by the unexpected appearance of a modest hamlet, which looked as
if it were the abode of some newly arrived settlers in a country
hitherto devoid of human habitations.

Were I to continue the detail of a long march through these
barren regions, I should soon fatigue, without amusing my reader:
I shall, therefore, content myself with observing, that day after
day the same dreary prospect presented itself, varied by the
occasional occurrence of huge uncultivated plains, which
apparently chequer the forest, at certain intervals, with spots
of stunted and unprofitable pasturage; upon these there were
usually flocks of sheep grazing, in the mode of watching which,
the peasants fully evinced the truth of the old proverb, that
necessity is the mother of invention. I do not know whether the
practice to which I allude be generally known, but as it struck
me as very remarkable, I shall offer no apology for relating it.

The whole of this district, as well where it is wooded, as where
it is bare, is perfectly flat, containing scarcely a knoll or
eminence any sort, as far as the eye can reach. In addition to
this, the vast plains where the sheep are fed, many of which
extend two or three leagues in every direction, produce not so
much as a fir-tree, by climbing which, a man might see to any of
its extremities: and the consequence is, that the shepherds are
constantly in danger of losing their sheep, as one loses sight of
a vessel at sea, in the distance. To remedy this evil, they have
fallen upon a plan not more simple than ingenious; they all walk
on stilts, exactly similar to those with which our school-boys
amuse themselves; the only difference lying here, that whereas
the school-boys' stilts are with us seldom raised above ten or