484 EARLY MAN IN BRITAIN. [CHAP. xiv. 



and Hampshire ; in the north the Caledonian over- 

 shadowed the region of the Grampians ; and in the 

 middle there was the wild region of the Pennine hills. 

 Morasses bordered most of the principal rivers and 

 streams. Wild animals were sufficiently abundant to 

 allow of a trade being carried on in furs with merchants 

 from Gaul. There were bears, wild boars, wolves, and 

 foxes, in the forests ; stags and roe-deer in the glades ; 

 beavers 1 in the rivers ; and bustards were numerous on 

 the south-eastern downs. In the north of Scotland 

 the reindeer still survived, and was hunted by the 

 inhabitants of Caithness, who lived in the circular stone 

 "burgs" or "broughs." 2 The dogs used by the British 

 hunters soon became famous in Italy. 3 



The dwellings consisted of small circular huts, made 

 of wood or wattles, or of stone, which were sometimes 

 protected by a stockade of timber in the woods, or by 

 the ramparts which had been inherited from the former 

 Neolithic inhabitants of the country. They were con- 

 nected with each other by narrow tracks sufficiently 

 wide to allow of the passage of a small horse, or some- 

 times of a chariot. These tracks are still to be seen in 

 many parts of the country, and are remarkable for their 

 irregular, winding course, so different from the wide, 

 straight Eoman road to be seen in many places close by. 



1 For evidence as to the animals see my Preliminary Treatise, Paleeont. 

 Soc. 1878, cii. 



2 Laing and Huxley, Prehistoric Remains of Caithness, 8vo, 1866. 

 Dawkins, Pop. Sc. Rev. 1868: "The Range of the Reindeer." For an 

 account of these circular buildings see Wilson, Prehistoric Annals of 

 Scotland, ii 338 et seq. 3 Strabo, Mon. Hist. Brit. vi. 



