The earliest form of traveling was on foot; it was in universal use before the horse and other beasts of burden were subdued to the will of man, and before the railway and steamship were invented. In spite of the lapse of ages, and the many improvements in locomotive means, it continues to be practiced by a great many persons, and will doubtless so continue as long as men have feet to walk with. The large majority of pedestrians are such from necessity, but the class that prefers to walk when it can afford to ride is by no means small.

The railway has been the great destroyer of pedestrian travel, and, at the present time, very few people, except those absolutely without money, take to the high-road where there is an iron way to carry them to their destination. Unless there is some reason for the foot journey beyond the desire to reach a certain place, the railway affords the greatest economy of money and time, as the merest glance at the figures will show. Suppose a man wishes to go from New York to Philadelphia, a distance of ninety miles; at thirty miles a day he will be three days on the road if he uses his feet, and three hours if he takes the railway. The fare by railway will be two dollars, and his loss of time half a day; reckoning his meals and lodging along the high-road at one dollar a day his expenses in footing it would be three dollars, without counting the loss of time, which most Americans consider equivalent to money. Far greater is the contrast in a long journey across the Continent, or over a considerable portion of it, so that the most miserly of men is not likely to put his own feet in competition with the wheels of the locomotive.

Pedestrian journeys in America are mainly confined to young men in search of health, who throng the routes of New England and northern New York in the summer months. In Europe the principal resorts of the pedestrian are the mountain regions of Switzerland, Italy, and Germany, and there is a fair amount of the same kind of travel in Norway, Sweden, and the lake and mountain districts of Scotland. Workmen going from one town to another in search of employment are often encountered, and in some countries of the Continent such journeys are obligatory upon apprentices before they can be allowed to practice the trades they have learned.

Fifty years or more ago there was a half-pedestrian system in vogue in the United States, especially on the great roads leading to the west. It was known by the name of "ride and tie," and many an emigrant of those days found his way west by this process. It was about as follows:

Two men, whom we will call Smith and Jones, unite their funds and buy a horse and saddle. Their baggage is stowed in the saddle-bags, so that neither of them has anything to carry beyond his strong walking-stick. On the morning fixed for their departure Smith mounts the horse and starts at an easy pace along the road, while Jones follows on foot. It has been arranged that the first "tie" shall be at a village twenty miles away.

In four hours Smith and the horse have made the twenty miles, and the horse is put up at a tavern and fed, while Smith proceeds on foot. When Jones arrives the horse has had a rest of three hours or more, and is ready for another twenty miles which Jones proceeds to give him. He passes Smith on the way, and arrives at the next village, where he orders supper and awaits the arrival of his comrade. They spend the night in company, and the next morning the journey is continued in the same way; generally the scheme is reversed on successive mornings, the one who was first to ride one day being the last to do so on the next. In this way they make forty miles a day, and each of them has only a comfortable walk while the horse is kept in good condition.

For a pedestrian tour among the mountains, either of Europe or America, the principal requisites are a reasonably strong constitution, good feet, and good shoes to wear on them. Shoes are preferable to boots, as the latter are apt to weaken the ankles, especially if made with elastic at the sides. Besides they are heavier than shoes, and where we are taking a walk of many miles every infinitesimal fraction of an ounce added to the weight of our foot-gear counts against us. Of course there are occasions where boots are required for protection against mud, snow, or sand, but where roads are good and smooth shoes should have the preference. They should be easy without being loose, and sufficiently wide to give freedom to the toes. The soles should be broad, and the heels low and wide; all doubts on this score can be settled by ascertaining the kind of shoes worn by the professional pedestrians in the great walking-matches that have recently become fashionable.

The author of Baedeker's guide-books is a good adviser in the matter of pedestrian excursions, as he has tramped over the most of Switzerland and Germany, and believes that the best way of "doing" them is on foot. He says as follows:—

When starting on a pedestrian excursion be careful not to overtax your strength. Five or six hours a day are sufficient to begin with, and when no fatigue results from a single day's work that of the next may be increased. By adding half an hour daily to his task, a traveler will soon be able to devote ten or twelve hours out of the twenty-four to the use of his feet. The most experienced pedestrians advise that the limit should be ten hours, except on extraordinary occasions. An even, steady pace should be adopted, and everything like a "spurt" is to be avoided. Many a traveler has broken down in the effort to do more than he ought, either in going too far in a given time, or walking faster than the accustomed pace to see how many miles he could cover in an hour.

For climbing high mountains, special practice in walking is a necessity. There is a great deal of fatigue consequent upon the ascent of Mont Blanc and his snow-covered brethren of the Alps, partly due to the exertion of walking through the snow, and over the rough rocks, and partly to the rarity of the atmosphere in elevated positions. None but good walkers should attempt these journeys, as it is a serious matter to break down at a point far from roads, and where assistance may be a long time coming. The members of the English and other Alpine clubs generally devote at least a month to the ordinary excursions among the mountains before venturing on a "course extraordinaire," like the ascent of Mont Blanc. The ascent of the Matterhorn is far more difficult than that of Mont Blanc, and the preliminary practice proportionally longer.

The equipment for an Alpine ascent above the snow-line is quite simple, but should be of the very best quality. The traveler will need an alpenstock, or strong stick, from five to six feet long; it should be of the best seasoned ash, and one end should be pointed with iron to give it a firm hold on the ice. It should be as light as possible, consistent with strength, and the test to be given is to have it sustain the weight of its owner, when supported at the ends. Ice-axes and ropes are also needed for the higher mountains, and sometimes it is necessary to carry a ladder for crossing crevasses. Mountain-climbing in Switzerland has been reduced to a system, and there are associations of guides who make it a business to accompany tourists in ascents more or less difficult. The ascent of Mont Blanc, formerly so difficult, is now quite easy, as there is a hotel at the "Grands Mulets" where the night is passed, and though the accommodations are limited, they are quite sufficient for the robust traveler. Everything that is needed for the journey can be obtained from the guides at fixed rates, and the only care of the stranger is to see that what he orders is of the best quality.

The regulation time at present for the ascent of Mont Blanc from Chamouny and return is two days. The traveler starts at 7 A.M. and arrives at the Grands Mulets about 3 or 4 in the afternoon. At 4 the next morning he is called, and after a light breakfast a start is made for the summit, which should be reached by nine o'clock. The return to Chamouny is usually accomplished by sunset, but many travelers who have plenty of time at their disposal prefer to spend the second night at the Grands Mulets, and return leisurely on the third day to Chamouny. Each tourist requires a guide and a porter to accompany him, and sometimes half a dozen guides to each tourist are taken. Each guide receives one hundred francs (twenty dollars) for his services, and the porter half that amount, so that the cost of an ascent of Mont Blanc is by no means small. The dangers are now much less than formerly, as the crevasses are all well known to the guides, whose directions should be followed implicitly. The principal peril is from sudden storms of snow, in which travelers are overwhelmed as in a sand-storm in the desert. In 1870 a party of eleven persons perished in a snow-storm; they had been to the summit and were nearly half-way back to the Grands Mulets when the snow-cloud burst upon them. The guides can generally foretell the approach of bad weather, and the cautious tourist will not insist upon making the ascent against their advice.

It has been said that tourists need only go part of the way up the mountain to obtain a certificate of having made the entire ascent, provided they pay for the complete course. It is doubtful if this is the case; not that the guides would be unwilling to oblige a patron, but because the summit is in full view of the village of Chamouny, and parties who make the ascent are watched through powerful telescopes by loungers on the verandas of the hotels.