THEORY OF HEALTH. 15 



can keep on his feet without fatigue from morn till eve, 

 and goes his rounds without abating one inch of the 

 distance. In one thing alone he feels his years — i.e. in 

 pace ; and when * young master/ who is a disciple of the 

 modern athletic school, comes out, it is about as much as 

 ever he can do to keep up with him over the stubble. 

 Never once for the last thirty years has he tossed on a bed 

 of sickness ; never once has he failed to rise from his 

 slumber refreshed and ready for his labour. His secret 

 is — but let him tell it in his own words : 



* It's indoors, sir, as kills half the people ; being in- 

 doors three parts of the day, and next to that taking too 

 much drink and vittals. Eating's as bad as drinking ; and 

 there ain't nothing like fresh air and the smell of the 

 woods. You should come out here in the spring, when the 

 oak timber is throwed (because, you see, the, sap be rising, 

 and the bark strips then), and just sit down on a stick 

 fresh peeled — I means a trunk, you know — and sniff up 

 the scent of that there oak bark. It goes right down 

 your throat, and preserves your lungs as the tan do 

 leather. And I've heard say as folk who work in the tan- 

 yards never have no illness. There's always a smell from 

 trees, dead or living — I could tell what wood a log was in 

 the dark by my nose ; and the air is better where the 

 woods be. The ladies up in the great house sometimes 

 goes out into the fir plantations — the turpentine scents 

 strong, you see — and they say it's good for the chest ; but. 



