*5 4 
GENERAL REMARKS 
They poffefs a degree of agility which is really wonderful, and 
their bodies are fupple and pliant beyond conception. It is fur- 
prifmg what a number of them are able to flow themfelves within 
a fpace wdiich we iliould not imagine would hold half or one third 
of that quantity. They will fit in the clofefl contact with each 
other, their bodies fupported by their heels, or their entire weight 
bearing upon the toes. The American Indians, or favages as they 
are termed, ufe the fame poflure, and the ingenious hiflorical 
painter, who has reprefented the treaty of the great Penn with the 
Indians at the fettlement of that flourifhing colony which now 
bears his name, has not omitted to embellifh his pidure with the 
figure of an Indian in this extraordinary attitude. 
The Laplanders defcend the fleep fides of a mountain, when 
covered with fnow and ice, with incredible velocity. They make 
ufe of a particular kind of fnow fhoe, differing greatly from that 
which bears the fame name in the northern parts of America: it 
is a piece of wood of fome length, curved before, and turning up¬ 
wards behind, to the middle of which the foot is faflened; and 
whereas the fnow fhoe is calculated for fecurity to prevent a man 
from finking into the fnow, this wooden fhoe or fkate, called in 
the Danifh tongue Jkie, anfwers the purpofe both of fecurity and 
expedition. Accordingly the Laplander Hides along with fuch 
fwiftnefs, that the air whilflles in his ears, and his hair becomes 
ereft with the motion; and yet fo dexterous is he in the manage¬ 
ment of his body, that be his impulfe ever fo violent, he can take 
up his cap, if he chances to let it fall, or any thing elfe that hap¬ 
pens 
