told these savages, very 

 loudly and in our presence, to do what we said, and that if we discovered on 

 the bank of the river people who made signs to us to go to them not to go 

 there, for fear lest they should wish to do us hurt or attempt our lives. 



The evening of the day we left the Natchez to ascend to the Illinois, and 

 while we were encamped on the shore of the river, one of the 8 savages came 

 and seated himself near me, and, having asked a pipe of me in order to smoke, 

 which I gave him, he said to me in a very low voice, so that only I should hear: 

 " AVhere do you intend to go, P'renchmanV " I answered: "To the Illinois." 

 But after a moment's reflection I asked him why he had put this question to me. 

 The savage" replied that his heart wept, because the next day we were to be 

 killed, and the chief, named The Bearded, who is the worst of the Natchez 

 chiefs, awaited us at the Little Gulf with 150 men in order to break our heads. 

 This speech did not surprise me, because one of their minor chiefs, a friend 

 of mine, had already warned nie before leaving their village, although he had 

 not spoken so clearly. I had already spoken of it to M. de la Loire, but we 

 had not placed enough faith in this first warning to interrupt our journey. 

 This second intelligence obliged us to pay more attention to the matter. We 

 took council together, and afterward we called the 8 Natchez savages who were 

 guiding us, to whom we promised a considerable present if they would tell us 

 the truth, with promises of never declaring that it was they who had warned 

 us. All the 8 savages declared to us openly that leagues above on the shore 

 at the left, where the canoes are obliged to pass close to the land, on accoinit 

 of a very I'apid gulf which whirls in the middle of the river, 150 Natchez, 

 armed with guns, at the head of whom was The Bearded, awaited us, and that 

 we could not fail to perish, although there were six limes the number of i)eople. 



" La Harpe in Jour. Hist., 123, simply states that M. de la Loire had barely escaped by 

 the advice of a chief who had given him (he moans to save his life. 



