SWANTON] INDIAN TRIBES OF THE LOWER MISSISSTPPI VALLEY 177

less truth than fable. They said that a great rain fell on the earth so abun-
dantly and during such a long time that it was completely covered except a
very high mountain where some men saved themselves; that all fire being extin-
guished on the earth a little bird named CoUiy-oily, which is entirely red (it is
that which is called in Louisiana the cardinal bird), brought it from heaven.
I understood by that that they had forgotten almost all the history of the
deluge, etc.a
 In order to bring about certain results or accomplish certain under-
takings the Natchez often fasted. Such a fast has been referred to
already as undertaken by the great Sun to bring on rain, and further
information is given by Du Pratz:
 I believe I have said that these people think in general that besides
the Great Spirit and the evil spirit there are little spirits which govern the air
and the seasons. When they think they have need of rain or of heat to ripen
the grains they address themselves to an old man, or a man well advanced
in years, who has always appeared to them to live wisely, and they pray him
to invoke the aerial spirits in order to obtain what they want. This man, who
never refuses his countrymen, sets himself to fast for nine successive days.b
 This old man who fasts makes his wife withdraw, and during twenty-four
hours she sees him only after sunset in order to bring him a dish of coarse meal
cooked in water without salt. He eats only at this time and this single dish
and drinks nothing but water. As soon as he has taken this refreshment his
wife carries away the dish and retires and he does not see her until the next
day at the same hour. This is all I am able to tell of their fasts, which ap-
peared to me very rigorous and as a recompense for which they would never
accept anything. To excuse themselves they say that the spirits would be
angry.0
 The existence of various superstitions" is also recognized by
Dumont, and these were said to vary according to the nations and
countries, but the only case he cites is among the Quapaw.a
 It has been noticed," says Dumont-
That the Natchez, for example, had fast days in which they daubed the face
black and ate only after the sun had set; besides, it was first necessary that
their faces be washed. If during these fast days they entered some French
house where bread was given them, although they were very fond of it, they
refused it, and it was not possible to get them to eat it.c
 Fasts, it is to be noted, were not undertaken by a special class of
diviners or shamans, but by ordinary individuals. A set of men cor-
responding to the shamans or medicine men of other American tribes
was recognized, as noted in the section on medicine, and though Du
Pratz declares that their functions were confined to doctoring the
sick it seems unlikely that the supernatural features of their office,
elsewhere so prominent, should have been entirely wanting, and, in
 a Dumont, Mem. Hist. sur La Louisiane, I, 16i-164.
 b In a footnote this writer says: It must he rimemlbred that the Natchez are here
principally referred to."
 SDu Pratz, Hist. de La Louisiane, ill, 13-14.
 d Dumont, Mem. Hist. sur La Louisiane, I, 166-168.
 o Ibid., 158.
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