2830. EXERCISE, Walking.—[continued].
Walking is the best possible
exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very
far. The Europeans value themselves on having
subdued the horse to the uses of man; but I
doubt whether we have not lost more than we
have gained, by the use of this animal. No one
has occasioned so much the degeneracy of the
human body. An Indian goes on foot nearly as
far in a day, for a long journey, as an enfeebled
white does on his horse: and he will tire the
best horses. There is no habit you will value so
much as that of walking far without fatigue.—
To Peter Carr. Washington ed. i, 398.
(P.
1785)
