144 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 43

the loss which the entire French post, which was near by, has suffered, a
loss in fact so considerable that 1 doubt whether this post has yet risen again
at the present time. This is the death of the Tattooed-serpent, my particular
friend and the friend of all the French. He was great war chief of the
Natchez Nation and brother of the great Sun, who allowed him an absolute
authority over the entire nation. *
 We entered his [the great Sun's] house, where he said aloud, Ouitigui-
tlatagoup, he is quite dead. Then he seated himself and bent over, resting his
head on his hands. The instant he said that his brother was dead his wife,
who was present, uttered loud cries. This was a signal of sadness for the
entire nation, which was awaiting the outcome of this malady, which could
not fail to be fatal to them as soon as the Tattooed-serpent should be dead.
Then one heard groans and lamentations on all sides. The most doleful cries
were made to resound under the neighboring trees. Almost immediately two
consecutive discharges of guns were heard to warn all the villages, which
replied a few moments afterwards.
 I will spare the reader many scenes which would only sadden him, and I
will report of the funeral honors which were rendered to the Tattooed-serpent
only those which are extraordinary and of which Europeans have no knowledge.
 A short time after these discharges the speaker (portc-plirolc) entered and
began to weep. The great Sun raised his head and looked at his favorite wife,
to whom he made a sign that we did not understand, until she had thrown a
vessel of water on the fire, which was entirely extinguished by it. Then the
speaker, or chancellor, of the great chief howled in salutation to his sovereign
and went out. As soon as he was outside of the cabin he uttered a fearful cry,
which was instantly repeated by all the people of the villages.
 The fire extinguished in our presence and the redoubled cries of the entire
nation made me fear, with reason, for the great Sun and even for ourselves,
for who could guess the consequences of the despair in which we saw all
plunged?
 The great Sun being always bent over and his eyes closed, I approached a
common Sun and asked him what the extinguished fire and the doleful cries
signified. He replied that it was the signal to extinguish all the fires, and that
it made all the Natchez tremble with reason, because the extinction of the fires
was not done on account of the death of the Tattooed-serpent.
 I understood by these words that the sovereign wished to die. *
 He (the Tattooed-serpent) was on his bed of state, dressed in his finest
clothing, his face painted with vermilion, moccasined as if to go on a journey,
and wearing his crown of white feathers mingled with red. His arms had
been tied to his bed. These consisted of a double-barreled gun, a pistol, a bow,
a quiver full of arrows, and a war club. Around the bed were all the calumets
of peace which he had received during his life, and near by had been planted a
large pole, peeled and painted red, from which hung a chain of reddened cane
splints, composed of 46 links or rings, to indicate the number of enemies he
had killed. I do not at all pretend in reporting this fact to guarantee the
number of tie exploits of this man.
 All his people were around him. Food was served to him at his accustomed
hours, as if he had been living, and his retainer [or head servant lotP]i,
seeing that he did not touch it, said to him: You no longer wish, then, to take
what we present you? Are these things no more to your taste? Why is it,
then, that you rebuff us and our services do not please you any more? Ah!
you do not speak as usual. Without doubt you are dead. Yes; it is done.
You are going to the country of the spirits, and you are leaving us forever."