Scouting for Boys Baron Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell Baden-Powell of Gilwell 3503 downloads.pdf

The Project Gutenberg eBook of Scouting for Boys
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
will have to check the laws of the country where you are located
before using this eBook.

Title: Scouting for Boys

Author: Baron Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell Baden-
Powell of Gilwell

Release date: August 5, 2021 [eBook #65993]
Most recently updated: October 18, 2024

Language: English

Original publication: United States: Dover Publications, Inc., 1908

Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65993

Credits: Chris Curnow, Greg Weeks, David King, and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net.

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCOUTING FOR
BOYS ***

SCOUTING FOR BOYS.

The Boy Scout in Action.

SCOUTING FOR BOYS
Robert Baden-Powell

1908

CONTENTS OF THE PARTS.

PART I.
Scoutcraft and Scout Law, giving the Duties of Boy Scouts, their Secret
Signs, Laws, Badges, War Dance, etc.
PART II.
Observation and Tracking.
Woodcraft and Knowledge of Animals.
PART III.
Campaigning and Camp Life.
Pioneering and Resourcefulness.
PART IV.
Endurance and Health.
Chivalry and Brave Deeds.
Discipline.
PART V.
Saving Life and First-Aid.
Patriotism and Loyalty.
PART VI.
Scouting Games, Competitions, and Plays.
Words to Instructors.

FOREWORD FOR INSTRUCTOR.

[N.B.—Remarks printed in italics are, throughout the book, addressed
to the Instructor.]

By the term "Instructor" I mean any man or lad who takes up the training of
either a Patrol (i.e., six to eight boys), or a Troop i.e., (several Patrols
joined together).
By means of this book I hope that anyone, even without previous knowledge
of scouting, may be able to teach it to boys—in town just as well as in the
country.
The system is applicable to existing organisations such as schools, boys'
brigades, cadet corps, etc., or can supply a simple organisation of its own
where these do not exist. But in all cases I would strongly commend the
"Patrol" system: that is, small permanent groups, each under responsible
charge of a leading boy, as the great step to success.
The reasons for this, the objects of the training and full hints to Instructors I
have already published in a pamphlet called "The Boy Scouts Scheme."
Price Twopence. Published by Bradbury, Agnew, Bouverie Street, London,
E.C. They will be further set forth in Part VI. of the present book.
I recommend the Instructor to begin with a Patrol of eight boys if possible,
and when these have qualified as "First-class Scouts" to select the best five
or six to raise each a patrol of his own and instruct it under his (the
Instructor's) supervision.
A great step is to obtain, if possible, a room, barn, or school to serve as a
Club, especially for work on long winter evenings. It must be well-lit and
warmed. And to have a camp-out in the summer.
There need be no great expense in working a troop of Boy Scouts.

Finance must largely depend on the efforts of the Scouts themselves.
Methods for making money will be indicated in Part IV. I do not hold with
begging for funds if it can possibly be avoided.
Any further information or advice will readily be given on application, and
I shall be glad to have any suggestions or informal reports of progress and
numbers trained. But I have no desire to trouble Instructors with red-tape
returns, and so on.
Scouts' Badges, Medals, Patrol Flags, and Crests, Tracking Irons, and such
articles of scouts' equipment, can be obtained at low rates on application
here.
All communications should be addressed, not to me by name, but to:
THE MANAGER,
Boy Scouts,
Goschen Buildings,
Henrietta Street,
London, E.C.

R. S. S. B.-P.
January, 1908.

PART I.—CONTENTS.

SCOUTCRAFT.

NOTES FOR INSTRUCTOR.
CAMP FIRE YARNS.
1.—Scouts' Work: The Mafeking Cadets. "Kim."
2.—Summary of Course of Instruction: The Elsdon Murder.
3.—Boy Scouts' Organisation: Officers; Test for Scouts; Scout's
Badges, Medals, etc.; Scout's Oath; Secret Signs and Calls; Dress.
4.—Scout Law.
GAMES AND PRACTICES.
BOOKS ON THE SUBJECT.

CHAPTER I.
SCOUTCRAFT.

NOTE FOR INSTRUCTOR.

The following is a suggestion for the distribution of the work for the first
week. It is merely a suggestion and in no sense binding.

FIRST EVENING:
INDOORS.

Address the boys on "Scoutcraft," giving a summary of the whole scheme,
as in this chapter, with demonstrations or lantern slides, etc.
Swear in the Scouts, form Patrols, and give shoulder knots.

FOLLOWING DAY:
MORNING AND AFTERNOON.

Practical work, outdoors if possible, as follows:—
Alternatives according to whether in town or country, indoors or out.

MORNING.

Parade, hoist Union Jack and salute it.
Scouting game: e.g., "Scout Meets Scout." (See page 53).

Practise salutes, secret signs, patrol calls, scouts' chorus, etc.
Practise drawing scout-signs on ground or walls with stick or chalk.
Tie knots.
Make ration bags, leather buttons, etc.

MORNING.

Parade. Prayers or Church Parade (if Sunday).
Physical Exercises.
Drill.
Self-measurement by each scout of span, cubit, finger joint, stride, etc.
Send out scouts independently or in pairs to do a "good turn," to return and
report how they have done it.
March out the Patrol to see the neighbourhood.
Make them note direction of starting by compass, wind, and sun.
Notice and question them on details seen, explain "land marks," etc.
Make Scout's Marks on ground or chalk them on pavement or walls.
Practise Scout's pace.
Judge distances.

AFTERNOON.

Play an extended Scouting Game. (See "Games," P. 51).
Or indoors if wet—"Ju-Jitsu," "Scouts' War Dance," Boxing, Scouts' Chorus
and Rally, etc.

EVENING.

Camp Fire Yarns from this book or from books recommended (see p. 19).
Or rehearse a Scout play, or hold Debate, Kim's Game, etc.
Patrols to continue practice in these throughout the week in their own time
or under the scout master, with final games or exercise on the following
Saturday afternoon.
If more evenings than one are available in the week one of the subjects
might be taken in turn more fully each evening, and rehearsals carried out
of a display such as "Pocahontas."

CAMP FIRE YARN.—No. 1.
MAFEKING BOY SCOUTS.

We had an example of how useful Boy Scouts can be on active service,
when a corps of boys was formed in the defence of Mafeking, 1899-1900.
Mafeking, you may remember, was quite a small ordinary country town out
on the open plains of South Africa.
Nobody ever thought of its being attacked by an enemy any more than you
would expect this town (or village) to be attacked—the thing was so
improbable.
But it just shows you how you must be prepared for what is possible, not
only what is probable in war; and so, too, we ought to be prepared in
Britain against being attacked by enemies; for though it may not be
probable, it is quite as possible as it was at Mafeking; and every boy in
Britain should be just as ready as those boys were in Mafeking to take their
share in its defence.
Well, when we found we were to be attacked at Mafeking, we told off our
garrison to the points that they were to protect—some 700 trained men,
police, and volunteers. And then we armed the townsmen, of whom there
were some 300. Some of them were old frontiersmen, and quite equal to the
occasion; but many of them, young shopmen, clerks, and others, had never
seen a rifle before, and had never tried to learn to drill or to shoot, and so

they were hopelessly at sea at first. It is not much fun to have to face an
enemy who means to kill you, when you have never learned to shoot.
Every boy ought to learn how to shoot and to obey orders, else he is no
more good when war breaks out than an old woman, and merely gets killed
like a squealing rabbit, being unable to defend himself.
Altogether, then, we only had about a thousand men all told to defend the
place which contained 600 white women and children, and about 7,000
natives, and was about five miles round.

Lord Edward Cecil and Boy Scouts in
Mafeking.

Every man was of value, and as their numbers gradually got less, owing to
men getting killed and wounded, the duties of fighting and keeping watch at
night got harder for the rest. It was then that Lord Edward Cecil, the chief
staff officer, got together the boys in the place and made them into a cadet
corps, put them in uniform and drilled them; and a jolly smart and useful lot
they were. We had till then used a large number of men for carrying orders
and messages and keeping look-out, and acting as orderlies and so on.
These duties were now handed over to the boy cadets, and the men were
released to go and strengthen the firing line.

And the cadets, under their serjeant-major, a boy named Goodyear, did right
good work, and well deserved the medals which they got at the end of the
war. Many of them rode bicycles, and we were thus able to establish a post
by which people could send letters to their friends in the different forts, or
about the town, without going out under fire themselves; and we made
postage stamps for these letters which had on them a picture of a cadet
bicycle orderly.

Stamp.

I said to one of these boys on one occasion, when he came in through rather
a heavy fire: "You will get hit one of these days riding about like that when
shells are flying." And he replied: "I pedal so quick, sir, they'd never catch
me." These boys didn't seem to mind the bullets one bit; they were always
ready to carry out orders, though it meant risk to their life every time.
Would any of you do that? If an enemy were firing down this street, and I
were to tell one of you to take a message across to a house on the other side,
would you do it? I am sure you would. But probably you wouldn't much
like doing it.
But you want to prepare yourself for it beforehand. It's just like taking a
header into cold water; a fellow who is accustomed to bathing thinks

nothing of it; he has practised it over and over again, but ask a fellow to do
it who has never practised it and he will funk it.
So, too, with a boy who has been accustomed to obey orders at once,
whether there is risk about it or not; the moment you order him to do a thing
on active service, no matter how great the danger is to him he does it, while
another chap who has never cared to obey would object, and would then be
despised as a coward even by his former friends.
But you need not wait for war in order to be useful as a scout. As a peace
scout there is lots for you to do any day, wherever you may be.

SCOUTS' WORK.

I suppose every British boy wants to help his country in some way or other.
There is a way, by which he can do so easily, and that is by becoming a
scout.
A scout, as you know, is generally a soldier who is chosen for his cleverness
and pluck to go out in front of an army in war to find out where the enemy
are, and report to the commander all about them.
But, besides war scouts, there are also peace scouts, i.e., men who in peace
time carry out work which requires the same kind of abilities. These are the
frontiersmen of all parts of our Empire. The "trappers" of North America,
hunters of Central Africa, the British pioneers, explorers, and missionaries
over Asia and all the wild parts of the world, the bushmen and drovers of
Australia, the constabulary of North-West Canada and of South Africa—all
are peace scouts, real men in every sense of the word, and thoroughly up in
scout craft, i.e., they understand living out in the jungles, and they can find
their way anywhere, are able to read meaning from the smallest signs and
foot-tracks; they know how to look after their health when far away from
any doctors, are strong and plucky, and ready to face any danger, and
always keen to help each other. They are accustomed to take their lives in
their hands, and to fling them down without hesitation if they can help their
country by doing so.

They give up everything, their personal comforts and desires, in order to get
their work done. They do not do all this for their own amusement, but
because it is their duty to their King, fellow-countrymen, or employers.
The History of the Empire has been made by British adventurers and
explorers, the scouts of the nation, for hundreds of years past up to the
present time.
The Knights of King Arthur, Richard Coeur de Lion, and the Crusaders,
carried British chivalry into distant parts of the earth.
Raleigh, Drake, and Capt. John Smith, soldiers and sailors of Queen
Elizabeth's time, faced unknown dangers of strange seas, as well as the
known dangers of powerful enemies, to take and hold new lands for the
expansion of our small kingdom.
Capt. Cook in Australia, Lord Clive in India, opened up new countries.
Speke, Baker, and Livingstone pushed their way through the savage deserts
and forests of Africa; Franklin and Ross braved the ice and snows of the
Arctic regions.
In the present time Selous, the great hunter, and Lieut. Boyd Alexander,
who last year crossed Africa, are peace scouts.
These are just a few names out of many hundreds of the scouts of the nation
who have from all times down to the present spread the good name and
power of our country in all parts of the world.
And there have been women scouts of the nation, too: such as Grace
Darling, who risked her life to save a shipwrecked crew; Florence
Nightingale, who nursed sick soldiers in the Crimean War; Miss Kingsley,
the African explorer; Lady Lugard, in Africa and Alaska; and many devoted
lady missionaries and nurses in all parts of our Empire. These have shown
that girls as well as boys may well learn scouting while they are young, and
so be able to do useful work in the world as they grow older.
It is a grand life, but it cannot suddenly be taken up by any man who thinks
he would like it, unless he has prepared himself for it beforehand.
Those who succeed best are those who learnt scouting while they were still
boys.

Scouting also comes in very useful in any kind of life you like to take up,
whether it is soldiering or even business life in a city. Sir William Crookes
says it is even valuable for a man who goes in for science, and finding out
little things about air, and light, and so on.
So I am going to show you how you can learn scout-craft for yourself and
can put it into practice at home.
It is very easy to learn and very interesting when you get into it. You can
best learn by joining the "Boy Scouts."

"KIM."

A good example of what a Boy Scout can do is to be found in Rudyard
Kipling's story of "Kim."
"Kim," or, to give him his full name, Kimball O'Hara, was the son of a
sergeant of an Irish regiment in India. His father and mother died while he
was a child, and he had been left to the care of an aunt who lived in an
humble way in India.
His playmates were all natives, so he got to talk their language and to know
their ways better than any European. He became great friends with an old
wandering priest who was tramping about India, and with whom he
travelled all over the north part of that country. At last, one day he chanced
to meet his father's old regiment on the line of march, and in visiting the
camp he was arrested on suspicion of being a thief. His birth certificate and
other papers were found on him, and the regiment, seeing that he had
belonged to them, took charge of him, and started to educate him. But
whenever he could get away for holidays he dressed himself in Indian
clothes, and went again among the natives as one of them.
After a time he became acquainted with a Mr. Lurgan, a dealer in old
jewellery and curiosities, who, owing to his knowledge from dealing with
natives, was also a member of the Government Intelligence Department.
[Explain this.]
This man, finding that Kim had such special knowledge of native habits and
customs, saw that he would make a useful agent for Government

Intelligence work, that is, a kind of detective among the natives. But, first of
all, before employing him, he put him to one or two tests to see whether he
was sufficiently brave and strong-minded.
As a trial of his strong-mindedness he attempted to mesmerise him, that is
to say, he tried to make Kim's thoughts obey what was in his own mind. It is
possible for strong-minded men to do this with those of weaker mind. The
way he attempted it was by throwing down a jug of water so that it smashed
to pieces; he then laid his fingers on the boy's neck, and wished him to
imagine the jug mended itself again. But, do what he would to make his
thought reach the boy's brain, he failed; Kim saw the jug was broken, and
would not believe it was mended, although at one time he nearly obeyed
him, for he saw a kind of vision of the jug being mended, but it faded away
again.
Most boys would have let their mind and eyes wander, and would not have
been able to keep them on the one subject, and would so have easily
become mesmerised by the man.
Lurgan, finding him strong-minded and quick at learning, then gave him
lessons at noticing small details and remembering them, which is a most
important point in the training of a scout—it is a thing that he should learn
and be practising every hour of the day wherever he may be. Lurgan began
it with Kim by showing him a tray full of precious stones of different kinds
—he let him look at it for a minute, and then covered it with a cloth, and
asked him to state how many stones and what sort were there. At first he
found he could only remember a few, and could not describe them very
accurately, but with a little practice he soon got to remember them all quite
well. And so, also, with many other kinds of articles which were shown to
him in the same way.
Then Kim travelled about the country a great deal with a fine old Afghan
horse-dealer to whom he was much attached, who was also an agent of the
Intelligence Department. On one occasion Kim was able to do him a good
turn by carrying an important message for him secretly; and another time he
saved his life by overhearing some natives planning to murder him when he
came along. By pretending to be asleep and then having a nightmare which
caused him to move from his position, Kim got away from the

neighbourhood of the would-be murderers, and was able to give warning to
his friend in good time.
At last he was made a member of the Secret Service, and was given a secret
sign—namely, a badge to wear round his neck and a certain sentence to say,
which, if said in a peculiar way, meant he was one of the service. Scouts
generally have secret signs by which they can communicate with each
other.
The members of the Intelligence Service are very numerous in India, and do
not know each other by sight, so they have to have a secret sign by which
they will recognise each other among other people who may be their
enemies.
Once when travelling in the train Kim met another member whom he did
not know. This was a native, who when he got into the carriage was
evidently in a great state of alarm, and was rather badly cut about the head
and arms. He explained to the other passengers that he had met with an
accident from a cart whilst he was driving to the station, but Kim, like a
good scout, noticed the cuts were sharp and not grazes such as you would
get by falling from a cart, and so did not believe him. While the man was
tying up a bandage over his head, Kim noticed he was wearing a locket like
his own; so Kim let his own be seen. Directly the man saw it he brought
into conversation some of the secret words, and Kim answered with the
proper ones in reply. So then the stranger got into a corner with Kim and
explained to him that he was carrying out some secret service work, and
had been found out and hunted by some of the enemies of the Government
who had nearly killed him. They probably knew he was in the train and
would therefore telegraph down the line to their friends that he was coming.
He wanted to get his message to a certain police officer without being
caught by the enemy, but he could not tell how to do it if they were already
warned of his coming. Kim thereupon hit upon the idea of disguising him.

