The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-02-19
RnER sIrRpRIsES.

| w lleu d 1oIlllSU COluilllh 2HAA~'~ v. l disaster that cannot be directly traced
 to commanders incompetence or
 carelessness, we are perhaps too apt to
 assume that the intelligence officer haS
 been negligent in some respect
 Wonder that Boers numbering a | thousand or more can get within strlK- | ing distance for an effective rush at
 night without being seen by our patrols | is natural enough to those who do not 1 know what Boer methods of scouting are.
 A great many soldiers have learned
 the game by long experience, and can ! play it off against their willy adversaries | to some purpose. Others, however, are
 mere children at it, and will not De
 safe from surprises until they nave
 been taught that the Boer, being a
 sportsman by habit, stalks an enemy | patiently, silently, and warily as ne
 would stalk any wild animal. He can
 often locate his game without seeing it, because he knows how to read the signs
 that tell little or nothing to the practised observers. And it must be | remembered also. that he can still com
 mand the services of native sples
 whose sight is so keen that they can count herd of cattle miles otf, ana
 estimate the rate at which troops are
 moving by a column of dust.
 The trained hunter does not need such assistance. He can always trust
 to himself The customs of British column present no more difficulty to
 him than the habit of any game he IS
 accustomed to follow, and we may be
 sure that neither De Wet nor any other
 commandant of reputation would
 venture to attack before mastering all
 the knowledge necessary for his
 purpose, A haphazard dash at night
 without previous reconnaissance is not
 in their line. But they do not scout
 according to our methods or tire out
 horses in long rides on patrol With
 them it is a rule to keep something Ill
 hand for an emergency. That is the great secret of their mobility, the
 reason why they generally get away when pursued. The Boer system of re- connoitring is simple enough and easily understood if we try to imagine what hunter would do who wanted to watch the movement of a great herd until the biggest antelopes separated from it, and then work round stealthily for shot at them.
 First of all, he would do as a Boer scout does-climb to the top of some kopje commanding wide views over the veldt in all directions, and remain there if need be for hours, lying quiet all the while lest he should startle some birds or wild animals that l., +. I, 1,; toI1G tray his whereabouts. Anything that moves there can be seen by him league off. If it gets behind some de- tached hill which screens it from view, he will wait long enough to satisfy himself whether the game has doubled back or gone off in fresh direction, or is quietly browsing on the reverse slope. In the last case he makes up his mind to get nearer, and descend from his post of observation cautiosly, know ing full well that they have sentries on the crest of that hill His horse will stop, if need be, where he left it; so bending low to dodge from I rock to rock, or creeping through long grass, or running along the bed of a dry watercourse, he can approach unseen to within a few hundred | yards of the hill where those sentinel l are stationed. Then he lies | close, keeping steadfast watch on the skyline, where every moving object | will be clearly visible in sharp silhouette against the clear light.
 While he crouches there. huddling be- meath bank so that the wind as it | sweeps over him, can hardly catch the | talnt of his presence, hundreds of | small deer may cross the veldt close by, | but he will not run the risk of start ling them by sound. The hunter who | is after eland or wildebeest does not | shoot at springbok, but he lets them go by while he watches those sentinels whose movements tell him exactly what | the great herd is doing behind the hill.
 Substitute a British column for wild a Boer scouts methods of procedure will. be precisely the same. If a small patrol passes so temptingly near that he might empty every saddle without risk of being caught, he will not fire a shot, He is after bigger game. That patrol may go on seeing hearing no sound but the weird whistle of some strange wild owl. Possibly it may ride on a league Jr two securing the country within linn ts effectually enough and then get back 70 camp satisfied that there are no ene- nies anywhere near.
 The Boers do not lay ambushes for Wo or three men when they have aid in view But that wild birds shrill ny was probably heard by another 3oer scout. who understood it's mean ng, and sent the signal on to comrades waiting with horses behind some dis ant kopje or among the buildings of deserted farm
 These being too clever to entrap pa- rol whose absence would warn the 3rihsh column of danger, scamper off n different directions, so that, if seen, hey may be taken for mere fugi-