Hurons (of French origin); Ochateguins (Champlain); Attigouantans (the
name of one of their tribes, used by Champlain for the whole nation);
Ouendat (their true name, according to Lalemant); Yendat, Wyandot,
Guyandot (corruptions of the preceding); Ouaouakecinatouek (Potier),
Quatogies (Colden). ]


THE HURONS.

More than two centuries have elapsed since the Hurons vanished from their
ancient seats, and the settlers of this rude solitude stand perplexed and
wondering over the relics of a lost people. In the damp shadow of what
seems a virgin forest, the axe and plough bring strange secrets to light:
huge pits, close packed with skeletons and disjointed bones, mixed with
weapons, copper kettles, beads, and trinkets. Not even the straggling
Algonquins, who linger about the scene of Huron prosperity, can tell
their origin. Yet, on ancient worm-eaten pages, between covers of
begrimed parchment, the daily life of this ruined community, its
firesides, its festivals, its funeral rites, are painted with a minute
and vivid fidelity.

The ancient country of the Hurons is now the northern and eastern portion
of Simcoe County, Canada West, and is embraced within the peninsula
formed by the Nottawassaga and Matchedash Bays of Lake Huron, the River
Severn, and Lake Simcoe. Its area was small,--its population
comparatively large. In the year 1639 the Jesuits made an enumeration of
all its villages, dwellings, and families. The result showed thirty-two
villages and hamlets, with seven hundred dwellings, about four thousand
families, and twelve thousand adult persons, or a total population of at
least twenty thousand.