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where they killed a man and destroyed a considerable number of cattle.

The three commissaries, Faget, Machinet, and Ferrand, who had been selected by the Regent to assume the direction of the affairs of the company, had certainly been appointed to no sinecure. They had to cope with the discouragements of the colonists, who were constantly attempting to run away from their miseries -with the desertion, the insubordination, and rebellious disposition of the troops-with a depreciated paper currency, heavy debts, hurricanes, and other calamities -with unfaithful and roguish agents-with the spirit of discord, which had always existed among the officers of the colony; and now, in addition to these numerous perplexities, they were threatened with a war from the Natchez.

The three new commissaries who had assumed the direction of the affairs of the company, of which they were now the sole administrators, sanctioned the execution of two projects which, for a long while, had been favorite conceptions with Bienville, but which he had never been permitted to carry into operation. He was authorized to transfer the seat of government to New Orleans, and to make at the Arkansas a settlement, the chief object of which was to establish a connecting point between the Illinois and the lower part of the colony, and to facilitate the introduction of horses, mules, and cattle from the Spanish provinces. Bienville, as soon as he received the desired authority, ordered La Harpe, with a detachment of sixteen men, to ascend the Arkansas River as far up as possible, to make an accurate survey of the country, to look for mines, and to inform the Spaniards he might meet, that all the territory watered by the Arkansas River, from its source down

TRANSFERRED TO NEW ORLEANS.

285

to its mouth, was regarded by France as belonging to her, in consequence of the possession taken of it by La Salle when he descended the Mississippi.

Thus closed the year 1722.

THIRD LECTURE.

ORIGIN, CUSTOMS, MANNERS, TRADITIONS, AND LAWS OF THE NATCHEZ-DECLINE OF THAT TRIBE-NUMBER AND POWER OF THE CHOCTAWS AND CHICKASAWS.

THE soil of the colony of Louisiana had been, from time immemorial, tenanted by an infinite number of small insignificant Indian tribes, the mere recapitulation of which would uselessly occupy more than one page. Suffice it to say, that they had a very similar appearance, like twins fresh from the womb of nature. There were, it is true, some differences in their dialects—some varieties in their customs, laws, and manners-merging, however, in the same uniformity of savage existence and of confirmed barbarism. In the dark twilight of uncivilized ignorance in which they lived, the distinctive shades existing between their moral, intellectual, and physical features were hardly perceptible, and are certainly not of sufficient importance to attract the notice and to call for the investigation of the historian. De minimis non curat historia. But an exception is to be made in favor of the three most important nations of that country, on account of their numbers, of their power, and of the considerable and direct influence which they exercised over the destinies of the colony. These nations are the Natchez, the Choctaws, and the Chickasaws.

In 1722, the Natchez could bring into the field six hundred warriors. The time, however, was not far dis

ORIGIN OF THE NATCHEZ TRIBE OF INDIANS.

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tant, when they could have set on foot four thousand able-bodied men. But from different causes acting. with frightful rapidity, their population had been dwindling away, and they seemed to be incompetent to arrest the gradual destruction of their race. If vague and indistinct tradition is to be believed, the cradle of the Natchez nation was somewhere near the sun, whence they came to Mexico; which country was their restingplace for some centuries. But they were probably driven from it in consequence of civil wars in which they were defeated. Some of the depositaries of their legendary lore even said, that their nation had been one of those that aided Cortez in overthrowing the empire of Montezuma. But soon perceiving that the Spaniards were disposed to exercise over them a tyranny worse than the one from which they had sought to escape by breaking the power of the great Aztec emperor to whom they were subjected, they determined to seek another clime, where they might enjoy in peace and in perfect freedom their ancient nationality. They followed the rising sun from east to west, and came to those beautiful hills in Louisiana, which they selected for their new home. In those days, the country which they occupied extended from Manchac to Wabash, and they could boast of five hundred Suns, or members of the royal family. Now, in 1722, they were confined to a contracted territory and to a few villages, the principal of which was situated three miles from Fort Rosalie, on a small water-course, at the distance of about two miles and a half from the Mississippi. The other villages were within a short distance of the principal one, where resided the sovereign.

Their government was a perfect Asiatic despotism. Their sovereign was styled the Great Sun, and on his death, it was customary to immolate in his honor a con

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PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF THE NATCHEZ.

siderable number of his subjects. The subordinate chiefs of the royal blood were called Little Suns, and when they also paid the inevitable tribute due to nature, there was, according to their dignity and the esti mation they were held in, a proportionate and voluntary sacrifice of lives. The poor ignorant barbarians who thus died for their princes, did it cheerfully, because they were persuaded that, by escorting them to the world of spirits, they would, in recompense for their devotion, be entitled to live in eternal youth and bliss, suffering neither from cold, nor from heat, hunger, thirst, or disease, and rioting in the full gratification of all their tastes, desires, and passions. These frequent hecatombs of human beings were one of the causes, it is said, which contributed to a rapid diminution of that race. But as this sanguinary custom appears to have been very ancient, and almost coeval with their formation into national existence, how is it that they should ever have swelled up to be such a powerful and numerous tribe as they are represented to have been at one time? It is alledged that the other causes of destruction were,—a state of constant warfare, the prevalence of affections of the chest or lungs in the winter, and the invasion of the small-pox.

The Natchez were of a light mahogany complexion, with jet-black hair and eyes. Their features were extremely regular, and their expression was intelligent, open and noble. They were tall in stature, very few of them being under six feet, and the symmetry of their well-proportioned limbs was remarkable. The smallest Natchez that was ever seen by the French was five feet in height considering himself a dwarf, and, therefore, an object of contumely, he always kept himself concealed. Their whole frame presented a beautiful development of the muscles, and men were not seen