SLEEP ALMOST SUPERFLUOUS. 127 



skilfully squeezing his clothes after this operation, to make 

 all comfortable. Strong and pliant in the ancle, he should 

 most indubitably be; since in running swiftly down 

 precipices, picturesquely adorned with sharp-edged, angular 

 vindictive stones, his feet will unadvisedly get into awkward 

 cavities, and curious positions; thus, if his legs are 

 devoid of the faculty of breaking, so much the better, 

 he has an evident advantage over the fragile man. He 

 should rejoice in wading through torrents, and be able to 

 stand firmly on water-worn stones, unconscious of the 

 action of the current; or if by fickle fortune the waves 

 should be too powerful for him, when he loses his balance, 

 and goes floating away upon his back, (for if he has any 

 tact, or sense of the picturesque, it is presumed he will 

 fall backwards,) he should raise his rifle aloft in the air, 

 Marmion fashion, lest his powder should get wet, and his 

 day's sport come suddenly to an end. A few weeks' 

 practice in the Tilt will make him quite au fait at this. 

 We would recommend him to try the thing in a speat, 

 during a refreshing north wind, which is adverse to deer- 

 stalking ; thus no day will be lost pending his education. 

 To swim he should not be able, because there would be no 

 merit in saving himself by such a paltry subterfuge; 

 neither should he permit himself to be drowned, because 

 we have an affection for him, and moreover it is very 

 cowardly to die. 



As for sleep, he should be almost a stranger to it, 

 activity being the great requisite ; and if a man gets into 

 the slothful habit of lying a-bed for five or six hours at a 

 time, I should be glad to know what he is fit for in any 

 other situation ? Lest, however, we should be thought too 



