THE HILL-MEN. 
41 
while their stature frequently does not exceed five. 
The hardy habits of these people will readily account 
for the extraordinary strength and size which their 
limbs attain. Accustomed to toil from their in- 
fancy up the mountain-steeps, and often with im- 
mense burdens, their muscles acquire an elasticity and 
power unknown in more level regions ; while the ex- 
cessive cold to which they are so often exposed braces 
and gives a tension to their fibres that enables them 
to endure almost any severity of climate. A hill-man 
will frequently carry a load of from ninety to a hun- 
dred pounds weight to a distance of eighteen miles 
over the most rugged paths where there appears 
scarcely footing for a goat : he will scale the almost 
perpendicular sides of hills and descend the most dan- 
gerous steeps without apprehension and apparently 
without difficulty. His dexterity is no less surprising 
than his strength, and the occurrence of any serious 
accident never appears to be contemplated. It is ad- 
mirable to observe how the " human form divine” is 
adapted to master the difficulties of situation and cli- 
mate ; neither the asperities of the one nor the noxious 
influence of the other prevent him from finding a home 
with which he is content and in which he may be 
happy. Locality has, it is true, a great influence upon 
his moral and social condition ; he is nevertheless 
everywhere the only creature that can surmount na- 
tural difficulties and render this world, under its most 
repulsive aspect, subservient to his wants : he is the 
creature of all climates, of all regions and equally 
wonderful in all. 
The Himalaya mountaineers, in spite of their so- 
e 3 
