258 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [hull. 43 



the usage of the country when any lord died to kill some persons, who 

 phonld accoiiii)any and serve him on the way, on which account they 

 were brought; and he told him to command their heads to be struck 

 off, that they might go accordingly to attend his fi'iend and master,"" 

 This is a custom which in later times existed only among the Natchez 

 and theTaensa,and it is curious that, in the cabin of the Taensa chief, 

 Nicolas de la Salle states that he saw an old Spanish sword and 

 thi'ee old guns.'' AVilh these two facts in mind the writer is tempted 

 to find Guachoya in the Taensa town recorded by Iberville as Concha- 

 yon,'' in which it must be remembered that the n"s are nasalized. If 

 there were any truth in this identification Ave should also expect some 

 relationship between the Natchez and De Soto's Quigaltani (Elvas),'' 

 or Quigaltanqui (Garcilasso),'- but no real proof of this exists. 



AVhen first encountered by the French the Taensa dwelt on the 

 shores of Lake St. Joseph, about 3 leagues from the eastern end 

 and probably on the northern side in the places shown on plate 11, 

 Tonti implies that there were nine villages,'' but in the froces- 

 rcrhal the number given is eight,» and in IGDO Iberville Avas told by 

 a Taensa Indian that there were seven, which he named as follows: 

 Taensas, Ohytoucoulas, Nyhougoulas, Couthaougoula, Conchayon, 

 Talaspa, and Chaoucoula.'' The ending -ucoula or -ugoula is the 

 Choctaw Avord for 'people,' from Avhich circumstance Gatschet inferred 

 that the name's Avere all giA^en in the Mobilian jargon, and he attempts 

 to interpret six of them, as folloAvs: Taensas, from ChoctaAv tcC'dshi, 

 'maize;' Ohytoucoulas, perhaps from u'ti, 'chestnut,' cf. vfa'pa, 

 'chestnut eater;' Couthaougoulas, from Choctaw iiFha'tax^ 'lake;' 

 Conchayon, cf. ChoctaAv ko'nshak, ' reed,' ' species of cane;' Talaspa, 

 probably from ta'^lapi, ' fiA^e,' or ta'^lepa, 'hundred;' Chaoucoula, 

 from ChoctaAv hsi, ' deer,' or ha'tche, ' river,' ' Avater-course.' " Very 

 little reliance can be placed upon these etymologies, hoAvever, for the 

 Taensa language was quite distinct from ChoctaAv, and even Avhere 

 the ending signifying ' people ' occurs it is possible that the balance of 

 the Avord is Taensa. The Avord Taensa itself is almost certainly na- 

 tiA^e. for along the Mississi])pi. as we liave seen, there is no instance '' 

 oi a tribe called by any name other than that by Avhich it designated 

 itself. In spite of the number of villages this seems to have been a 

 A'ery small tribe, and Avas probably decreasing even before contact 

 Avith Europeans. 



" Eourno, Narratives of De Soto, i, 162-163. 



''Margry, Decouvortes, I, 566. 



'■ Ibid., IV, 179. 



•'Bourne, Narratives of De Soto, i. !.">:!. 



•^ Shipp, History of Hernando de Soto and Florida, 4.')7. 



'Margry, Dficouverte-s, i, 601. 



fibid., II, 18!), 1877. 



* Gatschet, Creeli Mig. Leg., i, ;il. 



♦ Except possibly the Grigra, 



