SWANTON] INDIAN TRIBES OF THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 225 



and spiMid the iii^dit. The iiocossaries for a feast, inclu(liii<r wine 

 and brandy, liad boon taken there in advance by some negroes." 



Tile same dux tlie l)atteaux arrivetl, and tlie next morning the 

 Natchez repaired to the commandant and offered their services for 

 a grand liunt, in honor of tlie distinguished persons who had come. 

 The coninianchmt accepted their assistance joyfully, and they at once 

 distributed themselves throughout the P>ench settlements to pur- 

 chase guns, powder, and ball, which they paid for on the spot in 

 poultry, corn, etc., even at high rates. Meanwhile the great chief, 

 accompanied by his principal warriors and Honored men, proceeded 

 to the fort, ostensibly to bring part of the provisions that had been 

 exacted in return for the delay granted them in the removal of their 

 village, and to perform the calumet dance.* 



Suddeidy. while they were in the midst of this dance, they seized 

 their guns and shot down several persons in the commandant's pres- 

 ence, and almost at the same time a company which had been 

 detached to capture the batteaux fired upon those who had charge of 

 it. At this signal the Natchez, who had taken good pains to dis- 

 tribute themselves in such a manner as to outnumber the French 

 everywhere, fell upon them and made an almost complete slaughter. 

 So few escaped that the details of this massacre recorded by various 

 writers naturally disagree in many points. According to some, 

 Chepart was the first to fall, but Du Pratz and Dumont are probably 

 right in stating that the Natchez, having too much contempt for him 

 to kill him themselves, had a Stinkard beat him to death with a 

 wooden war club, toward the end of the massacre.'' 



Other prominent individuals killed were the Kollys, father and 

 son; Father du Poisson, missionary among the Arkansas; and M. du 

 Codere, commandant at Yazoo. The missionary was on his way to 

 New Orleans to consult wnth M. Perrier, and to adopt with him 

 proper measures to enable the Quapaw to descend to the banks of 

 the Mississippi for the accommodation of the voyageurs. He arrived 

 at Natchez quite late on the 2(3tli, intending to set out again the next 

 day, after sajdng mass. Unfortunately for him, the Capuchin father 

 who exercised parochial functions at that place was absent, and 

 Father du Poisson was requested to say mass and preach, it being 

 the first Sunday of Advent, and he consented. In the afternoon, 

 as he was on the point of embarking, he was informed that there 

 w^ere some sick persons at the point of death. He attended them, 



" DumoBt, M6m. Hist, sur La Louisiane, ii, 137-138 ; Du Pratz, Hist, de La Louisiane, 

 III. 254. 



" Siiea's Charlevoix, Hist. Louisiana, vi, 81-82 ; Dumont, M6m. Hist, sur La Louisiane, 

 II, 139-142: Du Pratz, Hist, de La Louisiane, in, 256. 



"^Dumont, Metn. Hist, sur La Louisiane, ii, 144-146; Du Pratz, Hist, de La Louisiane. 

 Jii, 255-250. 



83220— Bul. 48—10 15 



