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History of Louisisana

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Towards the mouths of the river we meet with mussels no salter than
the large oysters above mentioned; and this is owing to the water
being only brackish in those parts, as the river there empties itself
by three large mouths, and five other small ones, besides several
short creeks, which all together throw at once an immense quantity of
water into the sea; the whole marshy ground occupies an extent of ten
or twelve leagues.


There are likewise excellent mussels upon the northern shore of the
lake St. Louis, especially in the river of Pearls; they may be about
six or seven inches long, and sometimes contain pretty large pearls,
but of no great value.

The largest of the shell-fish on the coast is the Burgo, well known in
France. There is another fish much smaller and of a different shape.
Its hollow shell is strong and beautiful, and the flat one is
generally black; some blue ones are found, and are much esteemed.
These shells have long been in request for tobacco-boxes.

{279}






THE HISTORY OF LOUISIANA






BOOK IV.




CHAPTER I.

_The Origin of the Americans._


The remarkable difference I observed between the Natchez, including in
that name the nations whom they treat as brethren, and the other
people of Louisiana, made me extremely desirous to know whence both of
them might originally come. We had not then that full information
which we have since received from the voyages and discoveries of M. De
Lisle in the eastern parts of the Russian empire. I therefore applied
myself one day to put the keeper of the temple in good humour, and
having succeeded in that without much difficulty, I then told him,
that from the little resemblance I observed between the Natchez and
the neighbouring nations, I was inclined to believe that they were not
originally of the country which they then inhabited; and that if the
ancient speech taught him any thing on that subject, he would do me a
great pleasure to inform me of it. At these words he leaned his head
on his two hands, with which he covered his eyes, and having remained
in that posture about a quarter of an hour, as if to recollect
himself, he answered to the following effect:

"Before we came into this land we lived yonder under the sun,
(pointing with his finger nearly south-west, by which I understood
that he meant Mexico;) we lived in a fine country where the earth is
always pleasant; there our Suns had their abode, and our nation
maintained itself for a long time against the ancients of the country,
who conquered some of our villages {280} in the plains, but never
could force us from the mountains. Our nation extended itself along
the great water where this large river loses itself; but as our
enemies were become very numerous, and very wicked, our Suns sent some
of their subjects who lived near this river, to examine whether we
could retire into the country through which it flowed. The country on
the east side of the river being found extremely pleasant, the Great
Sun, upon the return of those who had examined it, ordered all his
subjects who lived in the plains, and who still defended themselves
against the antients of this country, to remove into this land, here
to build a temple, and to preserve the eternal fire.

"A great part of our nation accordingly settled here, where they lived
in peace and abundance for several generations. The Great Sun, and
those who had remained with him, never thought of joining us, being
tempted to continue where they were by the pleasantness of the
country, which was very warm, and by the weakness of their enemies,
who had fallen into civil dissentions, in consequence of the ambition
of one of their chiefs, who wanted to raise himself from a state of
equality with the other chiefs of the villages, and to treat all the
people of his nation as slaves. During those discords among our
enemies, some of them even entered into an alliance with the Great
Sun, who still remained in our old country, that he might conveniently
assist our other brethren who had settled on the banks of the Great
Water to the east of the large river, and extended themselves so far
on the coast and among the isles, that the Great Sun did not hear of
them sometimes for five or six years together.

"It was not till after many generations that the Great Suns came and
joined us in this country, where, from the fine climate, and the peace
we had enjoyed, we had multiplied like the leaves of the trees.
Warriors of fire, who made the earth to tremble, had arrived in our
old country, and having entered into an alliance with our brethren,
conquered our ancient enemies; but attempting afterwards to make
slaves of our Suns, they, rather than submit to them, left our
brethren who refused to follow them, and came hither attended only
with their slaves."

{281} Upon my asking him who those warriors of fire were, he replied,
that they were bearded white men, somewhat of a brownish colour, who
carried arms that darted out fire with a great noise, and killed at a
great distance; that they had likewise heavy arms which killed a great
many men at once, and like thunder made the earth tremble; and that
they came from the sun-rising in floating villages.

