SwANTON] INDIANS OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES 385 



iaria [Rhus coriaria, sumac] or of the Liquidambar styracistua [Liquidam'bar 

 styraciflua, sweetgum] dried and rubbed to pieces. (Romans, 1775, p. 47.) 



The use of sumac leaves was universal in the Southeast as an 

 adulterant of tobacco, but I have usually been told that it was the 

 leaves of the smooth sumac {Rhus glabra) that were thus employed, 

 except in connection with medicine ceremonies. The above is the 

 only notice I have come upon of the use of sweetgum leaves. 



Du Pratz gives us the following account of tobacco as used by 

 Indians along the lower Mississippi in the early years of the eighteenth 

 century : 



The tobacco which has been found among the natives of Louisiana appears 

 also to be native to the country, since their ancient word [tradition] teaches 

 us that in all times they have made use of the calumet in their treaties of 

 peace and in their embassages, the principal usage of which is that the depu- 

 ties of the two nations smoke it together. 



The tobacco native to the country is very large. Its stalk, when it is allowed 

 to go to seed, grows to a height of 5^ and 6 feet. The lower part of the stem 

 is at least 18 lines in diameter and its leaves are often almost 2 feet long. Its 

 leaf is thick and fleshy. Its sap is pungent, but it never disturbs one's head. 



The tobacco of Virginia has a broader, but shorter leaf. Its stem is not so 

 large and does not grow nearly as high. Its odor is not disagreeable, but it has 

 less pungency. It requires more stems to the pound, because its leaf is thin- 

 ner and not so fleshy as the native variety, a fact I proved at Natchez where 

 I tried the two kinds. That which is cultivated in lower Louisiana is smaller 

 and has less pungency. What is grown in the islands (the West Indies) is 

 more slender than that of Louisiana, but it has more pungency, which gives 

 one headache. (Le Page du Pratz, 1758, vol. 3, pp. 360-361; S wanton, 1911, 

 p. 79.) 



He has the following regarding the leaves with which this was 



diluted : 



The INIachonctchi, or vinegar tree, is a shrub, the leaves of which somewhat 

 resemble those of the ash, but the stem to which these leaves hang is much 

 longer. When these leaves are dried the natives miy them with tobacco, to 

 temper it, because in smoking they do not care to have the tobacco so strong. 

 (Le Page du Pratz, 1758, vol. 2, p. 45.) 



Machonctchi is the Mobilian and Choctaw word basho'nkchi, the 

 sumac which bears the purple bud, and the use of its dried leaves as 

 tobacco is still remembered. The only other species of sumac recog- 

 nized by the Choctaw is called bati. An infusion of its roots is used 

 as a remedy for sore mouth. 



Dumont de Montigny also has a note regarding the use of the first- 

 mentioned sumac : He says : 



They mix the tobacco with the leaves of a little shrub which is called the sumac 

 (vinaigrier) , whether to reduce the strength of the first or because formerly they 

 made use of this last in lieu of tobacco. The two now mingled and chopped 

 together are called among them feningue. (Dumont, 1753, vol. 1, p. 189; Swan- 

 ton, 1911, p. 79.) 



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