Kim disguising the native spy.

In India there are a number of holy beggars who go about the country. They
wear next to no clothing and smear themselves with ashes, and paint certain
marks on their faces; they are considered very holy, and people always help
them with food and money. So Kim made a mixture of flour and wood
ashes, which he took from the bowl of a native pipe, and he undressed his
friend and smeared these all over him, and finally, with the aid of a little
paint-box which he carried, he painted the proper marks on the man's
forehead. He smeared the man's wounds with flour and ashes, partly so as to
heal them, and also so that they did not show; and he brushed his hair down
to look wild and shaggy like that of a beggar, and covered it with dust so
that the man's own mother would not have known him. Soon afterwards
they got to a big station where on the platform they found the police officer
to whom the report was to be made. The imitation beggar pushed up against
him and got abused by the officer in English; the beggar replied with a

string of native abuse into which he introduced the secret words. The police
officer, although he had pretended not to know Hindustani, understood it
quite well, and at once recognised from the secret words that this beggar
was an agent; and so he pretended to arrest him and marched him off to the
police-station where he could talk to him quietly. It was thus done without
anyone on the platform knowing that they were in league with each other,
or that this native beggar was the escaped Intelligence agent.
Finally, Kim became acquainted with another agent of the department—an
educated native or Babu as they are called in India—and was able to give
him great assistance in capturing two Russian officers who were acting as
spies against the British on the north-west frontier of India.

[Note.—Point out on map respective positions of British and Russians.]

The Babu pretended to the Russians that he was the manager for a local
native prince who did not like the English, and travelled with them for some
time as representative of this prince. In this way he got to know where they
kept their secret papers in their baggage. At last he got up trouble between
them and a holy priest, whom they struck; this caused great excitement
among the natives, who rushed off with the baggage and got lost in the
darkness. Kim, who was among the natives, opened the luggage and found
the secret papers which he took out and carried to headquarters.
These and other adventures of Kim are well worth reading, because they
show what valuable work a boy scout could do for his country if he were
sufficiently trained and sufficiently intelligent.

BOOKS.

The following books, which may be got from a Lending Library or
from friends, may be found useful in connection with Chapter I.:—

"Rob the Ranger," by Herbert Strang, price 6s. (Published by Hodder &
Stoughton), describes the exciting adventures of boy scouts in Canada in
the early days, including tracking and backwoods life.
Also,

* "Kidnapped," by R. L. Stevenson.
* "Kim," by Rudyard Kipling.
"Siege of Mafeking," by Major F. Baillie.
* "Two Little Savages," by E. Thompson Seton.
"Parents and Children," by Miss Charlotte Mason.
"The Romance of Every Day," by L. Quiller Couch,
gives inspiring instances of heroism in everyday life.
5s.
"Heroes of Pioneering," by Edgar Sanderson. 5s.
(Published by Seeley & Co.)

CAMP FIRE YARN.—No. 2.
SUMMARY OF SCOUT'S COURSE OF INSTRUCTION.

To become a Boy Scout you join a patrol belonging to your Cadet Corps, or
Boys' Brigade or club.
If you are not a member of one of these, or if it does not as yet possess a
patrol of scouts, you can raise a patrol yourself by getting five other boys to
join. They should, if possible, be all about the same age. One boy is then
chosen as Patrol Leader to command the patrol, and he selects another boy
to be the Corporal or second in command. Several patrols together can form
a "Troop" under an officer called a "Scoutmaster."
You all take the scout's oath, that is you promise, on your honour, three
things, namely:

1. To be loyal to God and the King.
2. To help other people at all times.
3. To obey the scout law.

You learn the scout sign of the scouts (see page 40), and also the call of
your patrol (see page 45).
Every patrol is named after some animal, and each scout in it has to be able
to make the cry of that animal in order to communicate with his pals,

especially at night. Thus you may be "the Wolves," "the Curlews," "the
Eagles," or "the Rats" if you like. No scout may ever use the call of another
patrol. The second law binds you to be loyal, kind, obedient, and cheerful.
Most of your work then consists in playing scouting games and practices by
which you gain experience as scouts. When you have learned sufficient to
pass the test you can win the badge of either a first class or second class
scout.
That of the first class scout consists of a brass arrow head with the motto on
it "Be Prepared."
That of the second class scout is merely the motto without the arrow head.
The meaning of the motto is that a scout must prepare himself by previous
thinking out and practising how to act on any accident or emergency so that
he is never taken by surprise; he knows exactly what to do when anything
unexpected happens.
The following subjects are what you have to know about to pass the test as
a scout:—

Woodcraft means knowing all about animals, which is gained by following
up their foot-tracks and creeping up to them so that you can watch them in
their natural state, and learn the different kinds of animals and their various
habits. You only shoot them if in want of food; but no scout wilfully kills an
animal for the mere sake of killing, unless it is a harmful creature.
A good story is told of a soldier in the South African War who killed a
harmless animal, namely a sheep, when the order had been given out that
nobody was to kill any animal except a "savage wild beast."
But the soldier wanted some mutton, and he found a sheep round at the
back of a house; so he started to make it into mutton with his bayonet. Just
as he was doing so an officer happened to come round the corner. The
soldier saw the danger that he was in for disobeying the order, but he did
not lose his head. Pretending not to see the officer, he again plunged his
bayonet into the wretched sheep, shouting at the same time, "Ah, you would
bite me, would you? You 'savage wild beast'!"

By continually watching animals in their natural state one gets to like them
too well to shoot them.
The whole sport of hunting animals lies in the woodcraft of stalking them,
not in the killing.
Woodcraft includes, besides being able to see the tracks and other small
signs, the power to read their meaning, such as at what pace the animal was
going, whether he was frightened or unsuspicious, and so on. It enables the
hunter also to find his way in the jungle or desert; it teaches him which are
the best wild fruits, roots, etc., for his own food, or which are favourite food
for animals, and, therefore, likely to attract them.
In the same way in scouting in civilised countries you read the tracks of
men, horses, bicycles, etc., and find out from these what has been going on;
noticing by small signs, such as birds suddenly starting up, that someone is
moving near, though you cannot see them.
By noticing little things on the ground you will often find lost articles,
which you can then restore to their owners.
By noticing details of harness, and so on, you can often save a horse from
the pain of an ill-fitting strap or bit.
By noticing the behaviour or dress of people, and putting this and that
together, you can sometimes see that they are up to no good, and can thus
prevent a crime, or you can often tell when they are in distress and need
help or sympathy—and you can then do what is one of the chief duties of a
scout, namely, help those in distress in any possible way that you can.
Remember that it is a disgrace to a scout if, when he is with other people,
they see anything big or little, near or far, high or low, that he has not
already seen for himself.
Kim, when learning to be scout, was taught to notice small things quickly
and to remember them, by being shown a tray full of small articles for a few
moments and then having to state what he had seen.
[Play Kim's game. See page 54.]

Campaigning.—Scouts must, of course, be accustomed to living in the open;
they have to know how to put up tents or huts for themselves; how to lay
and light a fire; how to kill, cut up, and cook their food; how to tie logs
together to make bridges and rafts; how to find their way by night, as well
as by day, in a strange country, and so on.
But very few fellows learn or practise these things when they are living in
civilised places because they get comfortable houses and beds to sleep in,
their food is prepared and cooked for them, and when they want to know
the way "they ask a policeman."
Well, when those fellows go out to a colony, or try to go scouting, they find
themselves helpless duffers.
Take even the captain of your cricket eleven and put him down on the South
African veldt alongside the young Colonial, and see which can look after
himself. High averages and clean flannels are not much good to him there.
He is only a "tenderfoot," and would be the object of continual chaff until
he got some scoutcraft into him.
And scoutcraft, mind you, comes in useful in any line of life that you like to
take up. Cricket doesn't matter a hang—though it is a jolly good game to
play, and comes in useful to a certain extent in training a fellow's eye,
nerve, and temper. But, as the American would say, "it isn't a circumstance"
to scouting which teaches a fellow to be a man.

[Make each boy lay a fire in his own way and light it. After failures,
show them the right way (i.e., delicate use of dry chips and shavings,
and sticks in a pyramid), and make them do it again. Also teach them
how to tie knots. See Part III.]

Chivalry.—In the old days the knights were the scouts of Britain, and their
rules were very much the same as the scout law which we have now. And
very much like what the Japs have, too. We are their descendants, and we
ought to keep up their good name and follow in their steps.
They considered that their honour was the most sacred thing to uphold; they
would not do a dishonourable thing, such as telling a lie or stealing: they
would really rather die than do it. They were always ready to fight and to be

killed in upholding their king, or their religion, or their honour. Thousands
of them went out to Palestine (the Holy Land) to maintain the Christian
religion against the Mahommedan Turks.
Each knight had a small following of a squire and some men-at-arms, just
as our patrol leader has his corporal and four or five scouts.
The knight's patrol used to stick to him through thick and thin, and all
carried out the same idea as their leader—namely:

Their honour was sacred.
They were loyal to God, and their king, and to their country.
They were particularly courteous and polite to all women and children
and infirm people.
They were helpful to everybody.
They gave money and food where it was wanted and saved up their
money in order to do so.
They taught themselves the use of arms in order to protect their religion
and their country against enemies.
They kept themselves strong and healthy and active in order to be able
to do these things well.

You scouts cannot do better than follow the example of your forefathers, the
knights, who made the tiny British nation into one of the best and greatest
that the world has ever known.
One great point about them was that every day they had to do a good turn to
somebody, and that is one of our rules. When you get up in the morning
remember that you have got to do a good turn to someone during the day;
tie a knot in your handkerchief or necktie, and leave the tail of your necktie
outside your waistcoat to remind yourself of it; and when you go to bed at
night think who you did the good turn to.
If you should ever find that you had forgotten to do it, you must do two
good turns the next day instead. Remember that by your scout's oath you
are on your honour to do it.

A good turn need only be a very small one; if it is only to put a halfpenny
into a poor box, or to help an old woman to cross the street, or to make
room on a seat for someone, or to give water to a thirsty horse, or to remove
a bit of banana skin off the pavement where it is likely to throw people
down, it is a good turn. But one must be done every day, and it only counts
as a good when you do not accept any reward in return.

[Make each scout tie knot in his necktie to remind him to do a good turn
next day.]

A Boy Scout's Necktie.

Saving Life.—You have all heard of the Victoria Cross—the little bronze
cross given by Queen Victoria to soldiers who specially distinguish
themselves in action under the fire of the enemy.
But there is the companion medal to it, and that is the Albert Medal for
those who are not soldiers, and who distinguish themselves in saving life in
peace time.

And I think the man who wins this medal, as he does in the sudden
appalling accidents which occur in big cities, mines, and factories, in
everyday life, is no less a hero than the soldier who rushes into the thick of
the fight to rescue a comrade amid all the excitement and glamour of the
battle.
My great hope is that many of you scouts will in time to come win for
yourselves the high honour of receiving the Albert Medal.
It is certain that very many of you will at one time or another get the chance
of it if you are prepared to seize the opportunity. That is, you must be
prepared for it; you should know what to do the moment an accident occurs
—and do it then and there.
It is not enough to read about it in a book and think that you know how to
do it—but you must actually practise, and practise pretty often, the actual
things to be done; such as how to cover your mouth and nose with a wet
handkerchief to enable you to breath in smoke, how to tear a sheet into
strips and make a rope for escaping from fire, how to open a manhole to let
air into a gassy sewer, how to lift and carry an insensible person, how to
collar, save, and revive apparently drowned people, and so on.
When you have learnt all these things you will have confidence in yourself,
so that when an accident happens and everybody is in a state of fluster, not
knowing what to do, you will quietly step out and do the right thing.
Remember the case at the Hampstead Ponds last year when a woman
drowned herself in shallow water before a whole lot of men, who were too
frightened to do anything but shout to her. It was a disgrace to our nation
that there was not a real man amongst them. It would have been a grand
opportunity for a Boy Scout, had there been one there, to go in and fetch her
out. As it was, these cowards stood there clamouring and chattering on the
bank—not one of them daring to go in because the others did not. And she
was drowned before their eyes.

[Teach the scouts how to lift and carry an insensible man. Also how to
drag an insensible man through smoke, gas, etc. Also how to cover nose
and mouth with wet handkerchief. Divide them off into pairs, and let
each in turn act as insensible patient to be rescued by his comrade.]

Endurance.—To carry out all the duties and work of a scout properly a
fellow has to be strong, healthy, and active. And he can make himself so if
he takes a little care about it.
It means a lot of exercise, like playing games, running, walking, cycling,
and so on.
A scout has to sleep very much in the open, and a boy who is accustomed to
sleep with his window shut will probably suffer, like many a tenderfoot has
done, by catching cold and rheumatism when he first tries sleeping out. The
thing is always to sleep with your windows open, summer and winter, and
you will never catch cold. Personally I cannot sleep with my window shut
or with blinds down, and when living in the country I always sleep outside
the house, summer and winter alike. A soft bed and too many blankets make
a boy dream bad dreams, which weaken him.
A short go of Swedish or ju-jitsu exercises every morning and evening is a
grand thing for keeping you fit—not so much for making showy muscle as
to work all your internal organs [Explain], and to work up the circulation of
the blood in every part of you.
A good rub down daily with a wet rough towel, even if you cannot get a
bath, which of course is preferable, is of the utmost importance.
Scouts breathe through the nose, not through the mouth; in this way they
don't get thirsty; they don't get out of breath so quickly; they don't suck into
their insides all sorts of microbes or seeds of disease that are in the air; and
they don't snore at night, and so give themselves away to an enemy.
"Deep breathing" exercises are of great value for developing the lungs, and
for putting fresh air (oxygen) into the blood, provided that they are carried
out in the open air, and are not overdone so as to injure the heart, etc. For
deep breathing the breath must be taken in slowly and deeply through the
nose, not through the mouth, till it opens out the ribs to the greatest extent,
especially at the back; then, after a time it should be slowly and steadily,
breathed out again without strain. But the best deep breathing after all is
that which comes naturally from plenty of running exercise.
Alcohol is now shown to be quite useless as a health-giving drink, and it is
mere poison when a man takes much of it. A man who is in the habit of

drinking wine or spirits in strong doses every day is not the slightest use for
scouting, and very little use for anything else.
Similarly a man who smokes much. The best war scouts don't smoke
because it weakens their eyesight; it sometimes makes them shaky and
nervous; it spoils their noses for smelling (which is of great importance at
night), and the glow of their pipe, or even the scent of tobacco carried on
them at night gives them away to watchful enemies. They are not such fools
as to smoke. No boy ever began smoking because he liked it, but because
he thought it made him look like a grown-up man. As a matter of fact it
generally makes him look a little ass.

[Show ju-jitsu or Swedish extension motions—one or two exercises only
to begin with. Also deep breathing.]

Patriotism.—You belong to the Great British Empire, one of the greatest
empires that has ever existed in the world.
[Show on the map.]
From this little island of Great Britain have sprung colonies all over the
world, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Canada.
Almost every race, every kind of man, black, white, or yellow, in the world
furnishes subjects of King Edward VII.
This vast empire did not grow of itself out of nothing; it was made by your
forefathers by dint of hard work and hard fighting, at the sacrifice of their
lives—that is, by their hearty patriotism.
People say that we have no patriotism nowadays, and that therefore our
empire will fall to pieces like the great Roman empire did, because its
citizens became selfish and lazy, and only cared for amusements. I am not
so sure about that. I am sure that if you boys will keep the good of your
country in your eyes above everything else she will go on all right. But if
you don't do this there is very great danger, because we have many enemies
abroad, and they are growing daily stronger and stronger.
Therefore, in all that you do, remember to think of your country first; don't
spend the whole of your time and money on games and tuck shops merely

to amuse yourself, but think first how you can be of use in helping your
empire, and when you have done that you can justly and honestly sit down
and enjoy yourself in your own way.
"Country first, self second," should be your motto. Probably, if you ask
yourself truly, you will find you have at present got them just the other way
about.
I hope if it is so that you will from this moment put yourself right and
remain so always, Patriot first, player second. Don't be content, like the
Romans were, and some people now are, to pay other people to play your
football or to fight your battles for you. Do something yourself to help in
keeping the flag flying.
If you take up scouting in that spirit you will be doing something; take it up,
not merely because it amuses you, but because by doing so you will be
fitting yourself to help your country. Then you will have in you the true
spirit of patriotism, which every British boy ought to have if he is worth his
salt.

