roughly finished, but at the same time exhibit considerable ingenuity and skill.  The method of construction seems to have been somewhat as follows:  A suitable situation, not far from the shore, where the water was not very deep, having been fixed upon, these prehistoric builders drove into the muddy bottom of the lake a number of piles or long stakes, arranged generally pretty close together, and in some sort of regular order.  These piles were formed generally from stems of trees, with the bark on, but occasionally from split wood.  The ends were sharpened to a point by the aid of fire or by cutting with stone axes.  On a sufficient number being driven in, and their upper ends brought to a level above the surface of the water, platform beams were laid across, fastened by wooden pegs, or in some cases fixed into notches cut in the heads of the vertical piles.  The platform was generally very roughly made, just a series of unbarked stems placed side by side and covered with layers of earth or clay, with numerous openings through which refuse of all kinds fell into the water beneath.  In many cases connection with the shore was made by means of a narrow bridge or gangway, constructed in the same manner.  On this rude platform huts were erected by driving small piles or stakes which projected above the floor, and to these were fastened boards standing edgeways like the skirting of our ordinary rooms, and marking out the size of each building.  The walls of the huts were formed of small branches of twigs interwoven and plastered over with clay.  The roof was made of straw or reeds like a thatched cottage.  In size these huts were probably eighteen to twenty feet long, eight or ten feet broad, and about six feet high.  They may have been divided into rooms, but there is no evidence of this.  Each was provided with a hearth formed of three or four slabs of stone.  The number of huts in each settlement must have been considerable, in fact, they must have formed villages of no mean extent, for as many as forty, fifty, or even a hundred thousand piles have been found spread over a large extent of ground, forming the foundation of one such settlement.  It is probable, however, that these were not so numerous when first erected, but were gradually added to as the population increased.  This fact, along with many others, shows that these dwellings were inhabited for long periods of time, during which the population pursued their ordinary life in comparative peace and quietness in their island homes.

Such is, in brief, a general account of these remarkable structures.  Of course there were several variations in the methods of fixing these piles, one of which may be mentioned as showing the ingenuity of the builders.  Where the piles did not get a firm hold of the lake bottom, they carried out in boats or rafts loads of stones, which they threw down between the piles, thus firmly fixing them, just as modern engineers sometimes do for a similar purpose.  As to the habits of