SWANTONI INDIAN TRIBES OF THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 173

known the secret of the sacred stone, the palladium of the nation, and
the real occasion for the existence of the temple. How St. Cosme
discovered this fact he does not say, but at the time he wrote the let-
ter containing this information he had been more than five years
among the Natchez, and in a tribe of 3,000 souls it would be difficult
to keep such a secret. At the same time Du Pratz appears to have
lived near them for a longer period without having come upon it.
At any rate the main fact was most unexpectedly confirmed to the
present writer on his visit to the Natchez remnant near Braggs,
Okla. During his stay there he employed as interpreter a Cherokee
whose grandfather had belonged to the people under consideration,
and one day, when we were talking about them, the interpreter stated
that his father used to say the Natchez were the only Indians who
worshiped an idol, which in their case was a stone. In matters of
this kind it is always possible to be mistaken, yet the question natur-
ally presents itself whether the sacred stone of the Natchez may not
have been carried from its ancient abode in the Natchez temple, and
have accompanied the declining remnant during all their vicissi-
tudes, and whether finally it may not still be in existence. It would
also be interesting to know whether this stone was artificially worked
into a human or animal form as St. Cosme's words seem to imply or
whether it was a natural bowlder; also whether it was an ordinary
stone or a meteorite.
 Of the multitudinous beliefs and myths that must have existed
regarding the various animals, plants, and natural objects, practically
nothing remains that may be distinctly recognized as Natchez. Ac-
cording to Penicaut and certain informants of Charlevoix, one of the
furnishings of the great temple was the figure of a rattlesnake, and
independently of these statements it is highly probable that this
reptile was considered to be possessed of great supernatural power.
This is confirmed somewhat by the terror one of these creatures in-
spired in the Natchez neighbors of IDu Pratz. One of them who had
a cabin close to his and had discovered that a rattlesnake had taken
up its residence near by, moved to the village, declaring that if this
animal once felt the heat it would devour some one of his household." a
 The honey locust (" passion thorn ") was considered of much
power or consequence by the Natchez, and under a tree of this kind
standing near the great temple the firewood for the eternal fire was
always laid.'
 Green flies," says Du Pratz, appear only every two years, and
the natives have the superstition of considering that they presage a
good harvest." '
 a Du Pratz, Hist. de La Louisiane, 1, 189-104. c Ibid., 146-147.
 "Ibid., II, 47; see also pp. 102-163.