[Show the Union Jack. Explain its history and composition, and which
is the right way for flying it. (See Part V.)]

HOW TO FLY BRITAIN'S FLAG: Right way up.

HOW NOT TO FLY BRITAIN'S FLAG: Upside down.

WINTER'S STOB; OR, THE ELSDON MURDER.

[Note: The following story, which in the main is true, is a sample of a
story that should be given by the Instructor illustrating generally the
duties of a Boy Scout.]

A brutal murder took place many years ago in the North of England; and the
murderer was caught, convicted, and hanged chiefly through the scoutcraft
of a shepherd boy.
Woodcraft.—The boy, Robert Hindmarsh, had been up on the moor
tending his sheep, and was finding his way home over a wild, out-of-the-
way part of the hills, when he passed a tramp sitting on the ground with his
legs stretched out in front of him eating some food.
Observation.—The boy in passing noticed his appearance, and especially
the peculiar nails in the soles of his boots.

Concealment.—He did not stop and stare, but just took these things in at a
glance as he went by without attracting much attention from the man, who
merely regarded him as an ordinary boy not worth his notice.

Observing the murderer's boots.

Deduction.—When he got near home, some five or six miles away, he came
to a crowd round a cottage, where they had found the old woman (Margaret
Crozier) who inhabited it lying murdered. All sorts of guesses were being
hazarded as to who had done the deed, and suspicion seemed to centre on a
small gang of three or four gipsies who were going about the country

robbing and threatening death to anyone who made any report of their
misdeeds.
The boy heard all these things, but presently he saw some peculiar
footprints in the little garden of the cottage; the nailmarks agreed with those
he had seen in the boots of the man on the moor, and he naturally deduced
from these that the man might have something to do with the murder.
Chivalry.—The fact that it was a helpless old woman who had been
murdered made the boy's chivalrous feelings rise against the murderer,
whoever it might be.
Pluck and Self-discipline, Alacrity.—So, although he knew that the
friends of the murderer might kill him for giving information, he cast his
fears on one side and went at once and told the constable of the footmarks
in the garden, and where he could find the man who had made them—if he
went immediately.
Health and Strength.—The man up on the moor had got so far from the
scene of the murder, unseen (except by this one small boy), that he thought
himself safe, and never thought of the boy being able to walk all the way to
the scene of the murder and then to come back, as he did, with the police.
So he took no precautions.
But the boy was a strong, healthy hill-boy, and did the journey rapidly and
well, so that they found the man and captured him without difficulty.
The man was Willie Winter, a gipsy.
He was tried, found guilty, and hanged at Newcastle. His body was then
brought and hung on a gibbet near the scene of the murder, as was the
custom in those days, and the gibbet still stands to this day. Two of the
gipsies who were his accomplices were caught with some of the stolen
property, and were also executed at Newcastle.
Kind-heartedness.—But when the boy saw the murderer's body hanging
there on the gibbet he was overcome with misery at having caused the death
of a fellow-creature.

The gibbet at Stang's Cross.

Saving Life.—However, the magistrate sent for him and complimented him
on the great good he had done to his fellow-countrymen—probably saving
some of their lives—by ridding the world of such a dangerous criminal.
Duty.—He said: "You have done your duty although it caused you
personally some danger and much distress. Still you must not mind that—it
was your duty to the King to help the police in getting justice done, and
duty must always be carried out regardless of how much it costs you, even
if you had to give up your life."
Example.—Thus the boy did every part of the duty of a boy scout without
ever having been taught.
He exercised—

Woodcraft.
Observation without being noticed.
Deduction.
Chivalry.
Sense of duty.
Endurance.
Kind-heartedness.

He little thought that the act which he did entirely of his own accord would
years afterwards be held up as an example to you other boys in teaching
you to do your duty. In the same way you should remember your acts may
be watched by others after you, and taken as an example too. So try to do
your duty the right way on all occasions.

Since writing down the above story I have visited the place, Stang's Cross,
where the gibbet, with a wooden head hanging from it, still stands as a
warning to evildoers. Some foolish people used to believe that toothache
could be cured by rubbing the teeth with chips of wood cut from this gibbet,
and used to come from miles round to get them. Mrs. Haldane, the mother
of our present Secretary of State for War, remembers seeing the effigy of
Winter hanging on the gibbet, and recalls with horror the doleful rattling of

the chains on which it swung in the night wind on the lonely moor. The
gibbet is known as "Winter's Stob."
Winter belonged to a notable family. He was not the only one who
distinguished himself, for his father and his brother were also hanged for
different offences. Another brother, feeling the disgrace of belonging to
such a family, changed his name from Winter to Spring, and became—a
prize-fighter.

CAMP FIRE YARN.—No. 3.
BOY SCOUTS' ORGANISATION.

It is not intended that boy scouts should necessarily form a new corps
separate from all others, but the boys who belong to any kind of existing
organisation, such as schools, football clubs, Boys' or Church Lads'
Brigades, factories, district messengers, Telegraph Service, Cadet Corps,
etc., etc., can also take up scouting in addition to their other work or play—
especially on Saturdays and Sundays.
But where there are any boys who do not belong to any kind of organisation
—and there is a very large number of such boys about the United Kingdom
—they can form themselves into Patrols and become Boy Scouts.
For this purpose officers are necessary.

Officers: The head officer of all the boy scouts in the world is called the
Chief Scout.
A Scout Master is an officer who has charge of a troop. A troop consists
of not less than three patrols. Scouts address the scout master as "Sir."
A Patrol Leader is a scout appointed to command a patrol. A patrol
consists of six scouts. Any lad or young man who learns scouting from
this book can make himself a patrol leader and collect and train five or
seven boys to be scouts.
A Corporal is a scout selected by the patrol leader to be his assistant,
and to take command of the patrol when he himself is away.
A Scout is of two kinds—first-class and second-class.

First-class scout is one who has passed certain tests to show that he is
able to scout.
Second-class scout is one who has passed certain easy tests in scouting.
A Tenderfoot is a boy who is not yet a scout.
A Court of Honour is formed of the scout master and two patrol leaders,
or in the case of a single patrol by the patrol leader and the corporal. It
decides rewards, punishments, and other questions.

Tests: To become a second-class scout and gain the motto badge, a boy must
satisfy his scout master in the following details:

1. Tie four of the following knots in less than thirty seconds each knot:
Bowline, fisherman's bend, reef knot, clove hitch, sheet bend.
2. Track a deer's "spoor" (made with tracking irons) or a horse's track
for a quarter of a mile in not more than fifteen minutes; or, in a town, to
describe satisfactorily the contents of one shop window out of four
observed for one minute each.
3. Go at scout's pace for one mile in not more than thirteen minutes.
4. Know the scout's laws and signs.
5. Know the composition of the Union Jack, and the right way to fly it.

To become a first-class scout and gain the whole scout's badge, a boy must
pass the following test—in addition to those for second-class scout (above)
—before a Court of Honour. (N.B.—In the case of a new troop the Scout
Master can act as the Court of Honour.)

6. Point out the direction of different points of the compass where he
stands.
7. Make a journey alone of not less than fifteen miles from point to
point by walking, riding, boat, or bicycle.
8. Describe or show the proper means for saving life in case of one
(selected by the Court) of the following accidents: fire, drowning,
runaway carriage, sewer gas, ice-breaking; or bandage an injured
patient, or revive apparently drowned persons.

9. Be able to read and write.
10. Have at least sixpence in the savings bank.
11. Show that he has brought a recruit to the Boy Scouts, and has taught
him to tie the six principal knots.
12. To lay and light a fire, using not more than two matches, and cook a
quarter of a pound of flour and two potatoes without cooking utensils.

Badges and Medals: The scout's badge is this:

Scout Badge.

The scout's badge is the arrow head, which shows the north on a map or on
the compass. It is the badge of the scout in the Army, because he shows the
way: so, too, a peace scout shows the way in doing his duty and helping
others.
The motto on it is the scout's motto of

BE PREPARED.

(B. P., my initials), which means that a scout must always be prepared at
any moment to do his duty, and to face danger in order to help his fellow-
men. Its scroll is turned up at the ends like a scout's mouth, because he does
his duty with a smile and willingly.
The knot is to remind the scout to do a good turn to some one daily.
A scout's badge represents and is called his "life." It is given him when he
passes the tests in scout-craft necessary to make him a scout.
He will be called on at some time or the other to risk his life, that is to
perform some difficult task, and if he fails in it he loses his life—that is his
badge. In such case a Court of Honour may allow him to remain in the
patrol, but he cannot have his badge again, unless he performs some very
specially good work.
If he breaks his word of honour, or otherwise disgraces himself, his life is
taken (that is his badge), and he is expelled from the patrol.
The badge is worn by scout masters on the left side of the hat or cap.
The badge is worn by patrol leaders on front of the hat or cap.
The badge is worn by corporal on the left arm above elbow with a strip of
white braid below it.
The badge is worn by scouts on the left arm above the elbow.
The badge worn by first-class scouts is the whole badge.
Only the motto part of the badge is worn by second-class scouts.

Badges of Honour are also given for certain tests. These are worn on the
right arm below the elbow.

Signalling: ability to read and send Morse or semaphore message,
twenty letters a minute.
First Aid: for passing the St. John Ambulance tests in First Aid.

Stalking: series of twelve photos of wild animals taken from life by the
scout and developed and printed by himself.
Merit: for twenty good marks for various good deeds.

Medals are worn on the right breast, and are as follows:

Bronze medal with red ribbon: For gallantry in saving life, or
attempting to save life at risk of own life.
Silver medal with red ribbon: For saving and helping to save life
without risk of own life, but where life might have been lost.
Silver medal with blue ribbon: Meritorious service, or assisting police
at personal risk.

These are only granted by the chief scout on special recommendation from
the patrol leader or scout master, who should send in a full account of the
case when applying.
Marks are awarded by scout masters, from their own knowledge or on
recommendation of patrol leaders, or as marks for competition.
Two marks are given to any scout who brings a recruit whom he has already
taught to tie the regulation knots. Such recruit must be in addition to the one
who enabled him to qualify for his scout's badge.
"The Wolf."—The Red Indians of North America call their best scout "Grey
Wolf," because the grey wolf is a beast that sees everything and yet is never
seen.
And the fighting tribes in South Africa in the same way speak of a scout as
a wolf.
In the Matabele War, 1896-1897, the enemy called me "The Wolf" for that
reason.
Mr. Thompson Seton, the head of the "Red Indian" Boy Scouts in America,
is called "Grey Wolf."
So in the Boy Scouts a special badge and title of "Wolf" will be given as a
reward for very special distinction in scouting; not more than one will be
granted in a year.

All medals and badges are only worn as above when scouts are on duty or
in camp. At other times they should be worn on the right breast of the
waistcoat, underneath the jacket.
A small arrow-head badge may be worn at all times in the button-hole.

THE SCOUT'S OATH.

Before he becomes a scout a boy must take the scout's oath, thus:
"On my honour I promise that—

1. I will do my duty to God and the King.
2. I will do my best to help others, whatever it costs me.
3. I know the scout law, and will obey it."
(For Scout Law, see page 40.)

While taking this oath the scout will stand, holding his right hand raised
level with his shoulder, palm to the front, thumb resting on the nail of the
little finger, and the other three fingers upright, pointing upwards:—

Scout's Salute and Secret
Sign.

This is the scout's salute and secret sign.
When the hand is raised shoulder high it is called the "Half Salute."
When raised to the forehead it is the "Full Salute."

SCOUT'S SALUTE AND SECRET SIGN.

The three fingers held up (like the three points of the scout's badge) remind
him of his three promises in the scout's oath.

1. Honour God and the King.
2. Help others.
3. Obey the Scout Law.

When a scout meets another for the first time in the day, whether he is a
comrade or a stranger, he salutes with the secret sign in the half salute.
He always salutes an officer—that is, a patrol leader, or a scout master, or
any officer of His Majesty's forces, army, navy, or police in uniform—with
the full salute.
Also the hoisting of the Union Jack, the colours of a regiment, the playing
of "God Save the King," and any funeral.
A scout who has the "Wolf" honour is entitled to make the sign with the
first finger and thumb opened out, the remaining fingers clenched, thumb
upwards.
A man told me the other day that "he was an Englishman, and just as good
as anybody else, and he was blowed if ever he would raise a finger to salute
his so-called 'betters': he wasn't going to be a slave and kow-tow to them,
not he!" and so on. That is a churlish spirit, which is very common among
fellows who have not been brought up as scouts.
I didn't argue with him, but I might have told him that he had got hold of
the wrong idea about saluting.
A salute is merely a sign between men of standing. It is a privilege to be
able to salute anyone.
In the old days the free men of England all were allowed to carry weapons,
and when they met each other each would hold up his right hand to show
that he had no weapon in it, and that they met as friends. So also when an
armed man met a defenceless person or a lady.
Slaves or serfs were not allowed to carry weapons, and so had to slink past
the freemen without making any sign.
Nowadays people do not carry weapons; but those who would have been
entitled to do so, such as knights, esquires, and men-at-arms, that is anyone
living on their own property or earning their own living, still go through the
form of saluting each other by holding up their hand to their cap, or even
taking it off.
"Wasters" are not entitled to salute, and so should slink by, as they generally
do, without taking notice of the free men or wage-earners.

To salute merely shows that you are a right sort of fellow and mean well to
the other; there is nothing slavish about it.
If a stranger makes the scout's sign to you, you should acknowledge it at
once by making the sign back to him, and then shake hands with the LEFT
HAND. If he then shows his scout's badge, or proves that he is a scout, you
must treat him as a brother-scout, and help him in any way you can.

SCOUT'S UNIFORM.

SCOUT'S UNIFORM. Patrol Leader with Scout.

If you already belong to a corps which has a uniform, you dress in that
uniform; but on passing the tests for a scout given here you wear the scout
badge, if your commanding officer allows it, in addition to any of your
corps' badges that you may have won.
A scout does not use a showy uniform, because it would attract attention;
but scouts in a patrol should, as far as possible, dress alike, especially as
regards hats, or caps, and neckerchief.
If your patrol does not belong to any uniformed corps, it should dress as
nearly as possible thus:

Flat brimmed hat if possible, or wide-awake hat.
Coloured handkerchief tied loosely round neck.
Shirt: Flannel.
Colours: A bunch of ribbons of patrol colour on left shoulder.
Belt, with coat rolled tight and strapped or tied on it behind.
Haversack: To carry food, etc., slung on back across the shoulders.
Shorts: Trousers cut short at knee. A kilt if you are a Scotsman.
Stockings, with garters made of green braid, with one end hanging
down one inch.
Boots or shoes.
Staff as high as scout's shoulder. Not shod, as it is for feeling the way at
night quietly.
Badge on left arm above elbow.
Whistle, with cord round neck for patrol leader.

N.B.—The colour of the neckerchief, or necktie and shoulder knot should
be the colour of the patrol.
Corporal has a white stripe of braid three inches long stitched across his
sleeve below the badge.

SCOUT'S WAR SONGS.

1. The Scout's Chorus.
To be shouted on the march, or as applause at games, meetings, etc. Must be
sung exactly in time.

Leader: Een gonyama—gonyama.

Chorus: Invooboo.
Yah bobo! Yah bo!
Invooboo.

The meaning is—

Leader: "He is a lion!"

Chorus: "Yes! he is better than that; he is a
hippopotamus!"

THE SCOUTS' CHORUS.

THE SCOUTS' CHORUS.

2. The Scout's Rally.

To be shouted as a salute, or in a game, or at any
time.

Leader: Be Prepared!

Chorus: Zing-a-Zing!
Bom! Bom!

(Stamp or bang something at the "Bom! Bom!")

THE SCOUTS' RALLY.

THE SCOUTS' RALLY.

THE SCOUTS' CALL.

THE SCOUTS' CALL.

For scout master to call together his troop by bugle; or for scout to whistle
to attract attention of another scout.

PATROL SIGNS.

Each troop is named after the place to which it belongs. Each patrol in that
troop is named after an animal or bird. Thus the 33rd London Troop may
have five patrols which are respectively the Wolves, the Ravens, the
Curlews, the Bulls, the Owls.
Each scout in a patrol has his regular number, the patrol leader being No. 1,
the corporal No. 2, and the scouts have the consecutive numbers after these.
Scouts usually work in pairs as comrades, Nos. 3 and 4 together, Nos. 5 and
6 together, and Nos. 7 and 8.

