have been found
in the neighborhood, pointing to any intercourse between them and any
European race.

It would seem that the earth-work was constructed in the midst of a
large clearing, and that the forest grew up after the disappearance of
the occupants. A few saplings, however, may have been permitted to
spring up during their occupancy for the sake of the shelter they might
afford. These are represented by the oldest stumps above mentioned.

The question, who were the builders, is an interesting one. To answer it
we need not go back to a remoter period than the middle of the
seventeenth century, when the Iroquois after destroying the Huron
Settlements turned their attention to the southwest, and the Neutral
Nation ceased to exist. The enclosure was, we may reasonably believe, a
fortified village of the Neutrals at the time of their evacuation of
this province, nearly a quarter of a millennium ago.

Substantially all that is known of the Neutrals is to be found in
Champlain's works, Sagard's History, the Relations and Journal of the
Jesuits, and Sanson's map of 1656. A digest of the information contained
therein is given in the following pages. The writer has availed himself
of one or two other works for some of the facts mentioned. Mr. Benjamin
Sulte's interesting and learned articles on "Le pays des grands lacs au
XVIIe Siecle" in that excellent magazine, "Le Canada Francais," have
been most valuable in this connection.

The first recorded visit to the Neutrals was in the winter of 1626, by a
Recollet father, De Laroche-Daillon. His experiences are narrated by
himself, and Sagard, who includes the narrative in his history,
supplements it with one or two additional facts.

In company with the Jesuit Fathers Brebeuf and De Noue, Daillon left
Quebec with the purpose of visiting and converting the Hurons, who were
settled in villages between the Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe. After the
usual hardships, journeying by canoe and portage, by way of the Ottawa
and French Rivers, they arrived at their destination. The ill-fated
Brule told wonderful stories of a nation, whom the French called the
Neutrals, and Father Joseph Le Caron wrote Daillon urging him to
continue his journey as far as their country.

He set out accordingly on the 18th October, 1626, with two other
Frenchmen, Grenolle and La Vallee. Passing through the territory
occupied by the Tobacco Nation, he met one of their chiefs, who not
merely offered his