﻿114 
  [Assembly 
  

  

  fixing 
  them 
  at 
  such 
  an 
  angle 
  that 
  they 
  inclined 
  over 
  the 
  trench. 
  * 
  

   Sometimes 
  a 
  village 
  was 
  surrounded 
  by 
  a 
  double 
  or 
  even 
  treble 
  

   row 
  of 
  palisades. 
  Within 
  this 
  enclosure 
  they 
  constructed 
  their 
  

   bark 
  houses, 
  which 
  were 
  very 
  large 
  and 
  designed 
  for 
  several 
  fami- 
  

   lies, 
  and 
  in 
  them 
  secured 
  their 
  stores. 
  Around 
  it 
  was 
  the 
  vil- 
  

   lage 
  field, 
  consisting 
  oftentimes 
  of 
  several 
  hundred 
  acres 
  of 
  culti- 
  

   vated 
  land, 
  which 
  was 
  subdivided 
  into 
  planting 
  lots 
  ; 
  those 
  be- 
  

   longing 
  to 
  different 
  families 
  being 
  bounded 
  by 
  uncultivated 
  

   ridges. 
  

  

  Eut 
  at 
  the 
  commencement 
  of 
  the 
  seventeenth 
  century, 
  when 
  

   their 
  power 
  had 
  become 
  consolidated, 
  and 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  adjacent 
  

   nations 
  had 
  been 
  brought 
  under 
  subjection, 
  the 
  necessity 
  of 
  stock- 
  

   ading 
  their 
  villages 
  in 
  a 
  measure 
  ceased, 
  and 
  with 
  it 
  the 
  practice. 
  

   At 
  the 
  period 
  of 
  the 
  discovery 
  of 
  the 
  inland 
  Iroquois, 
  about 
  the 
  

   year 
  1640, 
  few, 
  if 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  villages 
  of 
  the 
  Senecas, 
  Cayugas, 
  or 
  

   Onondagas 
  were 
  surrounded 
  with 
  palisades 
  ; 
  but 
  the 
  Oneidas 
  and 
  

   Mohawks 
  continued 
  to 
  stockade 
  their 
  villages 
  for 
  many 
  years 
  af- 
  

   terwards 
  in 
  consequence 
  of 
  the 
  inroads 
  of 
  the 
  French. 
  From 
  

   being 
  compact, 
  their 
  villages 
  afterwards 
  came 
  to 
  be 
  scattered 
  over 
  

   a 
  large 
  area, 
  and 
  their 
  houses 
  were 
  planted, 
  like 
  the 
  trees 
  of 
  the 
  

   forest, 
  at 
  irregular 
  intervals. 
  No 
  attempt 
  in 
  the 
  modern 
  village 
  

   was 
  made 
  at 
  a 
  street, 
  or 
  at 
  an 
  arrangement 
  of 
  their 
  houses 
  in 
  a 
  

   row 
  ; 
  two 
  houses 
  seldom 
  fronting 
  the 
  same 
  line. 
  They 
  are 
  merely 
  

   grouped 
  together 
  sufficiently 
  near 
  for 
  a 
  neighborhood. 
  

  

  As 
  their 
  villages 
  at 
  an 
  early 
  day 
  were 
  reckoned 
  by 
  the 
  number 
  

   of 
  houses, 
  it 
  is 
  important 
  to 
  notice 
  the 
  difference 
  between 
  the 
  

   bark 
  house 
  of 
  the 
  ancient 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  modern 
  period, 
  to 
  arrive 
  at 
  

   any 
  estimation 
  of 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  inhabitants 
  in 
  former 
  times. 
  

   When 
  the 
  village 
  was 
  scattered 
  over 
  a 
  large 
  area, 
  the 
  houses 
  

   were 
  single, 
  and 
  usually 
  designed 
  for 
  one 
  family;, 
  but 
  when 
  

   compact, 
  as 
  in 
  early 
  times, 
  they 
  were 
  very 
  large, 
  and 
  subdivided 
  

   so 
  as 
  to 
  accommodate 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  families. 
  The 
  long 
  house 
  was 
  

   often 
  over 
  an 
  hundred 
  feet 
  in 
  length, 
  by 
  about 
  sixteen 
  in 
  width, 
  

  

  1. 
  Herein 
  is 
  doubtless 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  many 
  if 
  not 
  all 
  of 
  the 
  Trench 
  Enclosures 
  which 
  

   are 
  found 
  in 
  various 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  State. 
  Not 
  all 
  of 
  them 
  necessarily 
  made 
  by 
  the 
  

   Iroquois, 
  but 
  by 
  them 
  and 
  the 
  nations 
  who 
  preceded 
  them 
  in 
  the 
  occupandy 
  of 
  Kew- 
  

   York. 
  

  

  