SIGNS AND CALLS OF DIFFERENT PATROLS.

(For each patrol, the sign, name, call, and colours are given.)

Curlew.

Curlew. Whistle— Green. "Curley."

Owl.

Owl. Whistle— Blue. "Koot-koot-kooo."

Wolf.

Wolf. Howl— Yellow. "How-oooo."

Bull.

Bull. Lowing— Red. "Um-maouw."

Raven.

Raven. Cry— Black. "Kar-kaw."

Hound.

Hound. Bark— Orange. "Ba-wow-wow."

Ram.

Ram. Bleat— Brown. "Ba-a-a."
A white shoulder knot is worn by Officers and Umpires at games.
Each scout in the patrol has to be able to make the call of his patrol-animal
—thus every scout in the "Ravens" must be able to imitate the croak of the
raven. This is the sign by which scouts of a patrol can communicate with
each other when hiding or at night. No scout is allowed to imitate the call of
any patrol except his own. The patrol leader calls up the patrol at any time
by sounding his whistle and uttering the call of the patrol.
Also when a scout makes signs on the ground for others to read he also
draws the head of the patrol animal. Thus if he wants to show that a certain
road should not be followed he draws the sign across it "Not to be
followed," and adds the head of his patrol animal to show which patrol
discovered that the road was no good, and his own number to the left of the
head to show which scout discovered it, thus:

Sign.

Patrol Leader's Flag of "The Wolves Patrol" of the 1st London
Troop.

Each patrol leader has a small white flag on his staff with the head of his
patrol animal shown in green cloth stitched on to it on both sides. Thus the
"Wolves" of the 1st London Troop would have the flag shown on the
opposite page.

[Patrol flags can be got on payment of fourpence
each by applying to

The Manager,

Boy Scouts,

Goschen Buildings,

Henrietta Street,

London, W. C.]

All these signs scouts must be able to draw according to the patrol to which
they belong.

[Practise with chalk on floor or walls, or with a stick on the sand or
mud.]

Scout signs on the ground or wall, etc.:

Road
to be
follow
ed.

Letter
hidden
three
paces
from
here in

the
directi
on of
the
arrow.

This
path
not to
be
follow
ed.

I have
gone
home.

(Signe
d)
Patrol
Leader
of the
Ravens
Fifteen
th
Londo
n
Troop.

At night sticks with a wisp of grass round them should be laid on the road
in similar forms so that they can be felt with the hand.

[Practise this.]

CAMP FIRE YARN.—No. 4.
SCOUT LAW.

Scouts, all the world over, have unwritten laws which bind them just as
much as if they had been printed in black and white.
They come down to us from old times.
The Japanese have their Bushido, or laws of the old Samurai warriors, just
as we have chivalry or rules of the knights of the Middle Ages. The Red
Indians in America have their laws of honour, the Zulus, the natives of
India, the European nations—all have their ancient codes.
The following are the rules which apply to Boy Scouts, and which you
swear to obey when you take your oath as a scout, so it is as well that you
should know all about them.
The scouts' motto is founded on my initials, it is:

Be Prepared,

which means, you are always to be in a state of readiness in mind and body
to do your DUTY;
Be Prepared in Mind by having disciplined yourself to be obedient to every
order, and also by having thought out beforehand any accident or situation
that might occur, so that you know the right thing to do at the right moment,
and are willing to do it.
Be Prepared in Body by making yourself strong and active and able to do
the right thing at the right moment, and do it.

THE SCOUT LAW.

1. A Scout's Honour is to be Trusted.

If a scout says "On my honour it is so," that means that it is so, just as if
he had taken a most solemn oath.
Similarly, if a scout officer says to a scout, "I trust you on your honour
to do this," the scout is bound to carry out the order to the very best of
his ability, and to let nothing interfere with his doing so.
If a scout were to break his honour by telling a lie, or by not carrying
out an order exactly when trusted on his honour to do so, he would
cease to be a scout, and must hand over his scout badge, and never be
allowed to wear it again—he loses his life.

2. A Scout is Loyal to the King, and to his officers, and to his country, and
to his employers. He must stick to them through thick and thin against
anyone who is their enemy, or who even talks badly of them.
3. A Scout's Duty is to be Useful and to Help Others.

And he is to do his duty before anything else, even though he gives up
his own pleasure, or comfort, or safety to do it. When in difficulty to
know which of two things to do, he must ask himself, "Which is my
duty?" that is, "Which is best for other people?"—and do that one. He
must Be Prepared at any time to save life, or to help injured persons.
And he must do a good turn to somebody every day.

4. A Scout is a Friend to All, and a Brother to Every Other Scout, no
matter to what Social Class the Other belongs.

Thus if a scout meets another scout, even though a stranger to him, he
must speak to him, and help him in any way that he can, either to carry
out the duty he is then doing, or by giving him food, or, as far as
possible, anything that he may be in want of. A scout must never be a
SNOB. A snob is one who looks down upon another because he is poorer,
or who is poor and resents another because he is rich. A scout accepts
the other man as he finds him, and makes the best of him.
"Kim," the boy scout, was called by the Indians "Little friend of all the
world," and that is the name that every scout should earn for himself.

5. A Scout is Courteous: That is, he is polite to all—but especially to
women and children and old people and invalids, cripples, etc. And he must
not take any reward for being helpful or courteous.
6. A Scout is a Friend to Animals. He should save them as far as possible
from pain, and should not kill any animal unnecessarily, even if it is only a
fly—for it is one of God's creatures.
7. A Scout Obeys Orders of his patrol leader or scout master without
question.

Even if he gets an order he does not like he must do as soldiers and
sailors do, he must carry it out all the same because it is his duty; and
after he has done it he can come and state any reasons against it: but he
must must carry out the order at once. That is discipline.

8. A Scout Smiles and Whistles under all circumstances. When he gets an
order he should obey it cheerily and readily, not in a slow, hang-dog sort of
way.

Scouts never grouse at hardships, nor whine at each other, nor swear
when put out.
When you just miss a train, or some one treads on your favourite corn
—not that a scout ought to have such things as corns—or under any
annoying circumstances, you should force yourself to smile at once,
and then whistle a tune, and you will be all right.
A scout goes about with a smile on and whistling. It cheers him and
cheers other people, especially in time of danger, for he keeps it up then
all the same.
The punishment for swearing or using bad language is for each offence
a mug of cold water to be poured down the offender's sleeve by the
other scouts.

9. A Scout is Thrifty, that is, he saves every penny he can, and puts it into
the bank, so that he may have money to keep himself when out of work, and
thus not make himself a burden to others; or that he may have money to
give away to others when they need it.

SCOUTING GAMES.

For Winter in the Country.

ARCTIC EXPEDITION.

Each patrol makes a bob sleigh with ropes, harness, for two of their number
to pull (or for dogs if they have them, and can train them to the work). Two
scouts go a mile or so ahead, the remainder with the sleigh follow, finding
the way by means of the spoor, and by such signs as the leading scouts may
draw in the snow. All other drawings seen on the way are to be examined,
noted, and their meaning read. The sleigh carries rations and cooking-pots,
etc.
Build snow huts. These must be made narrow, according to the length of
sticks available for forming the roof, which can be made with brushwood,
and covered with snow.

SNOW FORT.

The snow fort may be built by one patrol according to their own ideas of
fortification, with loop holes, etc., for looking out. When finished it will be
attacked by hostile patrols, using snowballs as ammunition. Every scout
struck by a snowball is counted dead. The attackers should, as a rule,
number at least twice the strength of the defenders.

SIBERIAN MAN HUNT.

One scout as fugitive runs away across the snow in any direction he may
please until he finds a good hiding place, and there conceals himself. The
remainder, after giving him twenty minutes' start or more, proceed to follow
him by his tracks. As they approach his hiding-place, he shoots at them with

snowballs, and everyone that is struck must fall out dead. The fugitive must
be struck three times before he is counted dead.

In Towns.

Scouts can be very useful in snowy weather by working as a patrol under
their leader in clearing away the snow from pavements, houses, etc. This
they may either do as a "good turn," or accept money to be devoted to their
funds.

SCOUT MEETS SCOUT.

In Town or Country.

Single scouts, or complete patrols or pairs of scouts, to be taken out about
two miles apart, and made to work towards each other, either alongside a
road, or by giving each side a landmark to work to, such as a steep hill or
big tree, which is directly behind the other party, and will thus insure their
coming together. The patrol which first sees the other wins. This is signified
by the patrol leader holding up his patrol flag for the umpire to see, and
sounding his whistle. A patrol need not keep together, but that patrol wins
which first holds out its flag, so it is well for the scouts to be in touch with
their patrol leaders by signal, voice, or message.
Scouts may employ any ruse they like, such as climbing into trees, hiding in
carts, etc., but they must not dress up in disguise.
This may also be practised at night.

DESPATCH RUNNERS.

A scout is sent out to take note of some well-known spot, say, the post
office in a neighbouring town or district. He will there get the note stamped

with the post mark of the office and return. The rest of the scouts are posted
by their leader to prevent him getting there by watching all the roads and
likely paths by which he can come, but none may be nearer to the post
office than two hundred yards. The despatch runner is allowed to use any
disguise and any method of travelling that he can hit upon.
In the country the game may similarly be played, the scout being directed to
go to a certain house or other specified spot.

KIM'S GAME.

Place about twenty or thirty small articles on a tray, or on the table or floor,
such as two or three different kinds of buttons, pencils, corks, rags, nuts,
stones, knives, string, photos—anything you can find—and cover them over
with a cloth or coat.
Make a list of these, and make a column opposite the list for each boy's
replies. Like this:
List Adams Smith Long. Atkins Jones
Walnut
Button
Black
button
Red
rag
Yellow
rag
Black
rag
Knife
Red
pencil
Cork

String
knot
Plain
string
Blue
bead
Then uncover the articles for one minute by your watch, or while you count
sixty at the rate of "quick march." Then cover them over again.
Take each boy separately and let him whisper to you each of the articles that
he can remember, and mark it off on your scoring sheet.
The boy who remembers the greatest numbers wins the game.

MORGAN'S GAME.

(Played by the 21st Dublin Co. Boys' Brigade.)

In Town.

Scouts are ordered to run to a certain hoarding where an umpire is already
posted to time them. They are each allowed to look at this for one minute,
and then to run back to headquarters and report to the instructor all that was
on the hoarding in the way of advertisements.

DEBATES, TRIALS, ETC.

A good exercise for a winter's evening in the clubroom is to hold a debate
on any subject of topical interest, the Instructor acting as chairman. He will
see that there is a speaker on one side prepared beforehand to introduce and
support one view of the subject, and that there is another speaker prepared
to expound another view. After hearing them, he will call on the others

present in turn to express their views. And in the end he takes the votes for
and against the motion.
At first boys will be very shy of speaking unless the subject selected by the
Instructor is one which really interests them and takes them out of
themselves.
After a debate or two they get greater confidence, and are able to express
themselves coherently; and also pick up the proper procedure for public
meetings, such as seconding the motion, moving amendments, obeying
chairman's ruling, voting, according votes of thanks to chair—etc., etc.
In place of a debate a mock trial may be of interest as a change.
For instance, the story of the murder given in Part I. might form the subject
of trial.
The Instructor would appoint himself to act the judge, and detail boys to the
following parts:

Prisoner William Winter.
Witness Boy, Robert Hindmarsh.
" Police Constable.
" Villager.
" Old woman (friend of the murdered woman).
Counsel for prisoner.
" " prosecution.
Foreman and jury (if there are enough scouts).

Follow as nearly as possible the procedure of a court of law. Let each make
up his own evidence, speeches, or cross-examination according to his own
notions and imagination, the evidence to be made up on the lines of the
story, but in greater detail. Do not necessarily find the prisoner guilty unless
the prosecution prove their case to the jury.
In your summing up bring out the fact of the boy (Hindmarsh) having
carried out each part of the duty of a scout, in order to bring home its lesson
to the boys.

SCOUTS' WAR DANCE.

Scouts form up in one line with leader in front, each holding his staff in the
right hand, and his left on the next man's shoulder.
Leader sings the Ingonyama song. Scouts sing chorus, and advance to their
front a few steps at a time, stamping in unison on the long notes.
At the second time of singing they step backwards.
At the third, they turn to the left, still holding each other's shoulders, and
move round in a large circle, repeating the chorus until they have completed
the circle.
They then form into a wide circle, into the centre of which one steps
forward and carries out a war dance, representing how he tracked and
fought with one of his enemies. He goes through the whole fight in dumb
show, until he finally kills his foe. The scouts meantime still singing the
Ingonyama chorus, and dancing on their own ground. So soon as he finishes
the fight, the leader starts the "Be Prepared" chorus, which they repeat three
times in honour of the scout who has just danced.
Then they recommence the Ingonyama chorus, and another scout steps into
the ring, and describes in dumb show how he stalked and killed a wild
buffalo. While he does the creeping up and stalking the animal, the scouts
all crouch and sing their chorus very softly, and as he gets more into the
fight with the beast, they similarly spring up and dance and shout the chorus
loudly. When he has slain the beast, the leader again gives the "Be
Prepared" chorus in his honour, which is repeated three times, the scouts
banging their staffs on the ground at the same time as they stamp "Bom!
bom!"
At the end of the third repetition, "Bom! bom!" is repeated the second time.
The circle then close together, turn to their left again, grasping shoulders
with the left hand, and move off, singing the Ingonyama chorus, or, if it is
not desired to move away, they break up after the final "Bom! bom!"

SCOUTS' PLAY.
POCAHONTAS; or, THE CAPTURE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH.

Scene:
In the jungle, Virginia, in 1607.
Enter:

A band of Red Indians, R., scouting. The leading scout suddenly signals
to the others to halt and hide, and remains himself keenly looking
ahead. The Patrol Leader creeps nearer to him, and they speak in a
loud whisper.
Patrol Leader (Eagle's Wing). Ho! Silver Fox! What dost thou see?
Silver Fox (the leading scout). My leader, I saw but just now a strange
figure ahead—but for the moment I see it not. There was an Indian, one
of the hated Assock tribe, and close by him was a being who looked
like a man yet not a man. He wore no feathers, no war paint. But his
body was all hidden in skins or cloths, and his head was covered with a
huge kind of protector. He had, it is true, two arms and legs, but his
face was of a horrible colour—not bronze like ours, but an awful white,
like that of a dead man, and half covered with a bush of hair.
Eagle's Wing. It must be either a medicine man or devil.
Silver Fox (still gazing ahead). Look there, he moves! (Patrol Leader
springs forward and crouches near Silver Fox.) Close to yonder birch
tree. What is it he carries? A heavy shining staff of iron. See he is
pointing at those ducks with it. Ah!
(Report of gun in the distance.)
Patrol Leader. Scouts! There is the devil before us. He spits fire and
smoke from an iron staff.
Silver Fox. Aye, and see how the birds fall dead before him.
Patrol Leader. Yes, he is a very devil. What a prize for us if we can
kill him and take his scalp.
Scouts. Nay, nay. He is a devil. He will kill us!
Silver Fox. Yes, that is true. There is a saying, "Let dogs that sleep lie
sleeping, then they harm you not." Let us leave this devil so he harm us
not.

Scouts. Aye, aye.
Eagle's Wing. Scouts! What woman's talk is this? Are ye no longer
scouts and warriors when ye see a foe? The worse the foe the greater
the glory of defeating him. Are four Sioux scouts afraid of one, even
though he be the devil himself? Begone to your lodges, but never call
yourselves warriors more. Ye be dogs! Curs but to harbour such
thoughts. For me I am going to have that scalp—devil or no devil, I am
going to have that scalp!

Princess Pocahontas.

