WAYS OF WALKING.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXV, Issue 208, 2 September 1891, Page 4

WAYS OF WALKING.

/.- * ' *'"(oTiJlib T-UYELLEB IN THB SX, J-MEB*B xX "V-- gazette) The autoorat of the breakfast table lays down—or, it may be, the professor— that a human being ia governed by strict meoban ioal rules, in hia way of walking. The frame of bis body being constructed upon Buoh- - and euoh lines, the pendulums, his legs, mu.ti needs awing to Buoh an aDgle, at suoh speed, aud so far, as the foroe of gravity and other natural laws command; unless, ol oourae, he discompose their aotion by the power of will. Does Dr Wendell Holmes recollect tbis ingenious theory, I wonder ? Ifc would b ■ pleasant to hear the sage reviewing bis own early books in the maturity of wi.dom. Thuß it ought to be, no doubt, and thus ib would be, perhaps, if a man were a simple jnaohice. But all calculations are liable to be upset by the unoonsoious exercise ol will. - " Ohildren imitate in waking as in other habits, and at an early age throw the pendulum out of gear. A very large proportion disarrange the whole meohanism by bringing their shoulders into play, by turning theit toes ia or too muoh out, and po forth. Some foroe the Bwing, with intent to display am miy stride prematurely. Others Blacken it by dragging their feet-of a stu. dious turn these commonly, who read as they walk. Ia briif, the autoc.at'a theory will not Btand a praoticil examination. Veterans can recollect the introduotion of that style which is so common now that it seems natural. Was il not Mr Freeman who protested against it bo vigorously m years gone by— describing the -'crab-nke gai. of undergraduates? Tbat extreme fashion haa been modified, but the walk of an Englishman Btill betrays him the world over, though he disguise himself in a Btubble of imparted hair and tvery eccentrioifcy of beard. We take leave to think it the manliest walk, upon the whole, used hy plain-dwelling people. An old traveller will not question that comfortablo faith. But undeniably it is conepicuous, Twenty five yearß ago the right thing was to olenoh one's fiat?, knuckles upwards, round one's elbows, and hold oneself bo very upright as to "stoop the other way," it possible. The Btyle mßy Ie ■'* observed even now among comparative y gilded youths ol the provinces. It has, no doubt, a masterful air for those who do not oatoh the humour of it. One may ccc just ihe same gait, with a roll added, among the Albanians ; from them, I make no doubt, it was borrowed by subalterns returoiog from the Crimean war. Every one has heard of the Albanian •' swagger, 1 ' renowned, not without reason, from end to end of the Turkish Empire. Few suspect, probably, that the very same habit may be observed in this country. But the thoughtful foreigner does not incline to laugh when he sees a big Ghegghe stalk, with arn_3 squared and iboulders heaving, down the street of an Oriental town— his eyes looking round for a quarrel, and his red beard seeming to bristle with defiance. I have a great respect for Albanians, and, at due distance, a sincere regard for them. When the eastern que stion comes to be solved, this nationality, which few take into consideration, will assuredly assert itself. As oil must rise over water, the proud, keen-witted, fearless Albamau will spring above Btupid Serbs, and feeble Greeks, and slow Bulgars. He is a born ruler of men, with more of the Hellene in his disposition than any people of Europe. But, meantime lording ib all over other races, Turks inoluded, in the Sultan's servico, he is a desperately ugly enstomer. The Ghegghe learned to walk in this way evidently because he had a stomach-load of weapons in his front. I have tried it myself with le_s than the nsual acooutremeii t. One must needs lean rather back to sustain the burden with any sort of comfort. Odds acd ends protruding at each extremity compel one to adopt a crablike disposition of the arms, and its breadth, above a pile of scarves, exacts a rolling gait. The Tosk Albanian has fifty feet of petticoat or so to carry in addition, but he, less arrogant, does not swagger more than he can help. I have seen a similar state of things, with a similar result, among Malays. A gentleman in full dres3 swath. s hia waist with shawls, thrusts a sword or a perang through them on one side, a kris on the other, bringing the hilts "convenient " in front, and throws his goldworked kain bandara over all. Tbus he cannot help rolling when he moves, and the gait, naturally, has become fashionable. These Btyles of walk are aggressive, signifying •• Clear the road there." Indulged by a steady young Briton who would apologise if he jostled the crossing- sweeper, they are always droll, sometimes provoking, but not offensive exactly. The opposito error is seldom observed among boys *, but in going citywards of .a morning one may Bee it often enough, Tbis is the practice of shortening one's natural Btep. In that manner of walking the feet only Bkim the ground, they move commonly at a good pace Of all minor habits which work to the disadvantage of tho possessor this is probably the worst ; because so few grasp what is wrong that the victim reseives no warning. So bushmen walk, and bo do the dwarf forest races of the Far East, thought to be aboriginal—cs those few who have seen them repoit. It rouses a prejudice incomprehensible to friends conscious of the feeling and distressed by it. ' I have heard a lady say that such a man makes her " creepy only to look at him ; and the expression was quite correct. Experience revealed the cause to me at once. Few men and very few women can see anything creep swiftly and smoothly towards them without repugnance. It is the same instinct which causes very nearly everyone to loathe snakes and crawling insects. To test my explanation, I offered it for the lady's acceptance. She recognised the source of her distaste instantly. I fancy that adults who acquire this most unfortunate gait have had their spirits broken by trouble or anxiety or disease, since it cannot be natural. All the forested welling people which we call savage creep rather than stride This is what travellers mean when they talk e>f ■* stealthy movements," But the custom is scarcely offensive in the woods. A savage takes short steps because he been used all his life to go barefoot. For the same reason he turns his toes in. Tha boldest and stoutest English boy would do the same if he had never been accustomed to the protection of boots. Ifc is the confidence thus instilled from our earliest years which tempts us to •' step out." Though the feet of a savage were hard as iron, he dare not habitually throw them abroad as a tender little Euglish girl throws hers. His paths are narrow and rough ; thorns and roots lie in wait for the careless. So he learns to walk " gingerly," though fas*, and to keep his toes in, tbat .the tread may occupy as little ground as pcs-ible, Bub, as a matter of fact, if the Eole of his foot be paohydermatous, it is terribly liable to split. A large proportion of the males have suffered from "cracks" at at one time or another, and thiß tends to make thera go soft. In the same way that bold and springy walk which we attribute to the mountaineer exaots shoes, or some guard equivalent. I have seen nothing of it among Pathans, whoare a mountain dweiiing race, if any there be. They wear a grass sandal upon the hills ; but ib is designed to prevent slipping, not to protect the feet. The Pathans, in fact, have a very slouching walk, which matcheß their great limbs — bo clumsy to look at, so aotive in fight— their filthy faces buried with hair, their loose ragged frocks colourless with dir). • Two or three times on the march we paused through a village to whioh one of our sepoys belonged. Astonishing it was to see nim among bis kiuefolk — handsome; upright, every inoh a soldier, wi h Bmooth cheeke, neat yellow moustache, and olear grey eyes -surrounded by that foul crew of- -brothers and relatives ; more astonishing Btill to Jearo ihat several of them had been B6poys also in their day, as smart, probabh , as any. No mountaineer in my experience has such a grand walk aB the Montenegrin, whose, feet are proteoted by the opanch6—& sole of pig skin, hard as wood, that curls over the toes. But in otber respects he bears a very olose resemblance to the Pathan— bb dirty, ragged, and villainous of look, even as slouobing when seen in the realm of civilisation ; euoh civilisation as there is in the quaint Dalmatian towns.