down to a recent period. They usually framed the sides of their houses
on rows of upright posts, arched with separate poles for the roof.
The Hurons, no doubt, did the same in their larger structures. For a
door, there was a sheet of bark hung on wooden hinges, or suspended by
cords from above.

On the site of Huron towns which were destroyed by fire, the size, shape,
and arrangement of the houses can still, in some instances, be traced by
remains in the form of charcoal, as well as by the charred bones and
fragments of pottery found among the ashes.

Dr. Tache, after a zealous and minute examination of the Huron country,
extended through five years, writes to me as follows. "From the remains
I have found, I can vouch for the scrupulous correctness of our ancient
writers. With the aid of their indications and descriptions, I have been
able to detect the sites of villages in the midst of the forest, and by
time study, in situ, of archaeological monuments, small as they are,
to understand and confirm their many interesting details of the habits,
and especially the funeral rites, of these extraordinary tribes." ]

He who entered on a winter night beheld a strange spectacle: the vista of
fires lighting the smoky concave; the bronzed groups encircling
each,--cooking, eating, gambling, or amusing themselves with idle
badinage; shrivelled squaws, hideous with threescore years of hardship;
grisly old warriors, scarred with Iroquois war-clubs; young aspirants,
whose honors were yet to be won; damsels gay with ochre and wampum;
restless children pellmell with restless dogs. Now a tongue of resinous
flame painted each wild feature in vivid light; now the fitful gleam
expired, and the group vanished from sight, as their nation has vanished
from history.