Silver Fox. Pardon, my leader! I am no cur. Any man I will fight, but a
witch or the devil is more than I had thought on. But if you mean to
face him, why, then, so do I.
Scouts. Ay, and so do all of us.
Eagle's Wing. 'Tis well, my scouts. But soft, he is coming this way.
What luck! Better than scalping him, we will catch him alive, and
present him living to our King. Hide. Hide yourselves. Lie close around
his path, and, when I give the call, then rush upon him and secure him.
(All hide, R.)
(Enter Capt. John Smith, L., accompanied by Indian guide, who is tied
to Smith's left arm by his wrist by means of a garter—coloured tape).
Smith. How now, my untruthful friend? You have just told me that there
are no Indians in this part of the country, and here are footmarks of
several quite fresh, and see where the grass quite newly trod down is
still giving out juice. They must be quite close by. Lucky that I have
thee tied to me, else could you run away and leave me guideless; but
whatever befalls us now we share the risks together. How like you that,
my red cocksparrow? (An arrow whizzes past.) Ha! They're not far off.
Behold, they come, but they'll find one Briton is stouter stuff than the
foes that they're accustomed to.
(The Red Indians are heard shouting their war cries without. Arrows fly
past. John Smith fires, loads, and fires again, talking all the time, while
his native guide crouches back alarmed.)
Smith (laughing). Ha! ha! They like not my rifle-fire. They run, the
dogs! Another bites the dust. (Patting his rifle.) Well done, thou trusty
Bess—thou art a good lass! There! Have at them again. (Fires.) Good;
another falls! But now they rally and come on again—their leader gives
them heart. Well, and we will give them lead. (Fires again. To his
guide, who is very frightened.) Cheer up. Gadzooks, but I like their
leader—that last ball struck him, still he fainteth not. He leads them on
again. By my head! but we shall yet have a decent fight of it. Aid me,
St. George, and let me show what stuff an Englishman is made of. (As

he presses forward the guide in his fear slips down and accidentally
drags Smith down with him.) How now—fool? You have undone me.
(Indians rush in from all sides and spring on to Smith, and after a
severe struggle capture and bind his arms behind his back. He stands
panting and smiling. The Indians stand back to either side while
Eagle's Wing—with one arm bleeding—addresses him.)
Eagle's Wing. So, devil, we have thee caught at last. Four good
warriors hast thou sent to their happy hunting grounds, but our turn has
come and we have thee fast—a prize for kings—and for our King.

Captain John Smith.

Smith. Well, 'twas a good fight, and you deserve to win for facing rifle-
fire, which you had never seen before. I should like to shake you by the
hand had I a hand free to do it with. But by St. George, had it not been

for this white-livered knave who dragged me down, there would have
been more of you to join your hunting-party down below. But who is
this who comes?
(Scouts chorus heard without "Ingonyama," etc. Scouts all raise their
hands and join in the chorus, looking off to the R.)
(Enter King Powhattan, R., w'th his chiefs and warriors.)
King. How now! Eagle's Wing, what have you here?
Eagle's Wing. My lord, we have just fought and foiled a very devil. We
killed him not in order that you, our liege, might have him to see and
question and to kill yourself. (Brings gun.) He used the lightning and
the thunder of Heaven with this engine, so that he killeth those he
hateth. Four of us lie yonder stricken dead therewith. He is a very devil.
King to Smith. So! What be you? Devil or witch or Indian painted
white? What do you here?
Smith. Hail, King! I am no witch nor devil—nothing but a man—an
Englishman, which is something more than a mere man. I came across
the seas. Five moons it took me; so far away my country is. But here I
am, and where I am there follow others. And we come to tell you of a
greater King than thou. Our King who is now to be your king also.
King (very angry). What! a greater King than I? Knave, how dare you,
whether devil or no—how dare thou speak like this?
King. Aye, I have heard of these white folk. Art not afraid?
Smith. Nay. I have faced the seas and storms, the anger of the elements,
beside which the rage of men is very small. (Laughing.) Forget not—I
am an Englishman—an Englishman knows not fear.
King. Ho! Say you so? We'll soon put that beyond all question by a
proof. (Draws dagger, rushes on Smith with a yell, as if to stab him,
and stops the knife only as it touches Smith's breast. Smith does not
flinch.) Ah!
Smith. A joke was it. (Laughs.) By St. George, I thought you meant to
kill me.
(Enter Princess Pocahontas (the King's daughter.) R. Aside.)

What is this strange being? A man, yet not a red man. He has a noble
look. Alas! that he should fall into my father's power, for he will surely
slay him.
King to Smith. And thou wert not afraid?
Smith. Nay. Why should I be? I have long ago thought out how to meet
my fate. Death and I have looked at each other face to face before now,
and death has a kindly smile for anyone who has never wilfully done ill
to a fellow creature; to such an one he is no longer a dreaded demon,
but a kindly host.

King Powhattan.

King. Well! he'll have a guest before long now; for since you say he is a
friend of yours it proves that you are, as my people first told me, some
kind of witch or devil yourself. Therefore, it will be well for the land
that we do slay thee. Besides, I have not seen a man's red blood for
many days, and I am tired of the blood of the Assocks. (Pocahontas

shrinks down, holding her ears.) I shall dearly like to see how looks the
blood of a white half-man, half-devil. But first I want to see him cower,
and squeal for mercy; for therein lies the joy of killing. (Calls to his
Warriors.) Ho! there! Stretch out this devil on the ground, and let him
learn that death is not the joy he thinks it is. (They drag Smith down,
and lay him on his back on the ground, C. One holds his feet, but the
rest, finding that he does not struggle, stand back; two prepare to use
their battle-axes on him, while the rest dance weird dances, singing
Ingonyama chorus round him. The executioners make false blows at his
head—but he never flinches.)
Pocahontas (kneeling beside the King. R.). Oh! King—I have not often
asked for gifts from you—and now I pray you, on my bended knee, to
grant me this request. I have no slave to guard me when I walk abroad.
It is not seemly that I take a young brave of our tribe, and the old ones
are so very old and slow. Now here; a slave of whom one may be proud
—one strange to see, yet strong and great and brave. Ah! give him to
thy child instead of unto death.
King. Nay! nay! my child. If you don't like the scene, withdraw, for he
shall die. 'Tis sport for me to see how long he lasts before he cries for
mercy. And when he does he dies. (To Warriors.) Now stand him up,
and try some new device to make him quail.
(Pocahontas shrinks back. They raise Smith, and he stands boldly
facing them.)
King. Death now comes to thee, and thou hast no chance of escaping
him. Art thou not now afraid of him?
John Smith. Nay. Why should I be? We men are born not for ourselves
but as a help to others; and if we act thus loyally we know our God will
have us in his care both now and after death.
King. But after death you're dead!
John Smith. Not so. A Christian lives again.
King to Smith. Well now your hour has come. I know not what has
brought you to this land, but you shall know that witch or no, your
spells can have no power on me; and you will die, and I shall smile to
see you die.

Smith. What brought me here was duty to my King and God and
countrymen; to spread his powerful sway over all the earth, that you
and yours may know of God, that trade may spread to carry peace and
wealth throughout the world. If you accept these views all will be well;
if you accept them not then do your worst, but use your haste; our
mission is to clean the world! Kill me, but that will not avail, for where
I fall a thousand more will come. Know this, O Savage King, a Briton's
word is trusted over all the world; his first care is for others—not
himself; he sticks to friend through thick and thin; he's loyal to his
King. And though you threat with death or pains, he'll do his duty to the
end.

Warrior.

King (springs angrily forward). I'll hear no more. You offer terms to
ME, the King! Down, dog, upon your knees, and meet the death you

feign to smile at. (To Warriors.) Strike, strike, and smash this vermin
from my path.
(Princess Pocahontas, who has been cowering in the background, runs
forward and places herself close in front of Capt. John Smith, so as to
protect him from the Warriors, who are preparing, R. and BACK, to rush
at him with their spears and axes).
Princess Pocahontas. Hold! Warriors—I am your Princess, and to get
at him you have to kill me first. (To King.) O King—I call you no more
"Father." O King your rule has been a time of blood and murder. I was
too young to think before, but now I know that all your works are cruel,
bad, not just. (Warriors lower their weapons, and whisper among
themselves, as if saying, "Yes. She's quite right.") And I have been
obedient as your child till now. But now my eyes are opened, and I see
that as King you are neither just nor kind towards your tribe—or other
men.
To bring it home to you, I swear that if you slay this man you also slay
your daughter! For I'll not leave him thus to die alone. (To Warriors.)
Now, braves, come on and do your work.
(They hang back.)
How now—you never feared an enemy, so why fear me?
Eagle's Wing (bowing). Nay, sweet Princess, it may not be. We care not
what of men we kill in fighting for our land, but this we cannot do—to
raise a hand against a woman, and she our own Princess.
King (furious). How now! What talk is this? Ye speak as though you
had no King and no commands. Slay on—strike true, and spare not man
nor maid, for she no longer is a child of mine.
(Braves still hesitate.)
Ye will not? Dogs, wouldst have me do it for myself? I will, and, what
is more, I'll slay you Eagle's Wing for this, and you too——
(Enter a warrior scout, L., who rushes up to the King and kneels while
shots are heard outside.)

Scout. O King! There be more white devils over there. They're pressing
on, and none can stand against them.
King to Warriors. Stand firm, and kill these devils as they come. To
every brave who takes a white man's scalp I'll give the noblest feather
for his head. Stand firm! Bend well your bows.
(While the King and Warriors are looking off L. towards the fight,
Pocahontas takes Smith R., draws a dagger and cuts John Smith's arms
lose. He shakes hands with her. Taking the dagger, he rushes to the
King, and seizing his hair with one hand, and threatening him with the
dagger with the other, he leads him C.)
Smith. Now yield thee, King, as prisoner, or I will send thee quick to
other hunting grounds. (To Warriors who rush forward to rescue the
King.) Nay, stand you there: another step, and lo! your King will die. (A
pause. All stand quite still.) I will not harm if he lists to me. (Leads
King to front, C., and then lets go his hold of him. Warriors remain at
back. Distant noise of fighting, cries and shots heard all the time.
Warriors keep looking off to see how the fight is going on.)
(Smith standing L., facing King, C. Pocahontas, R., Warriors, back.)
Smith. If you would live in peace, your only way is now to join with us.
Our God is stronger than your idols, and our King is king of many
tribes far greater and more powerful than your own. But if you join
with us your wicked ways must cease; no more to kill your people for
no crime, no more to steal their goods or beasts, no more to make them
slaves against their will. Beneath the British flag all men are free.
(Warriors whisper among themselves. Smith turns to them.) What say
you? Will you join and serve our King, and live in peace, or will you go
on being slaves of cruel chiefs, to live a life of fear and poverty?
Eagle's Wing. Nay. We should like to join you well, but we have aye
been faithful to our King, and what he says, why that is what we'll do.
Smith. You're right in being faithful to your King. Now, King, what say
you? Will you join our mighty King with all your braves, or will you
face his power and be destroyed?
King (sullenly). You talk as though you were a king yourself and
conqueror, instead of but a prisoner in my hands. You must be mad or

very brave, since I could kill thee at one stroke.
Smith. Well, mad or brave, it matters not; but there are others just as
mad or brave out there, who even now (points off L.) are pressing back
your men; and were your men to kill off all of us, a thousand more will
come for each one killed, and in the end you too would meet your fate.
Know this, that Britain, once she puts her hand to the plough for doing
noble work, does not withdraw, but presses on till peace and justice are
set up, and cruel wrongs redressed. You would yourself remain as King
among your people, but beneath the friendly wing of Britain's world-
wide power.
King to Warriors. My braves! I never asked your will before; but ye
have heard what this brave man has said. What think ye? Should we
yield or fight this white man's power?
Eagle's Wing. My King, we all say "yield," and join this mighty power,
whereby we shall ourselves be strong.
Pocahontas (kneeling to King, R.). Once more I call thee Father, and I
pray, for all the wives and children of our tribe, that you will take this
noble man's advice, and bring true peace at last into our land. (Kisses
King's hands and remains kneeling while he speaks.)
King. 'Tis well. Fair, sir, we yield; and on our oath we swear allegiance
to your King for aye and ever, weal or woe. We will be true (holding up
right hand in scout's sign).
Warriors (holding up right hands in scout's salute). We will be true.
Smith (taking St. George's flag from under his coat, and tying it on to a
scout's staff, holds it aloft.) Behold your flag—the flag of St. George
and Merry England!
Warriors salute and sing Ingonyama Chorus. Band plays "Rule
Britannia!"

Curtain.

DRESSES.

Warriors.—Band or tape round head, with plait of hair over ear, and
four goose feathers with black tips.
Naked body coloured red brick dust colour.
Trousers: light-coloured if possible, with strips of coloured rag and
goose feathers stitched all down the outside seam of the leg.
Bare feet.
Bow and arrows and staff.
King.—Like warriors, but with red blanket or shawl over one shoulder,
and headdress made of linen band with goose feathers, some upright in
it and continued down the back.
Pocahontas.—Headdress band of linen, with three upright goose
feathers and two drooping on each side; also a plait of hair over each
shoulder.
Brass curtain-rings tied with thread round each ear as earrings.
Necklace of beads, also bracelets.
A skirt.
Coloured short petticoat under it.
Bare feet.
John Smith.—Big hat with pheasant's tails feathers.
Beard and moustache and long hair of tow or crepe hair. Could all be
stitched to hat if desired. Steel gorget or wide soft linen collar; long
brown or yellow coat, with big belt.
Bagging knickerbockers.
Stockings.
Shoes with big buckles.
Old-fashioned flint-lock gun.
Scenery.—Strips of brown paper, 1 ft. to 1-1/2 ft. wide, and 2 ft. to 3 ft.
wide at the bottom will represent trees if stuck up on the back wall, and
marked with charcoal and chalk to represent rough bark.

SCOUTING FOR BOYS.

PART II.

will be published on January 30th, 1908.

CONTENTS:

Chapter II.—TRACKING.

Hints to Instructors.

Camp Fire Yarn No. 5.

Observation of "Sign," or How Scouts
Find Out Things.

Camp Fire Yarn No. 6.

"Spooring" Men or Animals.

Camp Fire Yarn No. 7.

Reading "Sign": Sherlock Holmes-ism.

Stories, Games, and Practices in Tracking in
Town and Country.

Chapter III.—WOODCRAFT.

Camp Fire Yarn No. 8.

Stalking, Hiding, and Creeping up to
Animals or Men.

C F Y N 9

Camp Fire Yarn No. 9.

Habits of Animals, Birds, and Reptiles.

Camp Fire Yarn No. 10.

Plants, useful to Scouts.

Camp Fire Yarn No. 11.

Stars useful to Scouts.

Stories, Games, and Practices in Woodcraft in
Town and Country.

Note to Instructors and Learners.—It would be well not to
commence a course of instructions until you have this Part as
well as Part I. in your hands.

Price Fourpence.

Published by Horace Cox, Windsor House, Breams Buildings,
London, E.C.

THE YACHTING AND
BOATING MONTHLY

(Illustrated).

PUBLISHED BY THE "FIELD."

DEALING WITH

DESIGNING, BUILDING, ENGINEERING,
MARINE MOTORING,
CRUISING, RACING, CANOEING,
SAILING, NAVIGATION, &c.

PRICE ONE SHILLING NET.

ON SALE EVERYWHERE.

Annual Subscription, 15s., Post Free (Home and Abroad).

HORACE COX,

Windsor House, Bream's Buildings, London, E.C.

THE FIELD,

THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN'S NEWSPAPER.

Published every Saturday, price Sixpence.

LEADERS

On Interesting Sporting subjects are
given every week in The Field.

"COURSING."

Reports of all Meetings are given
weekly for the duration of the season.

"SHOOTING."

Contents: Original Articles and Correspondence
on Shooting Adventures,
Game Preservation, New Guns, Cartridges,
and all the paraphernalia of a sportsman.

"ANGLING."

Articles and Correspondence on
Fishing, Reports from the Rivers,
Fish Preservation and Culture, and all
matters connected with river, lake, or sea
fishing.

"HUNTING."

Description of Hunting Countries,
reports of Runs with the various
Packs of Hounds, Hunting Appointments,
Visits to the Kennels, Notes from the
Shires, &c., are given during the season.

"THE TURF."

Reports of all the principal Race and
Steeplechase Meetings are given, together
with Notes and Anticipations on
Future Events, Sales of Blood Stock, &c.

"DOGS AND HORSES."

Articles and Correspondence on the
above subjects. Reports of Horse and
Dog Shows, &c.

"THE VETERINARIAN"

Gives full and practical instruction for
the management of Cattle in health
and disease.

"THE COUNTRY HOUSE."

Under this heading will be found
Articles, Notes, Queries, &c., on all
Subjects and Inventions that concern the
Country House.

"POULTRY AND PIGEONS."

Articles on their management accounts

Articles on their management, accounts
of Pigeon Races, &c.

"CYCLING, MOTORING, &c."

Reports of the principal Races,
Descriptions of New Machines, Accounts
of Tours, &c.

A CHESS PROBLEM

Is given constantly, with annotated
Games, and Chess news.

"ARCHERY."

All the principal Matches throughout
the United Kingdom are reported
during the season.

