Most of these persons used means of balancing themselves, generally a long and heavy pole; but some used nothing but their outstretched arms.

In 1895, at the Royal Aquarium in London, there was an individual who slowly mounted a long wire reaching to the top of this huge structure, and, after having made the ascent, without the aid of any means of balancing but his arms, slid the whole length of the wire, landing with enormous velocity into an outstretched net.
The equilibrists mentioned thus far have invariably used a tightly stretched rope or wire; but there are a number of persons who perform feats, of course not of such magnitude, on a slack wire, in which they have to defy not only the force of gravity, but the to-and-fro motion of the cable as well.

It is particularly with the Oriental performers that we see this exhibition.

Some use open parasols, which, with their Chinese or Japanese costumes, render the performance more picturesque; while others seem to do equally well without such adjuncts.

There have been performers of this class who play with sharp daggers while maintaining themselves on thin and swinging wires.
Another class of equilibrists are those who maintain the upright position resting on their heads with their feet in the air.