3l2 BUREAtr OF AMEtllCAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 43 



kill the missionaiy and all the Frenchmen in his town." Neverthe- 

 less, Davion warned Bienville a little later not to trust the Tunica 

 too much, as they had gone so far as to receive j^resents to kill him. 

 Therefore, although they offered him their services, they were 

 declined.'' 



A glimpse of Davion's mission and the Indians among whom it 

 was established is given us by La Harpe in ITID, when on his way to 

 the Cacldoan tribes beyond Natchitoches. Having missed their way 

 his party proceeded 7 leagues above the Tunica landing place before 

 they discovered their error. He says: 



The 12tb [of .Taiiuary] we descended tlie Mississipy ; at 10 o'clock we entered 

 the lake of the Tonicas, to the right of the river going up; at 11 o'clock we 

 arrived at the village and proceeded to the cabin of M; Davion, of the foreign 

 missions, who was pastor there. He is a native of Saint-Omer, a very godly 

 man, who has lived in the colony for twenty years, having passed a part of his 

 time among the Yazou nation.'^ Since he has been at the Tonicas he has made 

 these i)eople abandon the greater part of their idolatry. * * * They have 

 two grand chiefs of the united nations speaking the same language. The first 

 is named Cahura-Joligo ; he repairs every day with his family to the prayers 

 and exhortations which M. Davion makes to them, who is very much revered 

 in this village, although he opposes their feasts and the plurality of wives.** 



The next visitor who has left any considerable account of the 

 Tunica is Father Charlevoix, the historian of New France. He says : 



The 2Sth [of December, 1721], after having gone 2 leagues, we arrived at 

 the river of the Tonicas, which appeared to me at first to be but a brook ; but 

 at a musket-shot distance from its mouth it forms a very pretty lake. If the 

 Mississippi continues to throw itself as it does on the other side, all this place 

 will become inaccessible. The river of the Tonicas has its source in the 

 country of the Tchactas, and its course is very much obstructed by falls. The 

 village is beyond the lake on a pretty high ground, yet they say that the air 

 here is bad. which they attribute to the quality of the waters of the river; 

 but I should rather judge that it proceeds from the stagnation of the waters 

 in the lake. The village is built in a circle, round a very lai'ge open space, 

 without any inclosure, and moderately peopled. 



The cabin of the chief is very much adorned on the outside for the cabin of 

 a savage. We see on it some figures in relievo, which are not so ill done as 

 one expects to find them.« The inside is dark, and I observed nothing in it but 

 some boxes, which they assured me were full of clothes and money. The chief 

 received us very politely ; he was dressed in the French fashion, and seemed 

 to be not at all uneasy in that habit. Of all the savages of Canada there is 

 none so much depended on by our commandants as this chief. He loves our 

 nation, and has no cause to repent of the services he has rendered it. He 

 trades with the French, whom he supplies with horses and fowls, and he under- 

 stands his trade very well. He has learned of us to hoard up money, and he is 



" Margry, Decouvcrtes, v, 519. 



I- French, Hist. Coll. La., 243, 1851. 



<■ .\s in another place already noted, this is an error, due to the fact that the Tunica 

 had formerly lived on Yazoo river. He was always with the Tunica, never with the Yazoo, 

 except accidentally, as the two tribes wore near neighbors. 



'' La Harpe in Margry, Docouvertes, vi, 246-248. 



•" This, however, may have been the work of the Houma referred to by Gravier. — 

 Shea, Early Voy. Miss., 144. 



