New-York tribune., 1900-01-14
BADEN-POWELL, SCOUT.
THE DEFENDER OF MAFEKING WRITES
A BOOK ON HIS SPECIALITY.
From The London Globe.

From The London Globe.
1t was the Matabeles who. themselves masters
of the art of recOnnotring, paid a tribute to the
present defender of MafekinS by conferrlnS upon
him a special name to denote his remarkable
ability as a scout. In a little book in the Gale
& Polden series, so we'll known TO military
men Ct is the book by the way, whose final
proof sheets were corrected by the author from
the invested town the Western Side) Colo
mel Baden-POweU writes about scouts and
scouting in manner at once so fascinating and
convincing that fail To be interested in
his description of the qualifications and training
necessary to the pursuit of this most romantic
side of the soldiers calling. In modern warfare,
where one is acting against an enemy armed
with long range weapons and using powder
which renders positions almost invisible, the
value of recommending, Colonel Baden-POWeIl
shows, IS immensely increased, ana IN "Alds 10
Scouting for n. c. O.s and Men, he puts for
ward a collection of hints, as he calls them for
the use OF those VINO would distinguish theIn-
selves in the best port in the world Foot
ball is good game, but better than it, better
than any other game, is that of man hunting"
The scout is the Sherlock Holmes of a force,
the man who deduces important facts from
small signs, who keeps his eyes and his ears
open to everything around him, and who by his
acumen, ms exceptional courage ana resource
Unborn or acquired, as the case may be, renders
often incalculabie service to his side and his
country. scouting, says the author OF this
interesting little book, lis a thing that be
learned but cannot be taught" and before pro-
ceedinS to state the qualifications of a success
ful scout Colonel Baden-POwel points out how
essential it is that the British scout should be
trained to a state Of perfection higher than that
viOus reason is that he is called upon to exer-
else the art of reconnoitring not only against
civilized enemies in civilized countries, but has
to take on the crafty Afghan in his mountain
Businesses, the fierce Zulu on the open downs of
South Africa, the Burmese in his forests, the
Soudanese on the Egyptian desert and ne mlght
have added, from his own recent experience,
the Beers surrounding invested Mafeking.
BUFFALO BILL AN IDEAL SCOUT.
But whatever the conditions and whoever the
enemy, efficient scouting depends in every case
the same factor, the pluck and ability of
the scout himself" According to Colonel Baden /
Powell there are very few really good scouts in
the service, though there are hundreds who |
think they are good and thousands who would !
he admits, like TO be. Evidently the COlonels |
ideal scout is Buffalo Bill. who 10 the majority
of US is enormously thought of as the Snowman |.
only, that intrepid sportsman, Rurnham. He /
mentions both Colonel Cody and Mr.. Burnham /
when he is speaking of the training of the eye. !
Riding with either of them, you will notice, he
says, that While ne talks with you ms eyes /
scarcely look you in the face for a moment; /
they keep glancing from point to point of the /
country round, from sheer force of habit"
Habit is born, in this regard at all events, of /
practice, and Colonel Baden-Powell thus emu |
merates the catalogue of qualifications: Pluck !
and self-reliance, finding your way in strange /
country, using your eyes and ears, keeping /
yourself hidden, tracking, getting across coun- /
try, taking care of yourself and horse, sketch |
ing and reporting information Discretion is |
added to this list. "One often finds men full |
of pluck who would scout into the mouth of hell !
II you asked them-they would go slap DASH |
bang in; but what one wants is a who be- |
sides having the pluck to go there, has the dis .
creton 10 see how he IS going to get back again /
with the information of what it is like
The author has a deal TO say and numerous /
warnings to offer on this important matter of /
getting back again, and on the need of having /
in many cases a second line of retreat. Map
reading the incidentally mentions that the worst (
map readers he has come across are the Ital- /
iaEs), travelling by the compass, finding the .
north by your watch and the sun, the value of /
noting landmarks, reading the "spCor,' track
ing, lodging the enemy-these and numerous }
other points are dealt with in q free and attrac-
tive manner, just in the style a soldier would ap-
pIecia'e, for il must be remembered that the {
book, which the layman read with the keen /.
est enjoyment is really written for the COM
mon soldier Tommy Atkins you are told. .
is not the childish boy that the British public
are too apt to think him, to be ignored in peace
and petted in war. He is, the contrary a .
man who reads and thinks for himself and he
is keen on any instruction in really practical
soldering especially if it promises a spice of
that dash and adventure which is dear to a
Briton."
Dealing with quickness of the eyes and re- /
marking that common sense and a little refec-
uon will often suggest the most likely points
to look for the enemy Colonel Baden-PoweU
tells the following story:
once L was having match with a shikari in /
CASHMERE as to which Of us could see furthest .
He pointed out hillside some distance of and
asked me if l could see how many cattle there
were grazing on II. 1t was only with difficulty
mat could see any cattle at ALL but presently
capped him by asking him if he could see the
man IN charge of the cattle. Now, l could NOT
actually see this myself, but. knowing that there
must be man with the herd, and that he would I
FN NI