"GOLF."

Reports of Golf Contests, Descriptions
of Links, &c.

"LAWN TENNIS."

Reports of all the principal Matches,
and Notes on the Formation of
Courts, &c.

"SWIMMING."

Full reports of all the principal
Contests of the Season

Contests of the Season.

"YACHTING."

Articles on Yacht Building, Reports
of Matches, Accounts of Cruises, Correspondence,
Yacht Intelligence, &c.

"ROWING."

Reports of Matches and Regattas,
Articles on Training.

"ATHLETIC SPORTS"

Are fully reported every week during
the season.

"FOOTBALL."

Reports of Association and Rugby
Matches during the season.

"CRICKET."

Full and accurate Reports of all
Matches of interest are given during
the season.

"TRAVEL AND COLONISATION"

Contains Articles upon Explorations
in little known parts of the world,
their capabilities for colonisation, stock-raising,
sport &c

Part II. FORTNIGHTLY. Price 4d. net.

Scouting For Boys

BY
LIEUT. GEN. BADEN POWELL C.B.

Published by Horace Cox, Windsor House,
Bream's Buildings, London, e.c.

Scout.

Scouting for Boys.

A HANDBOOK FOR INSTRUCTION

IN

GOOD CITIZENSHIP.

BY

Lieut.-General R. S. S. BADEN-POWELL, C.B., F.R.G.S.

All communications should be addressed to—

Lieut.-General BADEN-POWELL,

Boy Scouts' Office,

Goschen Buildings,

Henrietta Street,

LONDON, W.C.

by whom Scouts will be enrolled, and from where
all further information can be obtained.

Copyrighted by Lieut.-General R. S. S. Baden-Powell, C.B., F.R.G.S.

1908.

All rights reserved.

PART II.

CONTENTS: CHAPTER II.
TRACKING;
or, Noticing and Reading the Meaning of Small Signs.
HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS.
CAMP FIRE YARNS.
5.—Observation of "Sign" or Tracks: Details of People; "Sign" round a
Dead Body; Use of Eyes, Ears, and Nose; Night Scouting.
6.—Spooring: Adventures; Value of Spooring, How to Learn.
7.—Reading "Sign": Sherlock Holmesism; Deduction, or putting this and
that together; Instances; How to Practice.
PRACTICES, GAMES, and PLAYS in TRACKING.
BOOKS ON TRACKING.
HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS.
Instruction in the art of observation and deduction is difficult to lay down in
black and white. It must be taught by practice. One can only give a few
instances and hints, the rest depends upon your own powers of imagination
and local circumstances.
The importance of the power of observation and deduction to the young
citizen is great. Children are proverbially quick in observation, but it dies
out as they grow older, largely because first experiences catch their
attention, which they fail to do on repetition.
Observation is, in fact, a habit to which a boy has to be trained. Tracking is
an interesting step towards gaining it. Deduction is the art of subsequently
reasoning out and extracting the meaning from the points observed.

When once observation and deduction have been made habitual in the boy,
a great step in the development of "character" has been gained.

CONTENTS: CHAPTER III.
(Commences on page 109.)
WOODCRAFT;
or, Knowledge of Animals and Nature.
HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS.
CAMP FIRE YARNS.
8.—Stalking: As an Aid to Observation; How to Hide.
9.—Animals: The Calling of Wild Animals. Animals; Birds; Reptiles; Fish;
Insects.
10.—Plants: Trees and How to Identify Them.
PRACTICES, GAMES, COMPETITIONS, and PLAYS IN
WOODCRAFT.
BOOKS ON WOODCRAFT.
HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS.
HOW TO TEACH NATURAL HISTORY.
If in London take your scouts to the Zoological Gardens and to Natural
History Museum, South Kensington. Take them to certain animals on which
you are prepared to lecture to them. About half a dozen animals would be
quite enough for one day.
If in the country, get leave from a farmer or carter to show the boys how to
put on harness, etc., and how to feed and water the horse; how he is shod,
etc. How to catch hold of a runaway horse in harness. How to milk a cow.
Study habits of cows, rabbits, birds, water-voles, trout, etc., by stalking
them and watching all that they do.
Take your scouts to any menagerie, and explain the animals.

CHAPTER II.
TRACKING;

or,
Noticing and Reading the meaning of small Signs.—Camp Fire Yarns on
Observation—Spooring—Reading "Sign."

CAMP FIRE YARN.—No. 5.
OBSERVATION OF "SIGN."

Noticing "sign."—Details of People.—Sign round a dead body—
Details in the Country—Use of eyes, ears, and nose by Scouts—Night
Scouting—Hints to Instructors—Practices and Games in Observation—
Books on Observation.

NOTICING SIGN.

"Sign" is the word used by scouts to mean any little details such as
footprints, broken twigs, trampled grass, scraps of food, a drop of blood, a
hair, and so on; anything that may help as clues in getting the information
they are in search of.
Mrs. Smithson, when travelling in Kashmir last year, was following up with
some native Indian trackers the "pugs" of a panther which had killed and
carried off a young buck. He had crossed a wide bare slab of rock which, of
course, gave no mark of his soft feet. The tracker went at once to the far
side of the rock where it came to a sharp edge; he wetted his finger, and just
passed it along the edge till he found a few buck's hairs sticking to it. This

showed him where the panther had passed down off the rock dragging the
buck with him. Those few hairs were what scouts call "sign."
Mrs. Smithson's tracker also found bears by noticing small "sign." On one
occasion he noticed a fresh scratch in the bark of a tree evidently made by a
bear's claw, and on the other he found a single black hair sticking to the
bark of a tree, which told him that a bear had rubbed against it.
One of the most important things that a scout has to learn, whether he is a
war scout or a hunter or peace scout, is to let nothing escape his attention;
he must notice small points and signs, and then make out the meaning of
them: but it takes a good deal of practice before a tenderfoot can get into the
habit of really noting everything and letting nothing escape his eye. It can
be learnt just as well in a town as in the country.
And in the same way you should notice any strange sound or any peculiar
smell and think for yourself what it may mean. Unless you learn to notice
"signs" you will have very little of "this and that" to put together and so you
will be no use as a scout; it comes by practice.
Remember, a scout always considers it a great disgrace if an outsider
discovers a thing before he has seen it for himself, whether that thing is far
away in the distance, or close by under his feet.
If you go out with a really trained scout you will see that his eyes are
constantly moving, looking out in every direction near and far, noticing
everything that is going on, just from habit, not because he wants to show
off how much he notices.
I was walking with one the other day in Hyde Park in London. He presently
remarked "that horse is going a little lame"—there was no horse near us, but
I found he was looking at one far away across the Serpentine: the next
moment he picked up a peculiar button lying by the path. His eyes, you see,
were looking both far away and near.
In the streets of a strange town a scout will notice his way by the principal
buildings, and side-streets, and in any case he will notice what shops he
passes and what is in their windows; also what vehicles pass him and such
details as whether the horses' harness and shoes are all right; and most
especially what people he passes, what their faces are like, their dress, their
boots, and their way of walking, so that if, for instance, he should be asked

by a policeman, "Have you seen a man with dark over-hanging eyebrows
dressed in a blue suit, going down this street," he should be able to give
some such answer as "Yes—he was walking a little lame with the right foot,
wore foreign looking boots, was carrying a parcel in his hand, he turned
down Gold Street, the second turning on the left from here, about three
minutes ago."
Information of that kind has often been of greatest value in tracing out a
criminal, but so many people go along with their eyes shut and never notice
things.
In the story of "Kim," by Rudyard Kipling, there is an account of two boys
being taught "observation" in order to become detectives, or scouts, by
means of a game in which a trayful of small objects was shown to them for
a minute and was then covered over and they had to describe all the things
on it from memory.
We will have that game, as it is excellent practice for scouts.
There was a revolutionary society in Italy called the Camorra who used to
train their boys to be quick at noticing and remembering things. When
walking through the streets of the city, the Camorrist would suddenly stop
and ask his boy—"How was the woman dressed who sat at the door of the
fourth house on the right in the last street?" or, "What were the two men
talking about whom we met at the corner of the last street but three?" or,
"Where was the cab ordered to drive to, and what was its number?" "What
is the height of that house and what is the width of its upper floor window?"
and so on. Or the boy was given a minute to look in a shop window and
then he had to describe all that was in it. Captain Cook, the great explorer
and scout, was trained in the same way as a boy, and so was Houdin the
great conjurer.
Every town scout should know, as a matter of course, where is the nearest
chemist's shop (in case of accidents), the nearest police "fixed point,"
police-station, hospital, fire alarm, telephone, ambulance station, etc.
The scout must also have his eyes on the ground especially along the edge
of the pavement against the houses or in the gutter. I have often found
valuable trinkets that have been dropped, and which have been walked over

by numbers of people, and swept to one side by ladies' dresses without
being noticed.

How the wearing of a hat shows character.

DETAILS OF PEOPLE.

When you are travelling by train or tram always notice every little thing
about your fellow travellers; notice their faces, dress, way of talking and so
on so that you could describe them each pretty accurately afterwards; and
also try and make out from their appearance and behaviour whether they are
rich or poor (which you can generally tell from their boots), and what is
their probable business, whether they are happy, or ill, or in want of help.

But in doing this you must not let them see you are watching them, else it
puts them on their guard. Remember the shepherd-boy who noticed the
gipsy's boots, but did not look at him and so did not make the gipsy
suspicious of him.
Close observation of people and ability to read their character and their
thoughts is of immense value in trade and commerce, especially for a shop-
assistant or salesman in persuading people to buy goods, or in detecting
would-be swindlers.
It is said that you can tell a man's character from the way he wears his hat.
If it is slightly on one side, the wearer is good-natured: if it is worn very
much on one side, he is a swaggerer: if on the back of his head, he is bad at
paying his debts: if worn straight on the top, he is probably honest but very
dull.
The way a man (or a woman) walks is often a good guide to his character—
witness the fussy, swaggering little man paddling along with short steps
with much arm-action, the nervous man's hurried, jerky stride, the slow
slouch of the loafer, the smooth going and silent step of the scout, and so
on.
I was once accused of mistrusting men with waxed moustaches. Well, so, to
a certain extent, I do. It often means vanity and sometimes drink.
Certainly the "quiff" or lock of hair which some lads wear on their forehead
is a sure sign of silliness. The shape of the face gives a good guide to the
man's character.
Perhaps you can tell the character of these gentlemen?

Character of gentlemen.

I was speaking with a detective not long ago about a gentleman we had both
been talking to, and we were trying to make out his character. I remarked
—"well, at any rate, he was a fisherman," but my companion could not see
why: but then he was not a fisherman himself. I had noticed a lot of little
tufts of cloth sticking upon the left cuff of his coat.
A good many fishermen, when they take their flies off the line, stick them
into their cap to dry: others stick them into their sleeve. When dry they pull
them out, which often tears a thread or two of the cloth.
It is an amusing practice when you are in a railway carriage or omnibus
with other people to look only at their feet and guess without looking any
higher what sort of people they are, old or young, well to do or poor, fat or
thin, and so on, and then look up and see how near you have been to the
truth.
Mr. Nat Goodwin, the American actor, once described to me how he went to
see a balloon ascent at a time when he happened to be suffering from a stiff
neck. He was only able to look down instead of up—and he could only see
the feet of the people round him in the crowd so he chose among the feet
those that he felt sure belonged to an affable kind-hearted man who would
describe to him what the balloon was doing.
I once was able to be of service to a lady who was in poor circumstances, as
I had guessed it from noticing, while walking behind her, that though she

was well dressed the soles of her shoes were in the last stage of disrepair. I
don't suppose she ever knew how I guessed that she was in a bad way.
But it is surprising how much of the sole of the boot you can see when
behind a person walking—and it is equally surprising how much meaning
you can read from that boot. It is said that to wear out soles and heels
equally is to give evidence of business capacity and honesty; to wear your
heels down on the outside means that you are a man of imagination and
love of adventure; but heels worn down on the inside signify weakness and
indecision of character, and this last sign is more infallible in the case of
man than in that of woman.
Remember how "Sherlock Holmes" met a stranger and noticed that he was
looking fairly well-to-do, in new clothes with a mourning band on his
sleeve, with a soldierly bearing, and a sailor's way of walking, sunburnt,
with tattoo marks on his hands, and he was carrying some children's toys in
his hand. What should you have supposed that man to be? Well! Sherlock
Holmes guessed, correctly, that he had lately retired from the Royal
Marines as a Sergeant, and his wife had died, and he had some small
children at home.

SIGNS ROUND A DEAD BODY.

It may happen to some of you that one day you will be the first to find the
dead body of a man, in which case you will remember that it is your duty to
examine and note down the smallest signs that are to be seen on and near
the body before it is moved or the ground disturbed and trampled down.
Besides noticing the exact position of the body (which should if possible be
photographed exactly as found) the ground all round should be very
carefully examined—without treading on it yourself more than is absolutely
necessary, for fear of spoiling existing tracks. If you can also draw a little
map of how the body lay and where the signs round it were, it might be of
value.
Twice lately bodies have been found which were at first supposed to be
those of people who had hanged themselves—but close examination of the
ground round them, in one case some torn twigs and trampled grass, and in

the other a crumpled carpet, showed that murder had been committed, and
that the bodies had been hung after death to make it appear as though they
had committed suicide.
Finger-marks should especially be looked for on any likely articles and if
they do not correspond to those of the murdered man they may be those of
his murderer, who could then be identified by comparing the impression
with his fingers. Such a case occurred in India, where a man was found
murdered and a bloody finger-mark on his clothes. The owner of the finger-
mark was found, tried, and convicted.
In St. Petersburg in Russia a banker was found murdered. Near the body
was found a cigar-holder with an amber mouthpiece. This mouthpiece was
of peculiar shape and could only be held in the mouth in one position, and it
had two teeth marks in it. These marks showed that the two teeth were of
different lengths.
The teeth of the murdered man were quite regular, so the cigar-holder was
evidently not his. But his nephew had teeth which corresponded to the
marks on the mouthpiece, so he was arrested, and then further proof came
up and showed that he was the murderer.
[Compare the story in "Sherlock Holmes' Memoirs" called "The Resident
Patient" in which a man was found hanging and was considered to be a
suicide till Sherlock Holmes came in and showed various signs such as
cigar ends bitten by different teeth, footprints, and that three men had been
in the room with the dead man for some time previous to his death and had
hanged him.]

DETAILS IN THE COUNTRY.

If you are in the country you should notice landmarks, that is objects which
help you to find your way or prevent you getting lost, such as distant hills,
church towers, and nearer objects such as peculiar buildings, trees, gates,
rocks, etc.
And remember in noticing such landmarks that you may want to use your
knowledge of them some day for telling someone else how to find his way,

so you must notice them pretty closely so as to be able to describe them
unmistakably and in their proper order. You must notice and remember
every by-road and footpath.
Then you must also notice smaller signs such as birds getting up and flying
hurriedly which means somebody or some animal is there; dust shows
animals, men, or vehicles moving.
Of course when in the country you should notice just as much as in town all
passers-by very carefully—how they are dressed, what their faces are like,
and their way of walking, and examine their footmarks—and jot down a
sketch of them in your notebook, so that you would know the footmark
again if you found it somewhere else—(as the shepherd boy did in the story
at the beginning of this book).
And notice all tracks—that is footmarks of men, animals, birds, wheels,
etc., for from these you can read the most important information, as Captain
d'Artagnan did in the story of the secret duel, of which I shall tell you later.
This track-reading is of such importance that I shall give you a lecture on
that subject by itself.

USING YOUR EYES.

Let nothing be too small for your notice, a button, a match, a cigar ash, a
feather, or a leaf, might be of great importance.
A scout must not only look to his front but also to either side and behind
him, he must have "eyes at the back of his head" as the saying is.
Often by suddenly looking back you will see an enemy's scout or a thief
showing himself in a way that he would not have done had he thought you
would look round.
There is an interesting story by Fenimore Cooper called "The Pathfinder" in
which the action of a Red Indian scout is well described. He had "eyes at
the back of his head," and after passing some bushes he caught sight of a
withered leaf or two among the fresh ones which made him suspect that
somebody might have put the leaves there to make a better hiding place,
and so he discovered some hidden fugitives.

NIGHT SCOUTING.

