The record-union., 1895-05-15
PEOPLE ON STILLS.
Frenchmen Who Travel About On
Long Poles.

Frenchmen Who Travel About On
Long Poles.
Probably the most curious community
in Europe to-day is that OF the LandaiS,
the famous stilt- walk kers, who make their
homo in a little corner of Gascony, bor-
derng on the Bay of Biscay. and have
been tucked away there ever since that
region was known as The English prov.
| ince of Aquitaine.
| Time and the encroachment Of scientific
ideas are gradually blotting out their in
| dividuality, but even now LandeS is little
trsversed. and. though its inns are bad
and its railroads nil. it is one OF the most
fascinating sections of France.
| Landes has a curious aud unprece-
dented history. For years its fate hung
Oh thread, aud it came very near being
a French desert of Sahara. Not from
| choice or peculiarly did its inhabitants
become stiit-walkers. They were SIM
ply forced into the habit of travelling by
the aid Of poles for the simple reason that
their land was becoming waste of sand.
| Laudes borders on the seashore, and the
strong, crisp, choppy winds from the
Bay of Biscay sweep across its coast,
driving the fine, white sand inland in
| enormous quantities and piling up dunes
or sandhils far back from the shore.
Steadily the land grew more desolate
and sand-hlown. Walking by aid of
the feet alone became impossible. Even
now, with the country half reclaimed as
it is. it takes strong and vigorous
man to make ten miles day Of straight
progress. travelling directly oh the soles
| of his feet Half a century ago even this
was out of the question.
| From time immemorial stills have
| been in use among the Inhabitants. The
hardy peasants of the region, men and
women alike-but men especially, iOr the
4 hat ft0 Of f,n / jne, ,rn
mostly stay-at-home bodies-go through
| the country with great strides, stepping
! FROM tuit to tuft of heather so unerringly
that the sand does not impede their
| progress.
Dressed in sheepskin coats, with
rough. baggy trousers. footless knee
| stockings OF heavy wool, and with feet
bare, their heads surmounted by the
dark blue beret of the Gascons. they pre-
sent picturesque sight. Tho stills they
use come up to the knee only and are
strapped there, the stilt-walker being
about four feet from the ground. The
crotch on which the foot rests is covered
with sheepskin with the woolly side
turned out.
The peasant also carries a long staff
When he wishes to get on his feet he
swings himself up with it, and by its aid
it is possible to drop himself down with
out any appreciable jolt. Among the
shepherds the chief occupation through
out the day is the knitting of stockings,
and while at work on this usually femi-
nine industry the peasant steadies HIM
self with his balancing pole stuck into
the sand, the other end resting against
the small of his back.
The story of the reclamation of the
Grandes Landes, as the region is called,
is we'll worth the telling. The work was
started in 17SI, and the process was q
| simple one, consisting of sowing the
seeds tor pine forests. These forests have
sprung up as ii by magic, and have
proved a complete success. The trees,
thickly set together. form 6 barricade
against the sand that is blown in from the
sea, ,tand hurl it back in heaps upon the
shore. Gradually, throughout long
term of years, the land has become more
fertile, and in places some little garden
cultivation is nEw possible. Small crops
Of barley and maize are raised by the use