328 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 43 



sceiuled, be consented to it. I'pon this I eouUl not help telling liiiu that he saw- 

 well the condition of things and that having made this discovery he ought not 

 to expose himself to these wretches, who might do him an ill turn. He assured 

 me that it was always necessary to let savages Ivuow that one is not at all 

 afraid of them. 



During this time the chief of the Coroas informed himself, through a slave of 

 M. de la Salle, whom he understood, in what manner the affair with the 

 Quinipissas had taken place. I do not know whether he recognized that they 

 were wrong or whether he was afraid. I told M. de la Salle it would be well 

 to go to the village of the Nachy, and that there we would find refreshment." 



After [traveling] S leagues they came to the village of the Coroa on the left, 

 situated on the slope of a hill {montagne) which comes down to the bank of 

 the river; they went to the village. They were very well received. The people 

 were having a feast. Many Natche had come thither by land. They remained 

 two days at this village — a beautiful country, beautiful prairies, little hills. The 

 cabins are made dome-shaped, with large canes which sustain them from the 

 ground to the summit. They are 15 feet high, without windows, but with a 

 square doorway 4 feet high in each cabin. They have a torch lighted all night. 

 It is made of canes bound together. " I think," says the little M. de la Salle, 

 " that the Tiusa, the Natche, and the Coroa have the same customs, but their 

 languages are different. The jieople are good, hospitable to strangers, but cruel 

 to their enemies. They wear coverings resembling cotton hammocks. They 

 cover themselves (i. e., hold in their coverings) by means of a belt; they have 

 a cord which has two great tassels at the ends. The coverings and cords are 

 extremely white. They also have coverings of deerskin. They adorn their 

 cabins with great round pieces of copper, very shining, made like lids of kettles. 

 They have iiearls, of which I purchased 14 for a mean little boxwood comb," 

 says the little M. de la Salle.^ 



On the return journej^ Nicolas de la Salle says : 



After seven days of navigation they reached the Koroa ; they camped and 

 cleaned their arms for fear of having need of them. The Frenchmen were very 

 faint. The next day, between 7 and S o'clock, they arrived at the foot of their 

 bluffs, where there was a great beaten road. The chief of the nation was at the 

 edge of the water with three of his men. He paid a thousand attentions to M. de 

 la. Salle. For some time they refused the meal they [the Koroa] offered in 

 order to make them think they had no need of it; but hunger obliged them to 

 take it. They had prepared a feast in the open space of their village. It is square 

 and as large as the place in front of the Palais Royal at Paris. At their sugges- 

 tion they went thither; they seated themselves on mats. This square is smooth 

 and flat; they hold there all their games and dances. They presented a great 

 deal of maize prepared in many ways. Not more than about 50 or GO men and 6 

 or 7 women appeared. After having partly finished eating, they suddenly saw 

 themselves surrounded by about 2,000 men daubed with red and black, war 

 club in hand, along with bows and arrows. They appeared to have an evil 

 purpose. They asked what the French had seen during their voyage. The 

 Coroa slave, which the Mohegan [Loup] had purchased among the Taensa, 

 told them all and that they had killed the Quinipisa. their allies. They gave 

 them the scalps. They believed that the French were immortal. M. de Tonty 

 said that it was best to retire; but M. de la Salle wished to sleep there. They 

 ate with gun and hatchet near themselves. The chief advised them to go to 

 the Natche, saying that these youths had bad designs. All the Coroa have flat 



"Margry, Uceouvertes, i, 603-609. " Uiid., 5.58-559. 



