254 NATURAL AND CIVIL 



and all ripe. In the midst of these fields of corn J 

 and surrounded by them, was the Indian capi* 

 tal, Hochelaga. 



The construction and state of the town dis- 

 covered a degree of improvement, of which Cartier 

 had before met with no specimen in the Indian 

 country, and had no expectation to find from 

 the Indian genius. It was laid out in a circular 

 form, and was surrounded with three lines of 

 palisadoes ; through these palisades there was 

 but one passage or place of entrance, and that 

 was well secured both with stakes and bars. 

 Oil the inside, the fortification consisted of what 

 in the European language was called a rampart 

 of timber, to which the ascent was by ladders ; 

 heaps of stones were also collected, and placed 

 in such situations as would best serve the pur- 

 poses ,of strength or defence. Within these 

 fortifications there were about fifty Indian hous- 

 es : these houses were a kind of long huts, 

 built with stakes, and covered with the bark of 

 trees. In the middle of each Indian house there 

 was a fire place ; and around the sides were the 

 lodging or sleeping places,, the floors of which 

 were bark, and the covering made of skins. In 

 the upper parts of the houses were scaffolds, on 

 which they placed and dried their corn. Their 

 provisions were corn, beans, squashes, pump- 

 kins, and fish. Their corn they pounded in a 

 kind of wooden mortars, and when beat mixed 

 with water, and- -baked on hot stones. Their 

 fish was dried in the sun, or in their houses, 

 and preserved in troughs. Their squashes and 

 pumpkins were genemlly consumed while they 

 remained green. At Hochelaga the people ap^ 



