i,50 RErojRT — 1900. 



agriculture and a better defined organisation, settled in the region of the 

 three great lakes, Ontario, Erie, Huron ; the Hurons, to the north of 

 Lake Ontario i the Iroquois, to the south of it ; the Neutrals, to the 

 north of Lake Erie ; the Eries (or Cats), to the south of the same lake. 



The Hurons (otherwise called Wyandots) alone numbered some 

 25,000, and their villages were spread from Toronto to the Bay of 

 Quinte, and from Lake Ontario to Geoi'gian Bay.^ From the north- 

 westerly projection of that territory to which they had been driven by 

 degrees, the Hurons, after their overthrow by the Iroquois about 1650, 

 were dispersed in all directions. Broken fragments of the nation became 

 the foundation stock of the small Wyandot communities still extant in the 

 Indian Territory of the United States,^ in Essex (Ontario), and at Lorette, 

 near Quebec. 



This paper is the result of an inquiry carried on during the summer of 

 1899 into the social conditions of the Hurons of Lorette. The object was 

 specially to ascertain the present status of the race, the degree of its 

 variation from the primitive type, and the influences which brought about 

 such variation. The method followed was that of social oljservation as 

 initiated by Frederick Le Play, perfected by Mr. Henri de Tourville, and 

 propounded by VEcole de la Science Sociale of Paris, and its leader, Mr. 

 Edmond Demolins. 



The facts descriptive of the present social conditions have for the most 

 part been collected by the writer in the course of two short visits to 

 Lorette. As for the historical and general scientific data which supple- 

 ment and explain the former, they wei'e obtained from original sources, 

 reference to which is made. 



Fhysical Features. 



Lorette (also called Indian Lorette, or Jeune Lorette, to distinguish it 

 from I'Ancienne Lorette) lies 46° 51' N. lat. by 71° 21' W. long., on the 

 north side of the river St. Lawrence, eight or nine miles inland N.W. of 

 Quebec. 



At this point three natural zones are observable in close succession : 

 1. Lorette itself stands on the brow of an elevated terrace which 

 marks the southerly limit of the Laurentian formation, and from which 

 the river St. Charles descends through a steep and narrow gorge.-* That 

 terrace, which extends some eight or ten miles towards the north, has a 

 flat and almost horizontal surface ; but its soil, though generally deep, is 

 sandy and rather poor. The land has been partly cleared of woods, but 

 agriculture has not developed over it to any great extent. Along the 

 upper course of the river St. Charles, back of Lorette, no farms are to be 



fishers, which answers to the lake of i he story. The Skqo'mic firmly believed in 

 the existence of these Smai'lEtl. The old Indians say they sometimes saw them 

 when out hunting. Whether such a community once really existed it is impossible 

 now to say. But, at any rate, no such tribe or people has ever dwelt in the moun- 

 tains in the memory of the oldest settlers here. 



' A. F. Hunter, Tramactions of Canadian Institute, Toronto, 1889, 1892. G. E. 

 Laidlaw, Ontario Arclueohqlcal Beport, 1899,13. 46. Compare Champlain (Quebec, 

 1870), vol. iv. p. 36, vol. v. p. 25 6. 



'■' United States Census, 1890, Indians, p. 248. 



' The water supply of the city of Quebec is taken from this river, a very short 

 distance back of Lorette. The ' Chateau d'Eau ' is said to stand at an altitude 

 130 feet greater than the citadel built on the rock which overlooks Quebec. 