The ancients of the country he said were very numerous, and inhabited
from the western coast of the great water to the northern countries on
his side the sun, and very far upon the same coast beyond the sun.
They had a great number of large and small villages, which were all
built of stone, and in which there were houses large enough to lodge a
whole village. Their temples were built with great labour and art, and
they made beautiful works of all kinds of materials.

But ye yourselves, said I, whence are ye come? The ancient speech, he
replied, does not say from what land we came; all that we know is,
that our fathers, to come hither, followed the sun, and came with him
from the place where he rises; that they were a long time on their
journey, were all on the point of perishing, and were brought into
this country without seeking it.

To this account of the keeper of the temple, which was afterwards
confirmed to me by the Great Sun, I shall add the following passage of
Diodorus Siculus, which seems to confirm the opinion of those who
think the eastern Americans are descended from the Europeans, who may
have been driven by the winds upon the coasts of Guiana or Brazil.

"To the west of Africa, he says, lies a very large island, distant
many days sail from that part of our continent. Its fertile soil is
partly plain, and partly mountainous. The plain country is most sweet
and pleasant, being watered every where with rivulets, and navigable
rivers; it is beautified with many gardens, which are planted with all
kinds of trees, and the orchards particularly are watered with
pleasant streams. The villages are adorned with houses built in a
magnificent taste, having parterres ornamented with arbours covered
with flowers. Hither the inhabitants retire during the summer to enjoy
the fruits which the country furnishes them with in the greatest {282}
abundance. The mountainous part is covered with large woods, and all
manner of fruit trees, and in the vallies, which are watered with
rivulets, the inhabitants meet with every thing that can render life
agreeable. In a word, the whole island, by its fertility and the
abundance of its springs, furnishes the inhabitants not only with
every thing that may flatter their wishes, but with what may also
contribute to their health and strength of body. Hunting furnishes
them with such an infinite number of animals, that in their feasts
they have nothing to wish for in regard either to plenty or delicacy.
Besides, the sea, which surrounds the island, supplies them
plentifully with all kinds of fish, and indeed the sea in general is
very abundant. The air of this island is so temperate that the trees
bear leaves and fruit almost the whole year round. In a word, this
island is so delicious, that it seems rather the abode of the gods
than of men.

"Anciently, on account of its remote situation, it was altogether
unknown; but afterwards it was discovered by accident. It is well
known, that from the earliest ages the Phenicians undertook long
voyages in order to extend their commerce, and in consequence of those
voyages established several colonies in Africa and the western parts
of Europe. Every thing succeeding to their wish, and being become very
powerful, they attempted to pass the pillars of Hercules and enter the
ocean. They accordingly passed those pillars, and in their
neighbourhood built a city upon a peninsula of Spain, which they named
Gades. There, amongst the other buildings proper for the place, they
built a temple to Hercules, to whom they instituted splendid
sacrifices after the manner of their country. This temple is in great
veneration at this day, and several Romans who have rendered
themselves illustrious by their exploits, have performed their vows to
Hercules for the success of their enterprizes.

"The Phenicians accordingly having passed the Streights of Spain,
sailed along Africa, when by the violence of the winds they were
driven far out to sea, and the storm continuing several days, they
were at length thrown on this island. Being the first who were
acquainted with its beauty and fertility, they {283} published them to
other nations. The Tuscans, when they were masters at sea, designed to
send a colony thither, but the Carthaginians found means to prevent
them on the two following accounts; first, they were afraid lest their
citizens, tempted by the charms of that island, should pass over
hither in too great numbers, and desert their own country; next they
looked upon it as a secure asylum for themselves, if ever any terrible
disaster should befal their republic."

