“Before custom has rendered it familiar; after which, there is no more fatigue in walking on stilts, than in walking on our feet. There is a district in the south of France, near Bourdeaux, called the Desert of Landes, which runs along the sea coast between the mouths of the Adour and Gironde, where all the shepherds are mounted on stilts; on which they move with perfect freedom, and astonishing rapidity; and so easily does habit enable them to preserve their balance, that they run, jump, stoop, and even dance, with ease and security.” “How very odd!” said Tom; “what can be their motive for such a strange habit?” “Its objects,” replied his father, “are important: to keep the feet out of the water, which, during the winter, is deep on the sands; and to defend them from the heated sand during the summer; in addition to which, the sphere of vision over so perfect a flat is materially increased by the elevation, and the shepherds are thus enabled to see their flocks at a much greater distance.[9] They cannot, however, stand perfectly still upon their stilts, without the aid of a long staff, which they always carry in their hands; this guards them against any accidental trip, and, when they wish to be at rest, forms a third leg that keeps them steady.” “I suppose,” said Louisa; “that the habit of using these stilts is acquired while they are very young.” “It is, my dear: and it appears that, the smaller the boy is, the higher are his stilts; a fact which affords a practical proof of the truth of what I have just stated.” “The stork is said, in my work on Natural History, to be always walking on stilts,” said Louisa; “and yet it does not appear to fatigue him.” “That is very true,” replied the father; “but you must remember, that nature has furnished the bird with a provision, by which the legs are kept extended without any exertion of the muscles, in the manner of certain springs; a structure which enables it to pass whole days and nights on one foot, without the slightest fatigue. If you will visit the cook the next time she trusses a fowl, you will at once perceive the nature and utility of this structure; upon bending the legs and thighs up towards the body, you will observe that the claws close of their own accord; now, this is the position of the limbs in which the bird rests upon its perch, and in this position it sleeps in safety, for the claws do their office in keeping hold of the support, not by any voluntary exertion, but by the weight of the body drawing the strings tight.” “But, papa,” said Tom, “I have yet some more questions to ask you on the subject of balancing. I am not at all satisfied about many of the tricks that we saw last year; indeed, I cannot believe, that many of those astonishing feats can be explained by the rules you have just given us.”