A scout has to be able to notice small details just as much by night as by
day and this he has to do chiefly by listening, occasionally by feeling or
smelling.
In the stillness of the night sounds carry further than by day. If you put your
ear to the ground or place it against a stick, or especially against a drum,
which is touching the ground, you will hear the shake of horses' hoofs or the
thud of a man's footfall a long way off. Another way is to open a knife with
a blade at each end, stick one blade into the ground and hold the other
between your teeth and you will hear all the better. The human voice, even
though talking low, carries to a great distance and is not likely to be
mistaken for any other sound.
I have often passed through outposts at night after having found where the
picquets were posted by hearing the low talking of the men or the snoring
of those asleep.

BOOKS TO READ ON OBSERVATION.

"Criminal Investigation" by Dr. Gross. Edited by John Adam. 30s.
"Aids to Scouting." 1s. (Gale and Polden.)

An Alarm Bell in Mafeking—"Look out for shells!"

HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS.
HOW TO TEACH OBSERVATION IN PRACTICE.

PRACTICES.

In Towns: Practise your boys first in walking down a street to notice the
different kinds of shops as they pass and to remember them in their proper
sequence at the end.
Then to notice and remember the names on the shops.
Then to notice and remember the contents of a shop window after two
minutes' gaze. Finally to notice the contents of several shop windows in
succession with half a minute at each.
The boys must also notice prominent buildings as landmarks; the number of
turnings off the street they are using; names of other streets; details of

horses and vehicles passing by; and—especially—details of the people as to
dress, features, gait; numbers on motor cars, policemen, etc.
Take them the first time to show them how to do it; and after that send them
out and on their return question them, as below.
Make them learn for themselves to notice and remember the whereabouts of
all chemists' shops, fire alarms, police fixed points, ambulances, etc., etc.
In the Country: Take the patrol out for a walk and teach the boys to notice
distant prominent features as landmarks such as hills, church steeples, and
so on, and as nearer landmarks such things as peculiar buildings, trees,
rocks, gates, etc. By-roads or paths, nature of fences, crops; different kinds
of trees, birds, animals, tracks, etc., also people, vehicles, etc. Also any
peculiar smells of plants, animals, manure, etc.
Then send them out a certain walk, and on their return have them in one by
one and examine them verbally, or have them all in and let them write their
answers on, say, six questions which you give them with reference to
certain points which they should have noticed.
It adds to the value of the practice if you make a certain number of small
marks in the ground beforehand, or leave buttons or matches, etc., for the
boys to notice or to pick up and bring in (as a means of making them
examine the ground close to them as well as distant objects).
Telling Character: Send scouts out for half an hour to look for, say, a
brutish character, or a case of genteel poverty, etc.
The scout must on his return be able to describe the person accurately, and
give the reasons which made him think the person was of the character he
reports.
He should also state how many other characters he passed in his search,
such as silly, good-natured, deceitful swaggering, wax-moustached, and so
on, judging of course by their faces, their walk, their boots, hats, and
clothing, etc.

GAMES IN OBSERVATION.

Thimble Finding (Indoors).
Send the patrol out of the room.
Take a thimble, ring, coin, bit of paper, or any small article, and place it
where it is perfectly visible but in a spot where it is not likely to be noticed.
Let the patrol come in and look for it. When one of them sees it he should
go and quietly sit down without indicating to the others where it is.
After a fair time he should be told to point it out to those who have not
succeeded in finding it.
[This ensures his having really seen it.]

Shop Window (Outdoors in town).

Umpire takes a patrol down a street past six shops. Gives them half a
minute at each shop, then, after moving them off to some distance, he gives
each boy a pencil and card, and tells him to write from memory, or himself
takes down what they noticed in, say, the third and fifth shops. The one who
sets down most articles correctly wins. It is useful practice to match one
boy against another in heats—the loser competing again, till you arrive at
the worst. This gives the worst scouts the most practice.

Similar Game (Indoors).

Send each scout in turn into a room for half a minute; when he comes out
take down a list of furniture and articles which he noticed. The boy who
noticed most wins.
The simplest way of scoring is to make a list of the articles in the room on
your scoring paper with a column for marks for each scout against them,
which can then easily be totalled up at foot.

Spotting the Spot (Indoors—town or country).

Show a series of photos or sketches of objects, in the neighbourhood such
as would be known to all the scouts if they kept their eyes open—such, for
instance, as cross-roads, curious window, gargoyle or weathercock, tree,
reflection in the water (guess the building causing it), and so on.
A pair of scouts can play most of the above competitions off between
themselves, if they like, as a matter of practice.
Patrol leaders can match one pair of their scouts against another pair in the
game, and thus get them really practised at it, and when they become really
good he can challenge other patrols to compete against his.

Follow the Trail.

Send out a "hare," either walking or cycling, with a pocketful of corn,
nutshells, confetti paper or buttons, etc., and drop a few here and there to
give a trail for the patrol to follow.
Or go out with a piece of chalk and draw the patrol sign on walls, gateposts,
pavements, lamp-posts, trees, etc., every here and there, and let the patrol
hunt you by these marks. Patrols should wipe out all these marks as they
pass them for tidiness, and so as not to mislead them for another day's
practice.
The other road signs should also be used, such as closing up certain roads as
not used, and hiding a letter at some point, giving directions as to the next
turn.

Scouts' Nose (Indoors).

Prepare a number of paper-bags, all alike, and put in each a different
smelling article such as chopped onion in one, tan in another, roseleaves,
leather, aniseed, violet powder, orange-peel, etc. Put these packets in a row
a couple of feet apart and let each competitor walk down the line and have
five seconds' sniff at each. At the end he has one minute in which to write

down or to state to the umpire the names of the different objects smelled,
from memory, in their correct order.

Far and Near. (For town or country.)

Umpire goes along a given road or line of country with a patrol in patrol
formation. He carries a scoring card with the name of each scout on it.
Each scout looks out for the details required and directly he notices one he
runs to the umpire and informs him or hands in the article if it is an article
he finds. The umpire enters a mark accordingly against his name. The scout
who gains most marks in the walk, wins.
Details like the following should be chosen, to develop the scout's
observation and to encourage him to look far and near, up and down, etc.
The details should be varied every time the game is played; and about 8 or
10 should be given at a time.

Every match found 1 mark.
Every button found 1 mark.
Birds' foot tracks 2 marks.
Patch noticed on stranger's clothing or boots. 2 marks.
Grey horse seen 2 marks.
Pigeon flying 2 marks.
Sparrow sitting 1 mark.
Ash-tree 2 marks.
Broken chimney pot 2 marks.
Broken window 1 mark.

CAMP FIRE YARN.—No. 6.
SPOORING.

Men's Tracks—Animals' Tracks—How to Learn Spooring.—Hints to
Instructor—Tracking Games—Books on Spooring.

MEN'S TRACKS.

General Dodge, of the American Army, describes how he once had to
pursue a party of Red Indians who had been murdering some people.
The murderers had nearly a week's start and had gone away on horseback.
But General Dodge got a splendid tracking-scout named Espinosa to help
him. The Indians were all riding unshod horses, except one, and after
Espinosa had been tracking them for many miles he suddenly got off his
horse and pulled four horseshoes out of a hidden crevice in the rocks. The
Indian had evidently pulled them off so that they should not leave a track.
For six days they pursued the band, and for a great part of the time there
was so sign visible to an ordinary eye, and after going for 150 miles they
eventually overtook and captured the whole party. But it was all entirely
due to Espinosa's good tracking.
On another occasion some American troops were following up a number of
Indians, who had been raiding and murdering whites, and they had some
other Red Indian scouts to assist them in tracking. In order to make a
successful attack, they marched by night, and the trackers found the way in
the darkness by feeling the tracks of the enemy with their hands, and they
went at a fairly good pace for many miles, merely touching the track with
their fingers; but suddenly they halted and reported that the track they had
been following had been crossed by a fresh track, and on the commanding
officer going up, he found the Indians still holding the track with their
hands, so that there should be no mistake. A light was brought and it was
found that the new track was that of a bear which had walked across the
trail of the enemy! So the march continued without further incident, and the
enemy were surprised, and caught in the early hours of the morning.
The scout, Burnham, in South Africa, who was with Wilson's party when
they were massacred on the Shangani River in Matabeleland, was sent away
with a dispatch shortly before they were surrounded. He travelled during
the night to escape observation of the enemy. He found his way by feeling
for the tracks left in the mud by the column when it marched up there in the
morning.

I myself led a column through an intricate part of the Matopo Mountains in
Rhodesia by night to attack the enemy's stronghold which I had
reconnoitred the previous day. I found the way by feeling my own tracks,
sometimes with my hands and sometimes through the soles of my shoes
which had worn very thin; and I never had any difficulty in finding the line.
Tracking, or following up tracks, is called by different names in different
countries. Thus, in South Africa you would talk only of "spooring," that is,
following up the "spoor"; in India it would be following the "pugs," or
"pugging"; in America it is "trailing."
It is one of the principal ways by which scouts gain information, and
hunters find their game. But to become a good tracker you must begin
young, and practise it at all times when you are out walking, whether in
town or country.
If at first you constantly remind yourself to do it you will soon find that you
do it as a habit without having to remind yourself. And it is a very useful
habit, and makes the dullest walk interesting.
Hunters when they are looking about in a country to find game first look for
any tracks, old or new, to see if there are any animals in the country; then
they study the newer marks to find out where the animals are hiding
themselves; then, after they have found a fresh track, they follow it up till
they find the animal and kill him; and afterwards they often have to retrace
their own tracks to find their way back to camp. And war scouts do much
the same as regards their enemies.
First of all you must be able to distinguish one man's footmark from that of
another, by its size, shape, and nails, etc. And similarly the prints of horses
and other animals.
From a man's track, that is, from the size of his foot and the length of his
stride, you can tell, to a certain extent, his height.
In taking notes of a track you should pick out a well-marked print, very
carefully measure its length, length of heel, with widest point of tread,
width at waist, width of heel, number of rows of nails, and number of nails
in each row, heel and toe-plates or nails, shape of nail-heads, etc.
It is best to make a diagram of the foot-print thus—nails missing.

You should also measure very carefully the length of the man's stride from
the toe of one foot to the heel of the other.
Note to Instructor: Make each scout take off his own boot and draw a
diagram of it on paper, putting in all nails and other points. Or, out of
doors, give each scout the outline ready drawn of a foot-mark, and then let
him find a foot-mark (or make his own) and fill in the details of nail-marks,
etc.
Also, he should note down the length of stride taken, and how much the feet
point outwards from the straight direction of their path.
A man was once found drowned in a river. It was supposed that he must
have fallen in accidentally, and that the cuts on his head were caused by
stones, etc., in the river. But some one took a drawing of his boots, and after
searching the river bank came on his tracks, and followed them up to a spot
where there had evidently been a struggle, the ground being much trampled
and bushes broken down to the water's edge, and the track of two other
men's feet. And though these men were never found, it showed the case to
be one of probable murder, which would not otherwise have been
suspected.
A scout must learn to recognise at a glance at what pace the maker of the
tracks was going, and so on.
A man walking puts the whole flat of his foot on the ground, each foot a
little under a yard from the other. In running the toes are more deeply dug
into the ground, and a little dirt is kicked up, and the feet are more than a
yard apart. Sometimes men walk backwards in order to deceive anyone who
may be tracking, but a good scout can generally tell this at once by the
stride being shorter, the toes more turned in, and the heels being tightly
impressed.
With animals, if they are moving fast, their toes are more deeply dug into
the ground, and they kick up the dirt, and their paces are longer than when
going slowly.
You ought to be able to tell the pace at which a horse has been going
directly you see the tracks.
At a walk the horse makes two pairs of hoof prints—the near (left) hind
foot close in front of near forefoot mark, and the off (right) forefoot

similarly just behind the print of the off hindfoot.
At a trot the track is similar but the stride is longer.
The hind feet are generally longer and narrower in shape than the forefeet.

HORSES' TRACKS.

Walking.

Trotting.

Canter.

Galloping. (O.H. = Off Hind, etc.)

Lame Horse Walking: Which leg is he lame in? (N.B.—The long feet are
the hind feet.)

Bird tracks.

These are the tracks of two birds on the ground. One lives generally on the
ground, the other in bushes and trees. Which track belongs to which bird?
Native trackers boast that not only can they tell a person's sex and age by
their tracks, but also their characters. They say that people who turn out
their toes much are generally "liars."
It 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 tracker would not be
taken in. Similarly, thieves often walk backwards for the same reason, but a
clever tracker will very soon recognise the deception.

Track of (1) Bicycle and (2) Motor.

Wheel tracks should also be studied till you can tell the difference between
the track of a gun, a carriage, a country cart, motor-car, or a bicycle, and the
direction they were going in. [See diagram.]
In addition to learning to recognise the pace of tracks, you must get to know
how old they are. This is a most important point, and requires a very great
amount of practice and experience before you can judge it really well.
So much depends on the state of the ground and weather, and its effects on
the "spoor." If you follow one track, say on a dry, windy day, over varying
ground, you will find that when it is on light, sandy soil it will look old in a
very short time, because any damp earth that it may kick up from under the
surface will dry very rapidly to the same colour as the surface dust, and the
sharp edges of the footmark will soon be rounded off by the breeze playing
over the dry dust in which they are formed. When it gets into damp ground,

the same track will look much fresher, because the sun will have only
partially dried up the upturned soil, and the wind will not, therefore, have
bevelled off the sharp edges of the impression, and if it gets into damp clay,
under shade of trees, etc., where the sun does not get at it, the same track,
which may have looked a day old in the sand, will here look quite fresh.
Of course, a great clue to the age of tracks will often be found in spots of
rain having fallen on them since they were made (if you know at what time
the rain fell), dust or grass seeds blown into them (if you noticed at what
time the wind was blowing), or the crossing of other tracks over the original
ones, or where the grass has been trodden down, the extent to which it has
since dried or withered. In following a horse, the length of time since it
passed can also be judged by the freshness, or otherwise, of the droppings
—due allowance being made for the effect of sun, rain, or birds, etc., upon
them.
Having learnt to distinguish the pace and age of spoor, you must next learn
to follow it over all kinds of ground. This is an accomplishment that you
can practice all you life, and you will still find yourself learning at the end
of it—you will find yourself continually improving.
Then there is a great deal to learn from the ashes of fires—whether they are
still warm or cold, scraps showing what kind of food the people were
eating, whether plentiful or scarce.
You must not only keep a sharp look out for scout signs made by your own
scouts, but also for those made by hostile scouts. Foreign scouts also have
their private signs—as also do tramps. The following are some of the signs
made by tramps on walls or fences near houses where they have been
begging which they chalk up to warn others of their class:

Very
bad:
they
give

you in
charge
here.

Too
many
tramps
been
here
already
.

No
good.

Bad
people.

There are very good native trackers in the Soudan and Egypt, and I saw
some of their work there.
The Colonel of the Egyptian Cavalry had had some things stolen out of his
house, so a tracker was sent for from the neighbouring Jaalin tribe.
He soon found the footprints of the thief and followed them a long way out
on to the desert, and found the spot where he had buried the stolen goods.
His tracks then came back to the barracks.

So the whole of the regiment was paraded without shoes on for the tracker
to examine. And at the end when he had seen every man walk, he said, "No
the thief is not there." Just then the Colonel's native servant came up to him
with a message, and the tracker who was standing by said to the Colonel
"That is the man who buried the stolen things."
The servant, surprised at being found out, then confessed that it was he who
had stolen his master's property, thinking that he would be the last man to
be suspected.
Mr. Deakin, the Premier of Australia, told me how he travelled on board
ship with a number of natives of Australia who were on the sea for the first
time in their lives.
When the ship got out to sea he noticed all these natives had got into the
bows and were lying flat on the deck with their heads over the side staring
intently into the water ahead of the ship. So interested were they in the
water that for some time he could not get any reply to his question as to
what they were looking at, till at length one of them said: "We cannot
understand how the ship is finding its way across the sea; we cannot see the
trail that it is following; we know that our eyes are sharp enough on shore
and often when we are guiding white men along a trail they say they cannot
see the tracks which to us are clear enough—their eyes are different to ours.
But here at sea the English sailors evidently can see tracks ahead of them,
otherwise they would not know which way to send the ship, and yet we,
who are so good at seeing on shore, cannot see any sign of a track or mark
on the water."
When getting on to very fresh spoor of man or beast, the old scout will
generally avoid following it closely because the hunted animal will
frequently look back to see if it is being followed. The tracker therefore
makes a circle, and comes back on to where he would expect to find the
spoor again. If he finds it, he makes another circle further ahead till he finds
no spoor. Then he knows he is ahead of his game, so he gradually circles
nearer and nearer till he finds it. See diagram.

HINTS TO SPOORING.

