BWANTon] INDIAN THIHKS OF THK LOWKR MISSISSI I'lM VALLEY 229 



dresses, etc. Tlu' others wci'c cniploycd in ciiltiii^' and carryiii'i- wood 

 for c()okin<i:, und in i)onndin<j: corn, " of wiiicii tlicv make their hom- 

 iny." They were «2:ivcn to understand that the same fate had t)efallen 

 all the other Fn-nch })osts in I^ouisiana, and that the I^niiTi^h wouhl 

 soon come to take the phices of the French. 



As soon as they were assured that not another Frenchman re- 

 mained at the post they applied themselves to plunder the houses, 

 the niatjazine of the Company of the Indies, and all the boats which 

 were still loaded by the bank of the river. 'Jlii'V emj)loyed the ne<>:roes 

 to trans})ort the merchandise, which they divided amon<i; themselves, 

 vath the exception of the muniti(ms of war, which they placed for 

 security in a separate cabin. AA'hile the brandy lasted, of Avhich they 

 found a good supply, they passed their days and ni<i:lits in drinkino^, 

 singing, dancing, and insulting in the most barbarous manner the 

 dead bodies and the memory of the French. The Choctaws and other 

 savages being engaged in the same plot they had no fear of reprisals. 

 One night when they were plunged in drniikeimess and asleej), 

 ^ ladame des Noyers wished to make use of the negroes to revenge 

 the death of her husband and the French, but she was betrayed l)y 

 the person to whom she confided her design, and came very near being 

 burned alive." 



Only two men were spared, one a carter named Mayeux, who was 

 employed to superintend the transportation of the French effects to 

 the Natchez villages, and the other a tailor, Le Beau, to whom was 

 assigned the duty of making over articles of clothing for their Indian 

 wearers. He was also used as a decoy to entice several Frenchmen to 

 their death. This was done to a Yazoo storekeeper named Le Hon, 

 who had found temporary refuge in the woods, and to a pirogue 

 containing five persons, three of whom Avere shot and a fourth cap- 

 tured and burned in the frame {cadre), wdiile the fifth effected his 

 escape to the Tunica.'' 



As stated above,'' there was a party of Yazoo Indians near Natchez 

 at this time who had descended with M. Codere, the commandant of 

 the Yazoo post. According to Le Petit they were going to the 

 Houmas ** to dance the calumet, but Dumont and Du Pratz state that 

 they iiad intended to perforhi the same function with the Natchez, 

 but were put off by the great chief until after the massacre, when he 

 hoped to gain them to his interest.'' The latter is probabl}'^ the true 

 account, and, at any rate, in spite of their recent protestations of 

 friendshij) through the storekeeper Eicard, they were unable to with- 

 stand the presents lavished upon them, and returned to their people 

 prepared to follow the example that had been set. This they soon did. 



On the 11th of December Father Souel, missionary to these people, 

 was returning in the evening from visiting the chief of the Yazoos, 



" Shoa's Charlevoix, Hist. Louisiana, vi, 8;)-84 ; Le Petit in .les. Rcl., lxviii, 1G8-171. 

 As usual, the accounts of Le Petit and Cbarleviox run almost parallel. 



''Dumont, Mem. Hist, sur La I.ouisiane. ii, IS.'t-L'iO. 



c p_ 227. 



•^ Jes. Rel., LXVIII, ITo. 



« Dumont, Mem. Hist, sur La Louisiane, ii, 100-162; Du Pratz, Hist, do La Louisiane, 

 III, 262-263. 



