And on that morning, through the grass,
And by the streaming rills,
We travelled merrily, to pass
A day among the hills."
"When did you take to Wordsworth, Corry?"
"Oh, many a time, but I refreshed my memory with that yesterday, when I came across the tear in the old man's eye."
"It is most appropriate, for there, on the right, are actual hills."
As the travellers approached the rising ground, which the dominie had perceived, the lawyer remarked that the hillocks had an artificial look.
"And they are undoubtedly artificial," replied Wilkinson.
"This is the township of Nottawasaga, once inhabited by the Tobacco tribe of the Hurons, who had many villages, and grew tobacco and corn, besides making beads, pipes, and other articles, for sale or barter. They made their pipes out of the Trenton sandstone. A great many village sites and ossuaries have been found in the township, the latter containing thousands of skeletons. They have all been opened up by the settlers for the sake of the copper kettles and other objects buried in them. These long, narrow hillocks are earthworks, the foundation of a rude fortification or palisade round a village. The Archæological Reports of the Canadian Institute contain very full and interesting accounts of the explorations made in this very region. We are on historic ground, Corry."