We investigate the question, due to S. Smale, of whether a hyperbolic automorphism T of the n-dimensional torus can have a compact invariant subset homeomorphic to a compact manifold of positive dimension, other than a finite union of subtori. In the simplest case such a manifold would be a closed surface. A result of Fathi says that T can sometimes have an invariant subset which is a finite-to-one image of a closed surface under a continuous map which is locally injective except possibly at a finite...