SWANTON] INDIAN TRIBES OF THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 209 



throiij:!! its dcitnlit^s. My lirst instinct was to rcfuso it. knowing tliat this 

 honor was due to tlio coiiiniaiidaiit at the fort, and it appeared to nio so inueh 

 the more delicate to deprive him of it as we were not on too good terms. 

 IIow»'ver, the evident danger of oceaslonlng tlie continuation of the war hy 

 refusing it (hMermined me to accejjt it, l>ut not till after I lia<l taken the advice 

 of those who were with me, who all judged it best t<» treat with these i)eople 

 to whom the commandant had becomo odious. 



I asked them what they wished, and they replietl tremblingly " Peace." 

 "That is good," I answered, "but why do you bring the peace calumet to me? 

 To have i)eace It is necessary to carry it to the chief at the fort." "We have 

 ordi'rs." said they, "to bring It to you first, if you wish to smoke it: we will 

 carry it afterward to the chief of the fort, but. if you are not willing to receive 

 it. the orders are that we are merely to return home." 



I then told them that I was very willing to smolce in their calumet on 

 condition that they should carry it to the chief of the fort. They made me a 

 sliort but very flattering speech. I will be excused from reporting it for reasons 

 th.it may well be guessed. I replied to their si)eech that it was well we should 

 resume our manner of living together, and that the Frenchmen and the red 

 men should entirely forget what had passed ; tliat as far as concerned me I 

 was grieved at no longer liaving a house, but I was going to build one very 

 soon, and that as soon as I had built a dwelling I would forget that the old 

 one liad b(>en burned; finally tliat they had only to carry the calumet to the 

 chief of the fort, and from there to go home to sleep. 



Such was the outcome of the first war with the Natchez, which lasted only 

 three or four days." 



The Tattooed-serpcnt afterward had the warriors of the AVhite 

 Apple village rebuild Dii Pratz's house, and they called it Strong 

 House, " because it was ball proof and had loopholes on all sides." ^ 



The commerce or trade was reestablished as it had been formerly, and those 

 who had suffered some damage thought only of repairing it. Some time after- 

 ward there arrivetl from New Orleans the major-general whom the governor of 

 Louisiana had sent to ratify this peace. He did so, and the security on both 

 sides became as perfect as if there had never l)een anything to quarrel about." 



Diimont's account of this war is much longer, and gives a very dif- 

 ferent idea of it, being Avritten from the point of view of the French 

 settler, Avhile Du Pratz, as always, is more favorable to the Indians. 

 As usual in such matters, it is evident there were two sides to the 

 question, neither of the parties monopolizing all of the virtue or 

 justice. It is singular that Dumont is the only writer who mentions 

 an expedition from New Orleans during the second Avar. The im- 

 portance of these events, many of which are otherwise trivial, is 

 enhanced by the insight they give into those causes which led to the 

 final Natchez uprising. Following is Dumont's narrative : 



This act of hostility on the part of the Chickasaws (an attack near the 

 Yazoo post) was followed a short time afterward by another accident which 



" Du Pratz. Hist, de La Louisiano. i, 180-186. He hero ignores entirely the "war" of 

 1716, but unlike some writers distinguishes between the war of 1722-23 and that of 

 1723-24. 



"Ibid., 186-187. 



■^ Ibid.. 187-188. 



83220^Bull. 43—10 14 



