144 HORSE AND MAN. 



p. 257.) The care of the soldier's foot is repeatedly 

 urged in that valuable work. 



Yet, with all the care that can be taken, men who 

 are obliged to wear boots and shoes are no match in 

 marching for those who have always been accustomed 

 to go barefooted. Most of the disasters that have 

 befallen our troops when dealing with uncivilised 

 races, such as the Maori, the Zulu, and the Arab, 

 have been due to ignorance of the tremendous march- 

 ing powers of the barefooted savage. 



I never fairly appreciated the capabilities of the 

 human foot until February 1881, when I was staying 

 in Edinburgh. It was a very severe winter, having 

 been made memorable by the terrible snowstorm of 

 January 18. 



The Cowgate (locally pronounced Coog't) is now 

 mostly inhabited by the poorer classes, the children of 

 both sexes and the younger women habitually going 

 without shoes. I was obliged repeatedly to cross 

 this street, which was then in extremely bad condi- 

 tion. Mud had been deep, and the cartwheels and 

 horses' hoofs had cut it up into a very rough state. 

 Then a severe frost had come on, and the result was 

 that the frozen ridges were so hard and sharp that 

 they hurt my feet through the thick soles of my 

 boots. 



Yet these children and young women ran and 



