There may have been villages at a later date at the places suggested, but never one of the ancient castles. Counted from the east or from the west there is no location that meets Van Curler's miles, or Father Jogues' "leagues," so certainly as does Aurie's Creek. (See Oghracke.) In addition to the locations of the ancient castles, Van Curler's notes supply interesting evidence of the strength of the Mohawks when the Dutch first met them, which was then at its highest known point in number and in the number of their settlements, namely: Two hundred and twenty-five "long houses" in castles and villages, without including villages on the lower Mohawk "where the ice drifted fast," which he passed without particular note, and those in villages or settlements which he did not see. Two hundred and twenty-five houses were capable of holding and no doubt did hold a very large number of people, packed as they were packed. Father Pierron reported, in 1669, after the French invasion of 1666, that he visited every week "six large villages, covering seven and one-half leagues distance," around Caughnawaga where he was stationed. In almost constant wars with the French, and with the Hurons and other Indian tribes as allies of the French, their number had dwindled to an estimate of eighty warriors in 1735. The story of their greatness and of their decay is of the deepest interest. No student of American history can dispense with its perusal and be well-informed in the events of the pioneer era. * * * * * [FN-1] Arent Van Curler, in 1635, in his "Journal of a Visit to the Seneca Country," wrote: "I was shown a parcel of flint-stones with which they make a fire when in the forest. These stones would do very well for flint-lock guns." Roger Williams wrote of the Narraganset Indians in 1643: "I have seen a native go into the woods with his hatchet, carrying a basket of corn with him, and stones to strike a fire." Father Le June wrote, in 1634: "They strike together two metallic stones, just as we do with a piece of flint and iron or steel. . . . That is how they light their fire." The "Metallic stones" spoken of are presumed, by some writers, to have been iron pyrites, as they may have been in some cases, but the national emblem was the flint. [FN-2] "_Sankhicani,_ the Mohawk's, from _Sankhican,_ a gun-lock." (Heckewelder.) The name appears first on the Carte Figurative of 1614-16, in application to the Indians of northern New Jersey (Delawares), who were, by some writers, called "The Fire-workers." They seem to have manufactured stone implements by the application of fire. Presumably they were "Fire-strikers" as well as the Mohawks. Certainly they were not Mohawks. Were the Mohawks the discoverers of the fire-striking properties of the flint?