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154 GENERAL REMARKS
They poffefs a degree of agility which is really wonderful, and
their bodies are fupple and pliant beyond conception. It is fur-
prifing what a number of them are able to ftow themfelves within
a {pace which we fhould not imagine would hold half or one third
of that quantity. They will fit in the clofeft conta& 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, ule the fame pofture, and the ingenious hiftorical
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 pi@ture with the
figure of an Indian in this extraordinary attitude.
The Laplanders defcend the fteep fides of a mountain, when
covered with {now 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 faftened; and
whereas the fnow fhoe is calculated for fecurity to prevent a man
from finking into the fnow, this wooden fhoe or {kate, called in
the Danifh tongue /kie, anfwers the purpofe both of fecurity and
expedition. Accordingly the Laplander flides along with fuch
{wiftnefs, that the air whilftles in his ears, and his hair becomes
erect 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
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