"Yes," replied Fred, "I have read of them in descriptions of Switzerland and Ireland, and we saw huts in the water when we were in Siam and Java."
IDEAL REPRESENTATION OF A SWISS LAKE-VILLAGE.
"The lake-dwellers of Asia and Africa are modern," said Doctor Bronson, "but those of Europe disappeared ages and ages ago. All the lakes of Switzerland once contained villages built on piles, and some of them were quite extensive. From twenty to fifty villages have been explored in each of the larger Swiss lakes, and many others in the smaller ones. Most of them date from the age of stone implements, before the discovery of metals, and in the remains of the villages many weapons and utensils of stone are found. One village covered an area of three acres, and stood on piles or posts of 'hard wood'—beech, oak, and fir—and most of them ten or twelve feet long. There were about one hundred thousand of these piles. The village was in the middle of a small lake, and had a bridge, connecting it with the shore. There are two sets of piles, one above the other, so that it is evident the village was occupied at two different periods.
"Another lake was completely surrounded by these dwellings, and among the relics discovered there are articles of wood, horn, bone, bronze, and gold. When you visit Switzerland you will see, at Lucerne, Zurich, and other places, some of the relics brought up from the lakes, and putting us face to face, as it were, with the people of a prehistoric age."