HOUSES OF THE HILL-MEN. 
49 
ground which they have to till and the natural diffi- 
culties of situation are considered. It is surprising 
to see the steep sides of hills, so rugged and precipitous 
that you would scarcely suppose they could be adven- 
tured on by the foot of man., covered with the ripen- 
ing harvest,, the fruits at once of his agricultural skill 
and of his laborious industry. The rough rocks and 
shaggy steeps are converted into fruitful fields ,* “ the 
pastures are covered with flocks., the valleys also are 
covered with corn and it is one of the most gratify- 
ing sources of reflection, in a region where the natural 
and moral features are generally so repulsive, to find 
that man, even in his lowest state of social degra- 
dation, has still something to exalt him in human 
estimation. 
The houses of the hill-men are upon the whole to- 
lerably convenient, and with reference to the general 
habits of their occupants, sufficiently clean. They 
consist of two or more stories, the lower appropriated 
to lumber and stabling for their cattle, the higher 
to the dwelling of the family. The rooms are floored 
with planks, I think of pine, well fitted and planed ; 
they are not large, but very conveniently disposed 
so as to admit light to the best advantage and ex- 
clude cold. The windows, which are merely small 
apertures in the wall, always open on the shel- 
tered side of the house, and the builders never in- 
troduce more than absolutely necessary. In order to 
shut out the cold, as their windows are not glazed and 
they have no substitute for glass, they cover them at 
night with a piece of thin board very accurately fitted, 
which answers the purpose exceedingly well. The 
