264 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 43

 We wont to bid good-by to the chief, and he had the canoe returned to us
 aid a qulantity of provisions given to us. He camn. ,accomnllied by 30 canoes.
 to see M. de lt Salle, and brought him so many provisions that it was neces-
 s;ary to throw some of them away, the canoes being overloaded. Savages
 swept the earth over which their chief was going to pass. He spoke with MI.
 d(e Ia Salle, seated on a mat. M. de ]a Salle gave him an old dressing gown
 of calico and a little Mosopolea slave, which had been obtained from the
 Acansa ; file chief gave hin his robe or covering, similar to cotton.a
 Il 1086i, on his second trip to the sea, Tonti again visited the
 Tai;nsa and they sang the calumet to him.b In 1690 lie stopped
 there a third time and made the Tainsa villages his starting point
 in an expedition westward in search of La Salle. lie states that 12
 T'iensa started with him, but when lie had come to the Natchitoches
 Ihlere were 30. The chiefs of the three nations [Natchitoches. Oua-
 sita aind Capich] asenimbled, and before they began to speak the 30
 Taniica who were with me got up and, leaving their arms, went to
 the temple to show how sincerely they wished to make a solid peace.
 After having taken their God to witness they asked for friendship.
 I made them some presents in the name of the Ta:nca. They [the
 Tainca I remained some days in the village to bargain for salt, which
 these nations got from a salt lake in the neighborhood." We know
 from nmany other sources that the trade in salt between the Caddoan
 tribes and the tribes along the Mississippi was anciently a brisk one.
 The next we hear of the TaTnsa tribe is from the missionaries, La
 Source and D)e Montigny, who descended the Mississippi in 1(98
 along" with Davion and St. Cosine, to establish missions among the
 tribes of the lower river. Their accounts are as follows:
 The next day we arrived at the portage of the Talinsa, which is a league
 long, where ve slept. I had the fever as well as the rest of them. On the
 21st [J.nnary, 1098] we arrived at the Tailnsa, II is a league by land and
 Iplns] two by water. They are on the shore of a lake land arel 3 leagues
 from the Mississil)i. They are very humane and docile people. Their chief
 died not long beforwewe arrived. It is their custom to put 1o death nlannyJ on
 lhis account. They told us that they had put to death 13 on the death of the
 one who( died last. For this purpose they put a root il the fire to burn, and
 when it is consumed they kill him will tomahawks. The Natclhez, who are
 12 leagues lower down, put men to death on the death of their chief. It must
 be avowed that they are very foolish to allow themselves to be killed in this
 way; yet it is a thing they esteem a great honor and noble heartedness. They
 have a pretty large temple, with three columns a well made, serpents and other
 like superstitions. The temple is encircled by an inclosure nmde like a wall.
 It is almost covered with skulls. They would not let us enter, saying that
 those who entered died. We entered half by force, half by consent. The girls
 and women are dressed like those I have mentioned before. and even worse,
 Margry, DO6ouvertes, I, 566-568.
 6 Ibid.. III, 556, 1878.
 SFrench, Hist. Coll. La., 72, 1846.
 SI'robably the original was colombe, dove," instead of colonne, reference being made
to the three birds on the roof. See p. 269 and cf. p. 102.