STILTS  , poles provided at a certain distance above the ground with steps or stirrups for the feet, for the purpose of walking on them . As a means of amusement stilts have been used by all peoples in all ages, as well as by the inhabitants of marshy or flooded districts . The

city of Namur in Belgium, which formerly suffered from the overflowing of the rivers Sambre and Meuse, has been celebrated for its stilt-walkers for many centuries . Not only the towns-people but also the soldiers used stilts, and stilt-fights were indulged in, in which parties of a hundred or more attacked each other, the object being to overset as many of the enemy as possible . The governor of Namur having promised the archduke Albert (about 1600) a company of soldiers that should neither ride nor walk, sent a detachment on stilts, which so pleased the archduke that he conferred upon the city perpetual exemption from the beer-tax, no small privilege at that time . The home of stilt-walking at the present day is the department of Landes in Gascony, where, owing to the impermeability of the subsoil, all low-lying districts are converted into marshes, compelling the shepherds, farmers and marketmen to spend the greater part of their lives on stilts . These are strapped to the leg below the knee, the foot resting in a stirrup about five feet from the ground . Their wearers, who are called - tchangues (long-legs) in the Gascon dialect, also carry long staves, which are often provided with a narrow piece of board, used as a seat in case of fatigue . In the last quarter of the 19th century stilt-races, for women as well as men, became very popular in. the Landes district, and still form an important feature of every provincial festivity . One winner of the annual championship races accomplished 490 kilometres (more than 304 m.) in 103 hours, 36 minutes . Silvain Dornon, a baker of the Landes, walked on stilts from Paris to Moscow in 58 days in the spring of 1891 . The rapids of the Niagara have been waded on stilts .

In many of the Pacific islands, particularly the

Marquesas, stilts are used during the rainy season . Stilts used by children are very long, the upper half being held under the arms; they are not strapped to the leg . Stilts play an important part in the Italian masquerades, and are used for mounting the gigantic figures in the grotesque processions of Lisle, Dunkirk; Louvain and other cities .