The present edition is really two works in one, for the English translation did not include any of the original edition's many illustrations. The London books did have two folding maps, one of the Louisiana province, the other of the country about the mouths of the Mississippi River. Not only are these maps reproduced in the present work, but in addition, all the other illustrations, including the rare map of New Orleans, appearing in the original French edition, are included. These quaint engravings of the birds, the beasts, the flowers, the shrubs, the trees, fish, the deer and buffalo hunts, and the habits and customs of the Natchez Indians, add much to the value of the present re-publication. I have captioned them with present-day names of the flora and fauna. STANLEY CLISBY ARTHUR. (_Mr. Arthur is a naturalist, historian and writer, and executive-director of the Louisiana State Museum.--J. S. W. Harmanson, Publisher_.) CONTENTS Preface BOOK I. The Transactions of the French in Louisiana. CHAP. I. Of the first Discovery and Settlement of Louisiana CHAP. II. The Return of M. de St. Denis: His settling the Spaniards at the Assinaïs. His second Journey to Mexico, and Return from thence CHAP. III. Embarkation of eight hundred Men by the West-India Company to Louisiana. Arrival and Stay at Cape François. Arrival at the Isle Dauphine. Description of that Island CHAP. IV. The Author's Departure for his Grant. Description of the Places he passed through, as far as New Orleans CHAP. V. The Author put in Possession of his Territory. His Resolution to go and settle among the Natchez CHAP. VI. The Voyage of the Author to Biloxi. Description of that Place. Settlement of Grants. The Author discovers two Copper Mines. His Return to the Natchez CHAP. VII. First War with the Natchez. Cause of the War CHAP. VIII. The Governor surprized the Natchez with seven hundred Men. Astonishing Cures performed by the Natives. The Author sends upwards of three hundred Simples to the Company CHAP. IX. French Settlements, or Posts. Post at Mobile. The Mouths of the Missisippi. The Situation and Description of New Orleans CHAP. X. The Voyages of the French to the Missouris, Canzas, and Padoucas. The Settlements they in vain attempted to make in those Countries; with a Description of an extraordinary Phaenomenon CHAP. XI. The War with the Chitimachas. The Conspiracy of the Negroes against the French. Their Execution CHAP. XII. The War of the Natchez. Massacre of the French in 1729. Extirpation of the Natchez in 1730