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SwANTON] CHOCTAW SOCIAL AND CEKEMONIAL LIFE 211
to have made him lose forever afterward all relish for a mess of suns for an
early or late dinner. The shouts of the women and children mingling with the
ringing of discordant bells as the vociferous pounding and beating of earsplitting
tin pans and cups mingling in "wild confusion worse confounded,"
yet in sweet unison with a first-class orchestra of yelping, howling, barking
dogs gratuitously thrown in by the Innumerable and highly excited curs, produced
a din, which even a " Funi lusa," had he heard it, could scarcely have
endured even to have indulged in a nibble or two of the sun, though urged
by the demands of a week's fasting.
But during the wild scene the men were not idle spectators, or indifferent
listeners. Each stood a few paces in front of his cabin door, with no outward
manifestation of excitement whatever—so characteristic of the Indian warrior
but with his trusty rifle in hand, which so oft had proved a friend sincere in
many hours of trial, which he loaded and fired in rapid succession at the
distant, devastating squirrel, with the same coolness and calm deliberation that
he did when shooting at his game. More than once have I witnessed the fear-
ful yet novel scene. When it happened to be the time of a total eclipse of the
sun, a sufficient evidence that the little, black epicure meant business in regard
to having a square meal, though it took the whole sun to furnish it, then indeed
there were sounds of revelry and tumult unsurpassed by any ever heard before,
either in " Belgium " or elsewhere. Then the women shrieked and redoubled
their efforts upon the tin pans, which, under the desperate blows, strained every
vocal organ to do its utmost and whole duty in loud response, while the excited
children screamed and beat their tin cups, and the sympathetic dogs (whose
name was legion) barked and howled—all seemingly determined not to fall the
one behind the other in their duty—since the occasion demanded it; while
the warriors still stood in profound and meditative silence, but firm and
undaunted, as they quickly loaded and fired their rifles, each time taking
deliberate aim, if perchance the last shot might prove the successful one;
then, as the moon's shadow began to move from the disk of the sun, the
joyful shout was heard above the mighty din Funi-lusa-osh mahlatah ! The
black squirrel is frightened. But the din remained unabated until the sun
again appeared in its usual splendor, and all nature again assumed its
harmonious course.*^
This is very graphic, but one wonders how many total eclipses
of the sun Mr. Cushman had been able to observe in order to form
an opinion of the average Choctaw behavior on such occasions.
His second account of this is quoted from Folsom's manuscript.
When the sun began to get less in his brightness, and grow dark and ob-
scure, they believed that some ethereal black squirrels of large size, driven
by hunger, had commenced eating him and were going to devour him. With
this belief they thought it was their duty to make every exertion they could
to save the great luminary of day from being consumed by them. Therefore
every person, both men, women and children, who could make a noise, were
called upon to join in the effort to drive the squirrels away. To do this they
would begin in the same manner as persons generally do in trying to start
a squirrel off from a tree. Some would throw sticks towards the declining
sun, whooping and yelling, at the same time shooting arrows toward the sup-
posed black squirrels."*
»- Cusliman, Hist. Inds., pp. 290-201. w Cushman, Hist. Inds., p. 368.