80 FOSSIL MEN. 



objects of this kind found in circumstances which 

 prevented the supposition of mere superficial inter- 

 mixture, are just sufficient to show that the village 

 existed until the appearance of Europeans on the 

 stage/' On the whole, the situation and the remains 

 found not only establish the strongest probability 

 that this is the veritable site, but serve to vindicate 

 Cartier's narration from the doubts cast upon it by 

 subsequent explorers, who visited the country after 

 Hochelaga had disappeared. 



Since the days when Cain went forth as the first 

 emigrant and built a city, defence and shelter have 

 ranked among the primary wants of man. The means 

 by which they are secured depend partly on the state 

 of civilization which may have been reached, and 

 partly on the materials at hand ; but chiefly on the 

 latter. In rocky regions, caverns and over-hanging 

 ledges afford the most convenient shelter, and stones 

 afford the materials of cyclopean walls for defence. 

 On treeless, alluvial plains the nomad makes his tent 

 of skin, and when he becomes settled has recourse to 

 earthen walls or sun-dried brick. In forest countries 

 wood or bark forms the most convenient material, 

 whether for savage or civilized nations. The Ameri- 

 can tribe of the Moquis, in the rocky tablelands of 

 New Mexico, build stone structures as massive as any 

 ordinarily constructed by civilized man. The modern 

 inhabitants of the plain of the Euphrates use brick 

 and sun-dried clay exactly as the earliest settlers in 

 the plain of Shinar must have done. The European 



