  We create a one-dimensional strongly correlated quantum gas of $^{133}$Cs
atoms with attractive interactions by direct laser cooling in 300~ms. After
compressing and cooling the optically trapped atoms to the vibrational ground
state along two tightly confined directions, the emergence of a non-Gaussian
time-of-flight distribution along the third, weakly confined direction reveals
that the system enters a quantum degenerate regime. We observe a strong
reduction of two- and three-body spatial correlations and infer that the atoms
are directly cooled into a highly correlated excited metastable state, known as
a super-Tonks-Girardeau gas.
