70 TRANSACTIONS iSgg-'oo 



The Iroquois were a confederation of five tribes, whose set- 

 tlements, south of Lake Ontario, extended in an almost 

 straight line from the Genesee River to the sources of the Mohawk 

 and Hudson rivers in the Adirondacks. From a few of these 

 tribes, the Jesuits, subsequent to 1667, gathered the foundation 

 stock of a colony which still exists at Caughnawaga, near Mont- 

 real.^i^ 



Last summer, guided by the LePlay and de Tourville method 

 of social enquiry, I attempted an investigation into the social con- 

 ditions of the Hurons of Lorette. I endeavored to ascertain, as 

 fully as the short time at my disposal permitted, the present 

 status of the community, the degree of its variation from the 

 primitive type, and the influences which brought about this vari- 

 ation. 



I also visited the Iroquois of Caughnawaga with a view to 

 securing a ready point of comparison. 



PHYSICAL FEATURES. 



In order to obtain an insight into the social characteristics of 

 any human grouping, it is necessary, first, to investigate its means 

 of living ; and these, in almost every case, will be largely depend- 

 ent on the natural resources of the locality. Let us then see 

 what are the physical features and resources of the country sur- 

 rounding Lorette. 



The first fact to be noticed is the situation of Lorette at the 

 meeting point of two great regions widely different in the relief 

 and composition of their soil, as well as in ti:eir natural capabili- 

 ties and productions. 



On the one hand, to the South, towards the St. Lawrence, 

 a relatively narrow belt of flat, low country, through which the 

 River St. Charles slowly winds it course to its estuary at Quebec. 

 The soil of that champaign region is generally deep, fertile and 

 specially well adapted to agricultural pursuits, as evidenced by 

 the fine expanse of cultivated fields interspersed with comfortable 

 farm houses, cosy villages and glittering church steeples which 

 one may observe from the elevated terrace of Indian Lorette, 

 while in the distance, some ten miles away, loom up the busy 

 suburbs of Quebec, the cape and the citadel. 



*0n the map, the location of Caug-hnawag-a is shown by the sig-n Qy 



