swANTusi IMHAX TI{lP>Kt^ OF TI I K LOW i:i>. M ISSlSSI I'l'l \AI.1,KV 283 



il is wiiliiii easy reach nl' llicir ^'iiiis, they lii-c and kill il. 'I'licy ]<ill iiiaiiy of 

 llu'in ill this luaiiiior, ;iM(l it iiiiist lie admit ted that tlicy are iiiori' Kl<illliil tliaii tlie 

 Frencli as \v<'ll in tlu> chase of tlie wild itiiffalo as in tliaf of tlic Itcar and deer." 



Ill 171 1 St. Denis wMs tlispalclied to Texas to exiiiuiiie the Spaiiisli 

 settlcmoiifs in that (piartcr, and in oi'der to aid him in the mideitak- 

 iiiir Peiiicatit was sent to the Acohipissa to brin«;"back the Xatcliitoches 

 and ii'establish them in tlicir former seats. This feiiioval after so 

 many years of intimacy, perhaps owing^ to tlie loss in lijihtin*; strength 

 that it involved, or i)erliai)s because they saw a cliance of possessing 

 themselves of the Natchitoches women and chihh'en. moved the 

 Acolapissa to fall upon their long-time friends, slay IT, and capture 

 50 women and girls. Tlu- leinainder scattered and rejoined Penicaut 

 during the night, who led them to St. Denis. That officer was much 

 angered by this action and promi-sed at some future time to take 

 vengeance on the Acolapissa and restore the captives.'' AYhether any 

 active steps were taken in this direction does not appear, but it is 

 probable that the Natchitoches women were recovered without open 

 rupture, for the Acolapissa are numbered among those tribes which 

 came to sing the calumet before M. de TEpinay in 1717,'' and in 1718, 

 according to Penicaut, they followed the example of the other 

 friendly tribes by coming over to the Mississippi and settling on the 

 east side, 13 leagues above New Orleans.'' Perhaps Penicaut is 

 slightl}^ mistaken in giving this date, as they are not mentioned in 

 La Harpe's account of his ascent of the Mississippi and Red rivers in 

 1719." At any rate, they were met there in 1722 by Father Charle- 

 voix, who has the following to say of them : 



Tlie 4th we arrived before noon at the ?:reat villaixe of the Colapissas. It is 

 the finest village of Louisiana, yet they reclvon in it l)Ut 200 warriors, who have 

 the character of being very brave. Their cabins are in the shai)e of a pavilion, 

 like those of the Sioux, and they seldom make any tire in them. They have a 

 double roof; that in the inside is made of the leaves of the ]ialnietto (latlunirr) 

 interwoven together ; that on the outside is made of mats. 



The cabin of tlie chief is 36 feet in diameter. I had not before seen one so 

 large, for that of the great chief of the Natchez is but 30 feet. As soon as we 

 appeared in siglit of this village they beat a drum, and we had scarcely landed 

 before the chief sent his compliments to me. I was surprised, in advancing 

 toward the village, to see the drummer dressed in a long gown, half white 

 and half red, with a white sleeve on the red side and red sleeve on the white. 

 I inquired into the origin of this custom, and they told me it was not ancient ; 

 that a governor of Louisiana had made a present of a drum to these savages, 

 who have always been our faithful allies, and that this kind of beadle's habit 

 was their own invention. The women are better shaped here than in Canada, 

 and their way of dressing themselves is also somewhat more becoming.'^ 



" Penicaut in Margry, Decouvertes, v, 467-469. 



* Mai-jsiry, Docouvortes, v, 490. Penicaut dates this two years too early. 



<^ Ibid.. 547. 



" Ibid., .558. 



"Ibid., VI, 243 et fteq. 



'Charlevoix's Journal in I'''reneh, Hist, Coll. I-a., 177. 1851. 



