CONTENTS


INTRODUCTION

Chapter I SIR ROBERT McCARRISON

Chapter II SIR ALBERT HOWARD

Chapter III THE ORGANIC DOCTRINE

Chapter IV CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS

Chapter V MANURE

Chapter VI PRIVIES AND GOITRE

Chapter VII THE HUSBANDRY OF THE HUNZAS

Chapter VIII HUNZA LAND PRACTICES

Chapter IX ROCK POWDERS

Chapter X THE BLINKS

Chapter XI WHO ARE THE HUNZAS?

Chapter XII OUR KINESTHETIC SENSE

Chapter XIII THE NAGYRI

Chapter XIV THE FOOD OF THE HUNZAS

Chapter XV THE HEALTH OF THE HUNZAS

Chapter XVI THE INTELLIGENT HUNZUKUTS

Chapter XVII EVIDENCE ON HUNZARIZATIONPOSSIBILITIES

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY




Introduction

THIS BOOK must immediately express, as it reveals on many a page, the immeasurabledebt of gratitude which I owe to Lieutenant-Colonel D. L. R. Lorimer for having readits manuscript and for having furnished me with more than forty closely typewrittenpages of comment thereon, a critical exposition that could easily have been madea slender volume in itself. Inasmuch as I adopted a large majority of his technicalsuggestions, I can safely present The Healthy Hunzas with the conviction thatit is an authoritative piece of work, even though I have never set foot in Hunza.

My first book, Pay Dirt (Devin-Adair Co., N. Y.), explains how the use ofstrong chemical fertilizers is endangering our soil and health. Though it is notoverly technical, it seems to have a specialized appeal; enjoying as it does a fairdistribution and acceptance among people who are farmers and gardeners. The HealthyHunzas, on the other hand, was written with an eye to interesting the generalpublic in the important questions which I hope it will provoke. Here and there Ihave interpolated a bit of agricultural theory, but I have tried to keep such partsas simple as possible, assuming that my average reader will excusably know practicallynothing about the principles of farming.

The Healthy Hunzas is based on the work of many authors who wrote about theHunzukuts. Most of these writers actually visited the Hunza country and thus canspeak from the authority of personal experience and observation. Others accumulateddata from books as well as from conversations with persons who had been there. Forexample, Sir Albert Howard and Dr. Wrench interviewed and visited with the Lorimersand Sir Robert McCarrison on different occasions. When the desire to secure informationabout Hunza took on the challenging nature of an idée fixe with me, Isent out calls to book-dealers all over the world. Though a volume they might havehad in their possession contained only a single paragraph relevant to my purpose,I nevertheless purchased it. 1 believe, therefore, that I have seen practically everythingthat was ever published in English about this fabulous people. The bibliography atthe end of this book contains only a partial list of the most detailed and informationalof this Hunza collection now in my library.

I was fortunate also in making contact with the present Mir of Hunza, M. M. JamalKhan, having exchanged several letters with him. He writes a fine English and confirmedmany of the important facts given in this book. With solicitude and interest in myproject, he has supplied me with many photographs, including several of himself wearingmodern English clothes. The proud possessor of a 16 millimeter camera, he has evenpromised to send some films. I am also indebted to Capt. C. J. Morris for photographsused in the text.

Some might ask, "Why do you venture to write a book about a race of people whomyou have never seen?" To them, one and all, I can only suggest that long beforethey have reached the mid-point of its message they will have admitted that the issuesit discusses are of the most imminently serious pertinence to us and our time. TheHealthy Hunzas is avowedly more or less of a compilation of expert scientificopinion on the subject of why it is that a people who seem to be less "civilized"than we, can yet eclipse us so dramatically in the pursuit of health and happiness.On the basis of the latter of those necessarily intertwining themes, this book mightwell indeed have been called The Happy Hunzas.

Let me again thank the many authors, each and every one of whom I acknowledge inhis proper place, for having interested me to the point of feeling it a necessitythat I bring the vital message of Hunza to America.

J. I. RODALE.