This description of Diodorus is very applicable in many circumstances
to America, particularly in the agreeable temperature of the climate
to Africans, the prodigious fertility of the earth, the vast forests,
the large rivers, and the multitude of rivulets and springs. The
Natchez may then justly be supposed to be descended from some
Phenicians or Carthaginians, who had been wrecked on the shores of
South America, in which case they might well be imagined to have but
little acquaintance with the arts, as those who first landed would be
obliged to apply all their thoughts to their immediate subsistence,
and consequently would soon become rude and barbarous. Their worship
of the eternal fire likewise implies their descent from the
Phenicians; for every body knows that this superstition, which first
took its rise in Egypt, was introduced by the Phenicians into all the
countries that they visited. The figurative stile, and the bold and
Syriac expressions in the language of the Natchez, is likewise another
proof of their being descended from the Phenicians. [Footnote: The
author might have mentioned a singular custom, in which both nations
agree; for it appears from _Polybius_, 1 I. c. 6. that Carthaginians
practised scalping.]

As to those whom the Natchez, long after their first establishment,
found inhabiting the western coasts of America, and whom we name
Mexicans, the arts which they possessed and cultivated with success,
obliged me to give them a different origin. Their temples, their
sacrifices, their buildings, their form of government, and their
manner of making war, all denote a people who have transmigrated in a
body, and brought with them the arts, the sciences, and the customs of
their country. Those people had the art of writing, and also of {284}
painting. Their archives consisted of cloths of cotton, whereon they
had painted or drawn all those transactions which they thought worthy
of being transmitted to posterity. It were greatly to be wished that
the first conquerors of this new world had preserved to us the figures
of those drawings; for by comparing them with the characters used by
other nations, we might perhaps have discovered the origin of the
inhabitants. The knowledge which we have of the Chinese characters,
which are rather irregular drawings than characters, would probably
have facilitated such a discovery; and perhaps those of Japan would
have been found greatly to have resembled the Mexican; for I am
strongly of opinion that the Mexicans are descended from one of those
two nations.

In fact, where is the impossibility, that some prince in one of those
countries, upon failing in an attempt to raise himself to the
sovereign power, should leave his native country with all his
partizans, and look for some new land, where, after he had established
himself, he might drop all foreign correspondence? The easy navigation
of the South Sea renders the thing probable; and the new map of the
eastern bounds of Asia, and the western of North America, lately
published by Mr. De Lisle, makes it still more likely. This map makes
it plainly appear, that between the islands of Japan, or northern
coasts of China, and those of America, there are other lands, which to
this day have remained unknown; and who will take upon him to say
there is no land, because it has never yet been discovered? I have
therefore good grounds to believe, that the Mexicans came originally
from China or Japan, especially when I consider their reserved and
uncommunicative disposition, which to this day prevails among the
people of the eastern parts of Asia. The great antiquity of the
Chinese nation likewise makes it possible that a colony might have
gone from thence to America early enough to be looked upon as _the
Ancients of the country_, by the first of the Phenicians who could be
supposed to arrive there. As a further corroboration of my
conjectures, I was informed by a man of learning in 1752, that in the
king's library there is a Chinese manuscript, which positively affirms
that America was peopled by the inhabitants of Corea.

{285} When the Natchez retired to this part of America, where I saw
them, they there found several nations, or rather the remains of
several nations, some on the east, others on the west of the
Missisippi. These are the people who are distinguished among the
natives by the name of Red Men; and their origin is so much the more
obscure, as they have not so distinct a tradition, as the Natchez, nor
arts and sciences like the Mexicans, from whence we might draw some
satisfactory inferences. All that I could learn from them was, that
they came from between the north and the sun-setting; and this account
they uniformly adhered to whenever they gave any account of their
origin. This lame tradition no ways satisfying the desire I had to be
informed on this point, I made great inquiries to know if there was
any wise old man among the neighbouring nations, who could give me
further intelligence about the origin of the natives. I was happy
enough to discover one, named Moncacht-apé among the Yazous, a nation
about forty leagues north from the Natchez. This man was remarkable
for his solid understanding and elevation of sentiments; and I may
justly compare him to those first Greeks, who travelled chiefly into
the east to examine the manners and customs of different nations, and
to communicate to their fellow-citizens, upon their return, the
knowledge which they had acquired. Moncacht-apé, indeed, never
executed so noble a plan; but he had however conceived it, and had
spared no labour and pains to effectuate it. He was by the French
called the Interpreter, because he understood several of the North
American languages; but the other name which I have mentioned was
given him by his own nation, and signifies _the killer of pain and
fatigue_. This name was indeed most justly applicable to him; for, to
satisfy his curiosity, he had made light of the most dangerous and
painful journeys, in which he had spent several years of his life. He
stayed two or three days with me; and upon my desiring him to give me
an account of his travels, he very readily complied with my request,
and spoke to the following effect:

