A HISTORY OF 



But there is another manner' 1 of comparing 

 the strength of man with that of other ani- 

 mals ; namely, by the weights which either can 

 carry. We are assured that the porters of 

 Constantinople carry burdens of nine hun- 

 dred pounds weight. Mr. Desaguliers tells us 

 of a man, who by distributing weights in such 

 a manner, as that every part of his body bore 

 its share, was thus able to raise a weight of two 

 thousand pounds. A horse, which is about 

 seven times our bulk, would be thus able to 

 raise a weight of fourteen thousand pounds, if 

 its strength were in the same proportion. 11 

 " But, the truth is, a horse will not carry upon 

 its back above a weight of two or three hun- 

 dred pounds ; while a man, of confessedly in- 

 ferior strength, is thus able to support two 

 thousand. Whence comes this seeming su- 

 periority ? The answer is obvious. Because 

 the load upon the man's shoulders is placed to 

 the greatest advantage ; while, upon the horse's 

 back, it is placed at the greatest disadvantage. 

 Let us suppose, for a moment, the man stand- 

 ing as upright as possible, under the great load 

 above mentioned. It is obvious .that all the 

 bones of his body may be compared to a pil- 

 lar supporting a building, and that his muscles 

 have scarce any share in this dangerous duty. 

 However, they are not entirely inactive; as 

 man, let him stand never so upright, will have 

 some bending in different parts of his body. 

 The muscles, therefore, give the bones some 

 assistance, and that with the greatest possible 

 advantage. In this manner, a man has been 

 found to support two thousand weight ; but 

 may be capable of supporting a still greater. 

 The manner in which this is done, is by strap- 

 ping the load round the shoulders of the per- 

 son who is to bear it, by a machine something 

 like that by which milk vessels or water- 

 buckets are carried. The load being thus 

 placed on a scaffold, on each side, contrived 

 for that purpose, and the man standing erect 

 in the midst, all parts of the scaffold, except 

 that where the man stands, arc made to sink ; 

 and thus the man maintaining his position, the 

 load, whatever it is, becomes suspended, and 

 the column of his bones may be fairly said to 

 support it. If, however, he should but ever 

 so little give way, he must inevitably drop ; 



* 



a Mr. Buflbn calls it a better manner; but this is not 

 the case. 



and no power of his can raise the weights 

 again. But the case is very different with re- 

 gard to a load laid upon a horse. The 

 column of the bones there lies a different way ; 

 and a weight of five hundred pounds, as I am 

 told, would break the back of the strongest 

 horse that could be found. The great force 

 of a horse, and other quadrupeds, is exerted 

 when the load is in such a position as that the 

 column of the bones can be properly applied, 

 which is lengthwise. When, therefore, we are 

 to estimate the comparative strength of a horse, 

 we are not to try what he can carry, but 

 what he can draw ; and, in this case, his ama- 

 zing superiority over man is easily discerned ; 

 for one horse can draw a load that ten men 

 cannot move. And, in some cases, it happens 

 that a draft-horse draws the better for being 

 somewhat loaded ; for, as the peasants say, 

 the load upon the back keeps him the better 

 to the ground." 



There is still another way of estimating hu- 

 man strength, by the perseverance and agility 

 of our motions. Men, who are exercised in 

 running, outstrip horses ; or, at least, hold 

 their speed for a longer continuance. In a 

 journey, also, a man will walk down a horse ; 

 and, after they have both continued to proceed 

 for several days, the horse will be quite tired, 

 and the man will be fresher than in the begin- 

 ning. The king's messengers of Ispahan, who 

 are runners by profession, go thirty-six leagues 

 in fourteen hours. Travellers assure us, that 

 the Hottentots outstrip lions in the chase ; and 

 that the savages, who hunt the elk, pursue 

 with such speed, that they at last tire down 

 and take it. We are told many very surprising 

 things of the great swiftness of the savages, 

 and of the long journeys they undertake, on 

 foot, through the most craggy mountains, 

 where there are no paths to direct, nor houses 

 to entertain them. They are said to perform a 

 journey of twelve hundred leagues in less than 

 six weeks. " But notwithstanding what tra- 

 vellers report of this matter, I have been as- 

 sured, from many of our officers and soldiers, 

 who compared their own swiftness with that 

 of the native Americans, during the last war, 

 that although the savages held out, and, as 

 the phrase is, had better bottoms, yet, for a 



b Mr. Buflbn carries this subject no farther ; and thus 

 far, without explanation, it is erroneous. 



