CIRCULAR HUMAN HABITATIONS. 909 



hut in the old Swiss lake dwelling's, and there is curious 

 pottery extant, showing that when a house was required 

 giving more accommodation than could be given in a single 

 hut, several round huts were gi'ouped together. 



Going still further north we find the circular form jn'evail- 

 ing in the North of Europe, with the curious feature that the 

 houses are approached by a sort of burrow, with low narrow 

 entrances, apparently designed as a protection against wild 

 beasts. The domes built by the Esquimaux of frozen snow, 

 ajiproached by a tunnel, appear to be the most scientific 

 develojjment of this style of building, which in their hands 

 approaches almost to architecture ; but the leading features of 

 this class of structures are to be found in the tombs of the 

 Vikings, in the rude huts of Russian Lapland, and the Picts' 

 houses in Scotland, whilst it is imjjossible not to see in these 

 structures a rude resemblance to the subterranean prison of 

 Danse at Mycense, referred to at the commencement of this 

 paper. 



Going south instead of north, we find the round hut 

 almost universal, except in the Nile Valley, where circular 

 forms appear unknown ; and in one of the woodcuts illus- 

 trating Stanley's " Darkest Africa " we have a perfect repro- 

 duction of the design of the Mont Albano terra cottas. 



Further, Lt.-Col. Knollys, writing in Blackicood, May, 

 1891, has this remarkable ]>assage in reference to the natives 

 of Zululand : — " The native mind is characterised by a 

 curious incapacity to imagine any shape beyond a circle, and 

 consequently the kraals are enclosed by an annulus, with a 

 fiimsy outside fencing and an inside paling, where the cattle 

 are penned." 



There is a curious corroboration of this in Earth's Travels 

 in North Africa, where there is an illustration of an African 

 homestead, which consists of a circular clay wall, within 

 which are the divisions allotted to cooking, sleeping, and the 

 stalling of live stock. This is a remarkable instance, because 

 the enclosure being only partially roofed over, there does not 

 seem any reason for not employing the more convenient 

 rectangular form for the enclosure. 



The circular form of enclosure appears, however, to have 

 found favour elsewhere than in Africa. 



The Assyrian towns apjiear to have been surrounded with 

 circular walls strengthened by towers, and a very interesting 

 example of this kind of fortification is now being explored 

 and measured at Sendschish in Asia Minor. The rectansrular 