"I had lost my wife, and all the children whom I had by her, when I
undertook my journey towards the sun-rising. I set out from my village
contrary to the inclinations of all my {286} relations, and went first
to the Chicasaws, our friends and neighbours. I continued among them
several days to inform myself whether they knew whence we all came, or
at least whence they themselves came; they, who were our elders; since
from them came the language of the country. As they could not inform
me, I proceeded on my journey. I reached the country of the
Chaouanous, and afterwards went up the Wabash or Ohio, almost to its
source, which is in the country of the Iroquois or Five Nations. I
left them however towards the north; and during the winter, which in
that country is very severe and very long, I lived in a village of the
Abenaquis, where I contracted an acquaintance with a man somewhat
older than myself, who promised to conduct me the following spring to
the Great Water. Accordingly when the snows were melted, and the
weather was settled, we proceeded eastward, and, after several days
journey, I at length saw the Great Water, which filled me with such
joy and admiration that I could not speak. Night drawing on, we took
up our lodging on a high bank above the water, which was sorely vexed
by the wind, and made so great a noise that I could not sleep. Next
day the ebbing and flowing of the water filled me with great
apprehension; but my companion quieted my fears, by assuring me that
the water observed certain bounds both in advancing and retiring.
Having satisfied our curiosity in viewing the Great Water, we returned
to the village of the Abenaquis, where I continued the following
winter; and after the snows were melted, my companion and I went and
viewed the great fall of the river St. Laurence at Niagara, which was
distant from the village several days journey. The view of this great
fall at first made my hair stand on end, and my heart almost leap out
of its place; but afterwards, before I left it, I had the courage to
walk under it. Next day we took the shortest road to the Ohio, and my
companion and I cutting down a tree on the banks of the river, we
formed it into a pettiaugre, which served to conduct me down the Ohio
and the Missisippi, after which, with much difficulty I went up our
small river; and at length arrived safe among my relations, who were
rejoiced to see me in good health.

{287} "This journey, instead of satisfying, only served to excite my
curiosity. Our old men, for several years, had told me that the
antient speech informed them that the Red Men of the north came
originally much higher and much farther than the source of the river
Missouri; and as I had longed to see, with my own eyes, the land from
whence our first fathers came, I took my precautions for my journey
westwards. Having provided a small quantity of corn, I proceeded up
along the eastern bank of the river Missisippi, till I came to the
Ohio. I went up along the bank of this last river about the fourth
part of a day's journey, that I might be able to cross it without
being carried into the Missisippi. There I formed a Cajeux or raft of
canes, by the assistance of which I passed over the river; and next
day meeting with a herd of buffaloes in the meadows, I killed a fat
one, and took from it the fillets, the bunch, and the tongue. Soon
after I arrived among the Tamaroas, a village of the nation of the
Illinois, where I rested several days, and then proceeded northwards
to the mouth of the Missouri, which, after it enters the great river,
runs for a considerable time without intermixing its muddy waters with
the clear stream of the other. Having crossed the Missisippi, I went
up the Missouri along its northern bank, and after several days
journey I arrived at the nation of the Missouris, where I staid a long
time to learn the language that is spoken beyond them. In going along
the Missouri I passed through meadows a whole day's journey in length,
which were quite covered with buffaloes.

