MOUNTAIN LIFE. 291 



lengthened sojourn amongst the dwellers of cities, 

 and the change has a beneficial effect upon the 

 body as well as upon the mind. Here one ap- 

 pears to inhale health at every respiration ; the 

 appetite improves, digestion becomes easy, physi- 

 cal force and elasticity of limb increases, and 

 fallen degeneration changes to firm muscle, whilst 

 a sense of exultation thrills through the whole 

 frame ; melancholy gives place to cheerfulness, 

 and the mind feels relieved from all depressing 

 influence of care and anxiety for the future. A 

 life amid civilised society may seem to run 

 smoothly, but "there's a skeleton in every house," 

 and beneath are ever hidden strange things that 

 occasion heart-aches, although they may never 

 rise to the surface. 



The wildness of a comparatively savage life is 

 free from many of these troubles and disquietudes : 

 and perfect freedom of action, even if it loses 

 somewhat of refinement, gains much in liberty 

 and the comforts of self-independence. 



