SWANTON] INDIANS OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES 761 



and their skin was rough, almost scaly. They ate nothing but raw fish, and 

 when the fish gave out they all perished, leaving no descendants. (Anghierra, 

 1912, vol. 2, pp. 262-264; Swanton, 1922, p. 43.) 



French writers state that the sun and moon were the principal 

 objects of Timucua worship, and at the beginning of spring a spe- 

 cial sacrifice, to be described presently, was made to the former 

 (pi. 97). It is thus probable that the role of the sun was the more 

 important, which would align Timucua religion with that prevalent 

 elsewhere in the Southeast. The extreme reverence in which chiefs 

 were held, amounting to a religious cult, suggests Natchez and 

 Taensa ideology. The sea was also an object of reverence, and it is 

 safe to assume the extensive development of spiritology which we 

 find among primitive peoples generally. (Le Moyne, 1875, p. 13; 

 Gatschet, 1877-1880, vol. 16, p. 637; Swanton, 1922, pp. 381-382.) 



It is not clear to what extent the large quadrilateral town house 

 of the Timucua performed the functions of a temple. There was a 

 temple in Ogita on Tampa Bay, however, on the roof of which was a 

 bird with gilded eyes and within "some pearls spoilt by fire and of 

 little value" such as the Indians bored to string together as beads, 

 and there is mention of a temple in Tocobaga on Old Tampa Bay 

 (Eobertson, 1933, p. 33; Barcia, 1723, p. 127). The descriptions of 

 these buildings seem to suggest the temples of the lower Mississippi 

 tribes rather than Timucua town houses of the conventional type. 



In 1562 Ribault set up a stone pillar on which were the arms of 

 the King of France, on an island near the mouth of St. Johns River, 

 and 2 or 3 years later Laudonniere, leader of the second expedition, 

 found that it was 



crowned with crowns of bay, and, at the foot thereof, many little baskets full 

 of mill [i.e., corn], which they call in their language tapaga tapola. Then, 

 when they came hither, they kissed the same with great reverence, and besought 

 us to do the like. 



Le Moyne says of this : 



On approaching, they found that these Indians were worshipping this stone 

 as an idol; and the chief himself, having saluted it with signs of reverence 

 such as his subjects were in the habit of showing to himself, kissed it. His 

 men followed his example, and we were invited to do the same. Before the 

 monument there lay various offerings of the fruits, and edible or medicinal 

 roots, growing thereabouts; vessels of perfumed oils; a bow, and arrows; and 

 it was wreathed around from top to bottom with flowers of all sorts, and 

 b»oughs of the trees esteemed choicest. (Laudonniere, 1586, pp. 69-70; Le 

 Moyne, 1875, p. 4; Swanton, 1922, p. 382.) 



Of the priests or medicine men, Laudonniere states : 



They have their priests, to whom they give great credit, because they are 

 great magicians, great soothsayers, and callers upon devils. These priests serve 

 them instead of physicians and surgeons ; they carry always about with them a 

 bag full of herbs and drugs, to cure the sick who, for the most part, are sick of 

 the pox. (Laudonniere, 1586, p. 8; Swanton, 1922, p. 385.) 



