different exercises, especially one in which he dances on a rope to the
tune of a double flute, played by himself. The Romans particularly
liked to witness ascensions on inclined ropes, and sometimes these were
attached to the summits of high hills, and while mounting them the
acrobats performed different pantomimes. It is said that under Charles
VI a Genoese acrobat, on the occasion of the arrival of the Queen of
France, carried in each hand an illuminated torch while descending a
rope stretched from the summit of the towers of Notre Dame to a house
on the Pont au Change. According to Guyot-Daubes, a similar performance
was seen in London in 1547. In this instance the rope was attached to
the highest pinnacle of St. Paul's Cathedral. Under Louis XII an
acrobat named Georges Menustre, during a passage of the King through
Macon, executed several performances on a rope stretched from the grand
tower of the Chateau and the clock of the Jacobins, at a height of 156
feet. A similar performance was given at Milan before the French
Ambassadors, and at Venice under the Doges and the Senate on each St.
Mark's Day, rope-walkers performed at high altitudes. In 1649 a man
attempted to traverse the Seine on a rope placed between the Tour de
Nesles and the Tour du Grand-Prevost. The performance, however, was
interrupted by the fall of the mountebank into the Seine. At subsequent
fairs in France other acrobats have appeared. At the commencement of
this century there was a person named Madame Saqui who astonished the
public with her nimbleness and extraordinary skill in rope walking. Her
specialty was military maneuvers. On a cord 20 meters from the ground
she executed all sorts of military pantomimes without assistance,
shooting off pistols, rockets, and various colored fires. Napoleon
awarded her the title of the first acrobat of France. She gave a
performance as late as 1861 at the Hippodrome of Paris.

In 1814 there was a woman called "La Malaga," who, in the presence of
the allied sovereigns at Versailles, made an ascension on a rope 200
feet above the Swiss Lake.

In the present generation probably the most famous of all the
equilibrists was Blondin. This person, whose real name was Emile
Gravelet, acquired a universal reputation; about 1860 he traversed the
Niagara Falls on a cable at an elevation of nearly 200 feet. Blondin
introduced many novelties in his performances. Sometimes he would
carry a man over on his shoulders; a