Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1900-06-29
THE MEN HUNTING GAME.
col. BApEN.PowELL HAS WRIT.
TEN A BOOK ON IT.


Colonel Baden Powell declares that
"man-stalking' is the best game Of
which he knows, and the Colonel has
had experience enough as hunter Of
both two and four footed animals to
know. He has written a book called
"Aids to Scouting" and in it he clear
ly lays down the rules Of the sport.
The scouts ten commandments, he
says, are pluck and self-reliance, abili-
ty to find his way in a strange coun-
try and use his eyes and ears. He
must be able to keep himself hidden,
track the enemy, get across country,
take care of himself and his horse,
and report his information.
The most reliable assistance In find
/ ing your way is the compass, but In
| South Africa, where there is much
ironstone in the ground, compass be-
comes very unreliable. The sun by day
gives you the east in his rising, and
west in his setting, and north or south
at noon, as you happen to be south or
north of the equator.
On starting on a reconnaissance, II
you see mountain to the nOrthward
/ il win serve as a guide. Similarly,
when you pass any conspicuous object,
like withered tree, broken gate or a
strangely shaped rock, keep 1t in your
mind On passing such landmarks do
not omit to look back, and see what
/ their appearance is from the other
side
A moving enemy is easy to see, but
one who stands still, or who is the
same color as the ground around him,
| is very hard to see for the unprac-
ticed eye. Common sense and little
reflection will often suggest to you
the most likely points to look to find
! him.
For instance, you come across three
fresh paths trodden in the grass on
the South African veldt. all running
parallel to each other, at few yards
| distance. BY having studied the habits
of your enemy you will know at once
that this means three companies have
passed that way on the march, as gen
/ orally they march in single file each
company following its own leader If
the footmarks show that the men
were wearing sandals it means they
were on a long march; if barefooted,
they were not going far
1t is often useful thing, after pass
ing a place where you suspect an enc
my to be hiding, TO turn very suddenly
and look for him. You may catch him
looking out less carefully.
In selecting your lookout place, al
ways be careful to see that there is
more than one way out of it, so that,
if an enemy cuts you off at one you
can escape by the other. Thus a tower
is a tempting place to look out from,
but if an enemy comes and stands
guard at the foot of it you cannot get
away, whereas the roof of house
will give you an almost equally good
view and possibly several different
ways of getting to the ground.
Trees, for the same reason as tow
ers, must be used with caution. Re-
member that men are very apt to for
get to look up in trees for ySu-unless
they see your fOotmarks on the
ground leading to a tree. 1 have stood
under tree with an enemy up in it,
and never noticed him till he fired
down at me.
Tracking means following up foot
/ marks. 1t is called "spooring" in
South Africa. Scouting without track
ing is like bread-and-butter without
the bread. The first thing to learn is
to distinguish the pace at which a
horse or man was moving when he
made the track. 1t viii be seen that a
horse walking leaves pairs of foot
marks each hind foot coming close to
the impression of the fore foot At a
trot each pair of footmarks is at a
greater distance from the next, and
the ground is more forcibly struck, the
toe more deeply indented in the
ground than at a walk. At canter
there are two single footmarks, and
then pair; at a galop single foot
marks deeply indented.
With a man walking, the whole fiat
of the foot comes equally on the
ground. the feet a little under one
yard apart. Running, the toes are
more deeply indented in the ground
anu tue lttl alG AnOlG ludu IL YdEO
apart. Native trackers boast that not
only can they tell persons sex and
age by their tracks, but also then
characters. They say that people who
turn out their toes much are generally
liars 1t was a trick with highwaymen
OF old, and with horse-stealers more
recently, to put their horses shoes on
wrong way round. in order to deceive
trackers who might try to follow them
up; but a good traeker would not bC
taken in. Similarly, thieves often walk
backward. In tracking where spo0r Is
difficult TO see-such as on hard
ground, or in grass-note the direction
of the last footprint that you can see
and then look on in the same dlrec
ton, but well ahead of you-say, q
to 30 yards-and in the grass you will
generally see the blades bent or trod
den, and on hard ground possibly
stones displaced or scratched, and sc
On-small signs, which, seen In a line
one behind the other, give a kind Of
track that otherwise would not be no
ticed. l once tracked a bicycle on
, hard macadam road, where IL really
made ne impression at all, but by
looking along the surface Of the roaC
for long distance ahead Of me, unde
the rising sun, as it happened, the lin,
It had taken was quite visible through
the almost Invisible coating OF dew
upon the ground. Standing on tn
track, and looking down upon it clos
to my feet, l could not see the slight
est sign Of 1t.