"When the cold was past, and the snows were melted, I continued my
journey up along the Missouri till I came to the nation of the West,
or the Canzas. Afterwards, in consequence of directions from them, I
proceeded in the same course near thirty days, and at length I met
with some of the nation of the Otters, who were hunting in that
neighbourhood, and were surprised to see me alone. I continued with
the hunters two or three days, and then accompanied one of them and
his wife, who was near her time of lying-in, to their village, which
lay far off betwixt the north and west. We continued our journey along
the Missouri for nine days, and then we marched {288} directly
northwards for five days more, when we came to the Fine River, which
runs westwards in a direction contrary to that of the Missouri. We
proceeded down this river a whole day, and then arrived at the village
of the Otters, who received me with as much kindness as if I had been
of their own nation. A few days after I joined a party of the Otters,
who were going to carry a calumet of peace to a nation beyond them,
and we embarked in a pettiaugre, and went down the river for eighteen
days, landing now and then to supply ourselves with provisions. When I
arrived at the nation who were at peace with the Otters, I staid with
them till the cold was passed, that I might learn their language,
which was common to most of the nations that lived beyond them.

"The cold was hardly gone, when I again embarked on the Fine River,
and in my course I met with several nations, with whom I generally
staid but one night, till I arrived at the nation that is but one
day's journey from the Great Water on the west. This nation live in
the woods about the distance of a league from the river, from their
apprehension of bearded men, who come upon their coasts in floating
villages, and carry off their children to make slaves of them. These
men were described to be white, with long black beards that came down
to their breasts; they were thick and short, had large heads, which
were covered with cloth; they were always dressed, even in the
greatest heats; their cloaths fell down to the middle of their legs,
which with their feet were covered with red or yellow stuff. Their
arms made a great fire and a great noise; and when they saw themselves
outnumbered by Red Men, they retired on board their large pettiaugre,
their number sometimes amounting to thirty, but never more.

"Those strangers came from the sun-setting, in search of a yellow
stinking wood, which dyes a fine yellow colour; but the people of this
nation, that they might not be tempted to visit them, had destroyed
all those kind of trees. Two other nations in their neighbourhood
however, having no other wood, could not destroy the trees, and were
still visited by the strangers; and being greatly incommoded by them,
had invited their allies to assist them in making an attack upon them
the next {289} time they should return. The following summer I
accordingly joined in this expedition, and after traveling five long
days journey, we came to the place where the bearded men usually
landed, where we waited seventeen days for their arrival. The Red Men,
by my advice, placed themselves in ambuscade to surprize the
strangers, and accordingly when they landed to cut the wood, we were
so successful as to kill eleven of them, the rest immediately escaping
on board two large pettiaugres, and flying westward upon the Great
Water.

"Upon examining those whom we had killed, we found them much smaller
than ourselves, and very white; they had a large head, and in the
middle of the crown the hair was very long; their head was wrapt in a
great many folds of stuff, and their cloaths seemed to be made neither
of wool nor silk; they were very soft, and of different colours. Two
only of the eleven who were slain had fire-arms with powder and ball.
I tried their pieces, and found that they were much heavier than
yours, and did not kill at so great a distance.

"After this expedition I thought of nothing but proceeding on my
journey, and with that design I let the Red Men return home, and
joined myself to those who inhabited more westward on the coast, with
whom I travelled along the shore of the Great Water, which bends
directly betwixt the north and the sun-setting. When I arrived at the
villages of my fellow-travellers, where I found the days very long and
the night very short, I was advised by the old men to give over all
thoughts of continuing my journey. They told me that the land extended
still a long way in a direction between the north and sun-setting,
after which it ran directly west, and at length was cut by the Great
Water from north to south. One of them added, that when he was young,
he knew a very old man who had seen that distant land before it was
eat away by the Great Water, and that when the Great Water was low,
many rocks still appeared in those parts. Finding it therefore
impracticable to proceed much further, on account of the severity of
the climate, and the want of game, I returned by the same route by
which I had set out; and reducing my whole travels westward to days
journeys, I compute that they would have employed {290} me thirty-six
moons; but on account of my frequent delays, it was five years before
I returned to my relations among the Yazous."

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