STILTS | AdventAI

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Feb 25, 1889

STILTS.

I wonder if the boys who love to walk about on stilts, know how necessary they are in some places in France. In the southwest part of that country are large plains called the Lands, which are often flooded in parts with water. In crossing these plains, where the water is not generally deep enough for boats, high stilts are worn most of the time by both men and women, who thus are able to keep their feet dry. They are not held by the hands, like the stilts used by boys, but are firmly strapped on the side of the leg, and the person wearing them carries a long pole in the hand, to balance himself and to aid him in walking. This pole usually has a cross-piece on the upper end, like the head of a crutch, and by putting it at a slant on the ground behind him, the person on stilts can sit down on it and rest, looking in this position much like a tripod or three-legged stool.

Men and women may often be seen in that country perched upon high stilts, and knitting, while they watch their sheep. They wear their stilts all day long, putting them on when they go out in the morning, and taking them off only when they return home at night. So used are they to them that they can travel long distances on them without getting tired; and as they are able to take very long steps, they can go much faster than a man on foot.—Selected.