81G GEEMAXY. 



three hundred pile villages have been discovered in that country, and modern towns 

 like Mecklenburg, Schwerin, Old Wismar, and "VVollin actually occupy the sites of 

 such villages. Ancient chronicles tell us that in the twelfth century most of the 

 people lived in the middle of swamps and pools. It is to be presumed they 

 had houses on the land, and places of refuge in the midbt of the waters, to 

 which they retired with their cuttle when threatened by enemies. Numerous 

 pits in the forests indicate the sites of ancient habitations coeval with the pile 

 dwellings which date back to the stone age. An examination of the grave- 

 hills in Mecklenburg has brought to light implements representing the entire 

 series of prehistoric ages, from that of stone to that of iron. 



At the dawn of history nearly the whole of the country to the east of the Elbe, 

 and many districts to the west of that river, were in the possession of Slavs. 

 The geographical nomenclature is still Slav to a very great extent. There are a 

 river in Mecklenburg called Rieka, a forest of beech-trees on the Baltic known 

 as Bukovina, and a northern Belgrad. These Slavs came into the country 

 when the Teutonic tribes migrated westward, in their passage across the Homan 

 Empire. A few centuries later, however, a movement in a contrary sense 

 transpired, and the tide of German migration flowed back upon the Slavs. A 

 violent struggle ensued between the two races, the victors exterminating the van- 

 quished, or reducing them to a state of servitude. Side by side with this war- 

 like invasion there took place a peaceable settlement of the country. Frieslanders 

 and Hollanders, driven from their homes by the floods of the North Sea, settled 

 down in Pomerania, and gradually Germanised the native inhabitants. In course 

 of time the Slavs disappeared from the towns, and in the end they were to be found 

 only in the lake regions, where they subsisted upon the produce of their fisheries. 

 The last woman of the island of Riigen able to talk the old Wendish dialect died 

 early in the fifteenth century. The Germans introduced, too, a new religion, 

 for the Slavs at that time were still heathen. 



We have already seen (p. 292) that a remnant of the old Wendish inhabitants 

 survives to this day in the upper basin of the Spree. But in the basin of the Oder 

 the number of Slavs is far more considerable, and they maintain their ground more 

 firmly, for they are Catholics, whilst their German neighbours are Protestants. 

 Chechian is spoken by about 10,000 persons in the environs of Glatz. Moravian by 

 50,000 in the districts of Ratibor and Leobschiitz, and Polish along both banks 

 of the Oder down to its confluence with the Neisse, in Poznania, and on the banks 

 ofthe Warthe. Great eflbrts have been made to eradicate the use of Polish, but 

 hitherto in vain. The names of Polish towns and villages have been Germanised, 

 and German alone is taught in the schools. German is the language of adminis- 

 tration, commerce, and industry, and hence it need not cause siirprise if it gains 

 ground, more especially in Upper Silesia, where a corrupt dialect of Polish is 

 spoken. In the towns the German, including the Jewish element, is reinforced 

 by immigration, and in none, not even in Gnesen, are the Poles in a majority. 

 In the country districts, on the other hand, the Poles maintain their footing, 

 and even increase, for the Germans emigrate, which the Poles do but rarely. At 



