SWANTON] INDIAN TRIBES OF THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 185

consciously to agree with some preconceptions of his own. Leaving
aside his deductions, the gist of this narrative appears to be that the
Natchez supposed themselves to have originally come from the east-
ward into a country to the southwest of their historical habitat, where
they found apparently a semicivilized race of people whom they
called ancients of the country," or, as we would say, aborigines."
After warring with these people for some time and being hard
pressed, a portion ascended the Mississippi river on the west side and
crossed to the place afterward occupied by them. The tradition is
suggestive in its statement that the Natchez rulers-that is, the Sun
clan-did not join the rest of their people until later. In all prob-
ability the earlier part of the tradition dealing with their migration
from the east is entirely mythical, having grown up around their
Sun cult.
 A former location of this tribe in a region somewhere to the west is
also confirmed by De la Vente, who says:
 The Natchez, who have the most definite assurese) traditions and who count
45 or 50 chiefs who have succeeded each other successively, say that they came
from a very far country, and [it is], according to our reckoning, t6 the north-
west."
 This direction agrees more closely with that given in Muskhogean
traditions than the one in Du Pratz's narrative. If, however, the
Natchez were really the result of a fusion of a Muskhogean element
and a non-Muskhogean element related to the Tunica, Chitimacha,
and Atakapa, it is possible that both of these traditions are cor-
rect. The hypothesis of a southwestern origin for part of the
people is strengthened by their known friendship for the Chitimacha,
whom they called brothers," but it should not be forgotten that
the Chitimacha traced their origin from the Natchez country, the
exact opposite of the Natchez tradition. That their ancient home
was Mexico, as Du Pratz supposed, is out of the question, both
on account of the distance of that country from the Mississippi
and the implied nearness of that ancient home to the later Natchez
habitat. If the account were to be relied upon we ought to look
for some region along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico bordered
by mountains, which we certainly do not find in Louisiana or Texas,
nor is the geographical position of the semicivilized race with stone
communal houses evident. It is apparent that this part of the nar-
rative must be viewed with suspicion. The reference to fire people "
perhaps contains some reminiscence of the invasion of De Soto, which
must have made a deep impression, though he did not pass very near
the region in question except on his retreat down the Mississippi.
 Taken together, language, myth, and customs seem to indicate that
 the Natchez originated from the fusion of people from the south-
 west, affiliated with the Chitimacha and Atakapa with a Muskhogean
 De la Vente, letter of 1704, in Compte Rendu Cong. Internat. des Am6r., 15th sess.,
 I, 37.