Some trackers of Scinde followed up a stolen camel from Karachi to
Sehwan, 150 miles over sand and bare rock. The thieves, to escape
detection, drove the camel up and down a crowded street, in order to get the
trail mixed up with others—but the trackers foresaw this and made a "cast"
round the town, and hit on the outgoing spoor on the far side, which they
successfully followed up.

Tracking.

In tracking where the spoor is difficult to see, such as on hard ground, or in
grass, note the direction of the last foot-print that you can see, then look on
in the same direction, but well ahead of you, say 20 or 30 yards, and in
grass you will generally see the blades bent or trodden, and on hard ground,
possibly stones displaced or scratched, and so on, small signs which, seen in
a line one behind the other, give a kind of track that otherwise would not be
noticed. I once tracked a bicycle on a hard macadam road where it really
made no impression at all, but by looking along the surface of the road for a
long distance ahead of me, under the rising sun as it happened, the line it
had taken was quite visible through the almost invisible coating of dew
upon the ground. Standing on the track and looking upon it close to my feet
I could not see the slightest sign of it. The great thing is to look for a
difficult track against the sun, so that the slightest dent in the ground throws
a shadow.
If you lose sight of the track you must make a "cast" to find it again. To do
this put your handkerchief, staff, or other mark at the first footmark that you
noticed, then work round it in a wide circle, say 30, 50 or 100 yards away
from it as a centre—choosing the most favourable ground, soft ground if
possible, to find signs of the outward track. If you are with a patrol it is
generally best for the patrol to halt while one or perhaps two men make the
cast. If everybody starts trying to find the spoor they very soon defeat their
object by treading it out or confusing it with their own footmarks—too
many cooks easily spoil the broth in such a case.
In making a cast use your common-sense as to which direction the enemy
has probably taken, and try it there. I remember an instance of tracking a
boar which illustrates what I mean. The boar had been running through
some muddy inundated fields, and was easy enough to follow until he
turned off over some very hard and stony ground, where after a little while
not a sign of his spoor was to be seen. A cast had accordingly to be made.
The last footmark was marked, and the tracker moved round a wide circle,
examining the ground most carefully, but not a sign was found. Then the
tracker took a look round the country, and, putting himself in place of the
pig, said "Now which direction would I have gone in?" Some distance to
the front of him, as the original track led, stood a long hedge of prickly
cactus; in it were two gaps. The tracker went to one of these as being the
line the boar would probably take. Here the ground was still very hard, and

no footmark was visible, but on a leaf of the cactus in the gap was a pellet
of wet mud; and this gave the desired clue; there was no mud on this hard
ground, but the pig had evidently brought some on his feet from the wet
ground he had been travelling through. This one little sign enabled the
tracker to work on in the right direction to another and another, until
eventually he got on to the spoor again in favourable ground, and was able
to follow up the boar to his resting place.
I have watched a tracker in the Soudan following tracks, where for a time
they were quite invisible to the ordinary eye in this way. While the track
was clear he made his own stride exactly to fit that of the track, so that he
walked step for step with it, and he tapped the ground with his staff as he
walked along—ticking off each footprint as it were. When the footprints
disappeared on hard ground, or had been buried by drifting sand he still
walked on at the same place tap-tapping the ground with his staff at the spot
where there ought to have been a footprint. Occasionally one saw a slight
depression or mark which showed that there had been a footprint there, and
thus he knew he was still on the right line.

HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS.
PRACTICES IN TRACKING.

1. The Instructor should make his scouts prepare a well-rolled or flattened
piece of ground (about ten or fifteen yards square) and make one boy walk
across it, then run, and then bicycle across it. Part of the ground should be
wet as if by rain, the other part dry.
He can then explain the difference in the tracks so that scouts can tell at
once from any tracks they may see afterwards whether a person was
walking or running.
If possible, a day later make fresh tracks alongside the old and notice the
difference in appearance so that the scouts can learn to judge the age of
tracks.
Then make tracks of various kinds overrunning each other such as a bicycle
meeting a boy on foot, each going over the other's tracks, and let the scouts
read the meaning.

2. Send out a boy with "Tracking Irons" on and let the patrol track him and
notice when any other tracks override his, showing what people or animals
have passed since.
N.B. Tracking irons are an invention of Mr. Thompson Seton's and can be
strapped on to soles of scout's boots (like a pair of skates) so that wherever
he goes he leaves a track similar to that of a deer.

TRACKING GAMES.
PRACTICES AND GAMES IN SPOORING.

Track Memory.

Make a patrol sit with their feet up so that other scouts can study them.
Give the scouts, say, three minutes to study the boots. Then leaving the
scouts in a room or out of sight let one of the patrol make some footmarks
in a good bit of ground. Call up the scouts one by one and let them see the
track and say who made it.

Track Drawing

Take out a patrol; set them on to one foot-track. Award a prize to the scout
who makes the most accurate drawing of one of the footprints of the track.
The scouts should be allowed to follow up the track till they get to a bit of
ground where a good impression of it can be found.

FOR HONOURS.

Spot the Thief.

Get a stranger to make a track unseen by the scouts. The scouts study his
track so as to know it again.

Then put the stranger among eight or ten others and let them all make their
tracks for the boys to see, going by in rotation. Each scout then in turn
whispers to the umpire which man made the original track—describing him
by his number in filing past. The scout who answers correctly wins; if more
than one answers correctly, the one who then draws the best diagram, from
memory, of the foot-print wins.
This game may also be carried out as a test for marks towards a badge of
honour. Correct detection of the thief counts two marks; if good diagram is
also drawn another mark may be added.

"Smugglers Over the Border."

The "Border" is a certain line of country about four hundred yards long,
preferably a road or wide path or bit of sand, on which foot-tracks can
easily be seen. One patrol watches the border with sentries posted along this
road, with a reserve posted further inland. This should be about half-way
between the "border" and the "town," the "town" would be a base marked
by trees, buildings, or flags, etc., about half a mile distant from the border.
A hostile patrol of smugglers assembles about half a mile on the other side
of the border. They will all cross the border, in any formation they please,
either singly or together or scattered, and make for the town, either walking
or running, or at scout's pace. Only one among them is supposed to be
smuggling, and he wears tracking irons, so that the sentries walk up and
down their beat (they may not run till after the 'alarm'), waiting for the
tracks of the smuggler. Directly a sentry sees the track, he gives the alarm
signal to the reserve and starts himself to follow up the track as fast as he
can. The reserve thereupon co-operate with them and try to catch the
smuggler before he can reach the town. Once within the boundary of the
town he is safe and wins the game.

BOOKS TO READ ON SPOORING.

"Lectures on Tracking": Cavalry Journal Office, Whitehall, S.W.

"Scouting and reconnaissance in Savage Countries": Captain. Stigand.
"Tracks of Wild Animals."

CAMP FIRE YARN.—No. 7.
READING "SIGN" OR DEDUCTION.

Putting this and that together—Sherlock-Holmesism—Instances of
Deduction—Hints to Instructors—Practice in Deduction—Books on
Deduction.

When a scout has learned to notice "sign," he must then learn to "put this
and that together," and so read a meaning from what he has seen. This is
called "deduction." Here is an example of what I mean which was lately
given in the "Forest and Stream," which shows how the young scout can
read the meaning from "sign" when he has been trained to it.
A cavalry soldier had got lost and some of his comrades were hunting all
over the country to find him, when they came across a native boy, and
asked him if he had seen the lost man. He immediately said: "Do you mean
a very tall soldier, riding a roan horse that was slightly lame?"
They said, "Yes; that was the man. Where did you see him?"
The boy replied "I have not seen him, but I know where he has gone."
Thereupon they arrested him, thinking that probably the man had been
murdered and made away with, and that the boy had heard about it.
But eventually he explained that he had seen tracks of the man which he
could point out to them.
Finally he brought them to a place where the signs showed that the man had
made a halt. The horse had rubbed itself against a tree, and had left some of
its hairs sticking to the bark which showed that it was a roan horse; its hoof
marks showed that it was lame, that is, one foot was not so deeply indented
on the ground and did not take so long a pace as the other feet. That the
rider was a soldier was shown by the imprint of his boot which was an army
boot. Then they asked the boy "How could you tell that he was a tall man?"

and the boy pointed out to where the soldier had broken a branch from the
tree which would have been out of reach of a man of ordinary height.
Deduction exactly like reading a book.
A boy who has never been taught to read and who sees you reading from a
book would ask "How do you do it?" and you would point out to him that a
number of small signs on a page are letters; these letters when grouped form
words; and words form sentences; and sentences give information.
Similarly a trained scout will see little signs and tracks, he puts them
together in his mind and quickly reads a meaning from them such as an
untrained man would never arrive at.
And from frequent practice he gets to read the meaning at a glance just as
you do a book without the delay of spelling out each word, letter by letter.
I was one day, during the Matabele war [Show on map] with a native out
scouting near to the Matopo Hills over a wide grassy plain. Suddenly we
crossed a track freshly made in grass, where the blades of grass were still
green and damp though pressed down; all were bending one way which
showed the direction in which the people had been travelling; following up
the track for a bit it got on to a patch of sand, and we then saw that it was
the spoor of several women (small feet with straight edge, and short steps),
and boys (small feet, curved edge and longer strides) walking not running,
towards the hills, about five miles away; where we believed the enemy to
be hiding.
Then we saw a leaf lying about ten yards off the track—There were no trees
for miles, but we knew that trees having this kind of leaf grew at a village
fifteen miles away, in the direction from which the footmarks were coming.
It seemed likely therefore that the women had come from that village,
bringing the leaf with them, and had gone to the hills.

From "Sketches in Mafeking and East Africa." By permission of Messrs.
Smith & Elder.

On picking up the leaf we found it was damp, and smelled of native beer.
The short steps showed that the women were carrying loads. So we guessed
that according to the custom they had been carrying pots of native beer on
their heads, the mouths of the pots being stopped up with bunches of leaves.
One of these leaves had fallen out; but we found it ten yards off the track,
which showed that at the time it fell a wind was blowing. There was no
wind now, i.e., seven o'clock, but there had been one about five o'clock.
So we guessed from all these little signs that a party of women and boys
had brought beer during the night from the village 15 miles away and had
taken it to the enemy on the hills, arriving there soon after six o'clock.
The men would probably start to drink the beer at once (as it goes sour in a
few hours), and would, by the time we could get there, be getting sleepy
and keeping a bad look-out, so we should have a favourable chance of
looking at their position.
We accordingly followed the women's track, found the enemy, made our
observations and got away with our information without any difficulty.
And it was chiefly done on the evidence of that one leaf. So you see the
importance of noticing even a little thing like that.

INSTANCES OF DEDUCTION.

Mr. Tighe Hopkins writing in "World's Work" describes how by noticing
very small signs detectives have discovered crimes.
In one case a crime had been committed and a stranger's coat was found
which gave no clue to the owner. The coat was put into a stout bag and
beaten with a stick. The dust was collected from the bag and examined
under a powerful magnifying glass and was found to consist of fine sawdust
which showed that the owner of the coat was probably a carpenter, or
sawyer, or joiner. The dust was then put under a more powerful magnifying
glass—called a microscope—and it was then seen that it also contained
some tiny grains of gelatine and powdered glue. These things are not used
by carpenters or sawyers, so the coat was shown to belong to a joiner, and
the police got on the track of the criminal.

Dust out of pockets, or in the recesses of a pocket-knife, and so on, if
closely examined, tells a great deal.
Then on another occasion a murder was committed, and close by a cap was
found which did not belong to the victim, so probably it belonged to the
murderer. Two hairs were found sticking to the lining of the cap; they were
carefully taken to Dr. Emile Pfaff, a celebrated observer. He examined the
hairs under a microscope and was able to read from them that the owner of
the cap was "A man of middle age, strong, inclined to be fat; black hair with
some grey among it, getting bald; lately had his hair cut."
In this way a clue was got to the appearance of the murderer.
Dr. Bell of Edinburgh is said to be the original from whom Sir Conan Doyle
drew his idea of Sherlock Holmes.
The doctor was once teaching a class of medical students at a hospital how
to doctor people. A patient was brought in, so that the doctor might show
how an injured man should be treated. The patient in this case came limping
in, and the doctor turned to one of the students and asked him:
"What is the matter with this man?"
The student replied, "I don't know, sir. I haven't asked him yet."
The doctor said, "Well, there is no need to ask him, you should see for
yourself—he has injured his right knee; he is limping on that leg: he injured
it by burning it in the fire; you see how his trouser is burnt away at the
knee. This is Monday morning. Yesterday was fine; Saturday was wet and
muddy. The man's trousers are muddy all over. He had a fall in the mud on
Saturday night."
Then he turned to the man and said, "You drew your wages on Saturday and
got drunk, and in trying to get your clothes dry by the fire when you got
home you fell on the fire and burnt your knee—Isn't that so?"
"Yes, sir," replied the man.
I saw a case in the paper last week where a judge at the county court used
his powers of "noticing little things," and "putting this and that together."
He was trying a man as a debtor.
The man pleaded that he was out of work, and could get no employment.

The judge said—"Then what are you doing with that pencil behind your ear
if you are not in business?"
The man had to admit that he had been helping his wife in her business,
which, it turned out, was a very profitable one, and the judge thereupon
ordered him to pay his debt.
Dr. Reiss, of the Police Department of the University of Lausanne, records
how the police read the spoor.
A burglary had taken place in a house, and the thief's footprints were found
in the garden. Those going towards the house were not so deeply impressed
as those coming away from it nor were they so close together; from this the
police gathered that the burglar had carried away with him a heavy load
which made him take short steps and he was fully weighted down so that
they sank deeply in the ground.

HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS.
HOW TO TEACH DEDUCTION IN PRACTICE.

Read aloud a story in which a good amount of observation of details occur,
with consequent deductions, such as in either the "Memoirs" or the
"Adventures of Sherlock Holmes."
Then question the boys afterwards as to which details suggested certain
solutions, to see that they really have grasped the method.
Follow up ordinary tracks and deduce their meaning. For examples of daily
practice see my book of "Aids to Scouting."

EXAMPLE OF PRACTICE IN DEDUCTION.

A simple deduction from signs noticed in my walk one morning on a stony
mountain path in Kashmir.
Sign Observed—Tree-stump, about three feet high, by the path. A stone
about the size of a cocoanut lying near it, to which were sticking some bits
of bruised walnut rind, dried up. Some walnut rind also lying on the stump.

Further along the path, 30 yards to the south of the stump, were lying bits of
walnut shell of four walnuts. Close by was a high sloping rock, alongside
the path. The only walnut tree in sight was 150 yards north of the stump.
At the foot of the stump was a cake of hardened mud which showed the
impression of a grass shoe.
What would you make out from those signs? My solution of it was this:
A man had gone southward on a long journey along the path two days ago,
carrying a load; and had rested at the rock while he ate walnuts.
My deductions were these:
It was a man carrying a load, because carriers when they want to rest do not
sit down, but rest their load against a sloping rock and lean back. Had he
had no load he would probably have sat down on the stump, but he
preferred to go 30 yards further to where the rock was. Women do not carry
loads there, so it was a man. But he first broke the shells of his walnuts on
the tree-stump with the stone, having brought them from the tree 150 yards
north. So he was travelling south, and he was on a long journey, as he was
wearing shoes, and not going barefooted as he would be if only strolling
near his home. Three days ago there was rain, the cake of mud had been
picked up while the ground was still wet—but it had not been since rained
upon and was now dry. The walnut rind was also dry and confirmed the
time that had elapsed.
There is no important story attached to this, but it is just an example of
everyday practice which should be carried out by scouts.

GAMES AND COMPETITIONS IN DEDUCTION.

Get some people who are strangers to the boys to come along as passers-by
in the street or road, and let the boys separately notice all about them; and
after an interval ask each for a full description of each of the passers-by as
to appearance, peculiar recognisable points, and what he guesses his
business to be; or let each boy have two minutes' conversation with your
friend and try to find out what he can about him in that time by questioning
and observation.

Set a room or prepare a piece of ground with small signs, tracks, etc., read
aloud the story of the crime up to that point and let each boy or each patrol
in turn examine the scene for a given time and then privately give each his
solution of it.
The very simplest, most elementary schemes should be given at first, and
they can gradually be elaborated. For instance take a number of footmarks
and spent matches by a tree showing where a man had difficulty in lighting
his pipe, etc.
For a more finished theme take a mystery like that in "Memoirs of Sherlock
Holmes" called "The Resident Patient." Set a room to represent the patient's
room where he was found hanging, with footprints of muddy boots on the
carpet, cigar ends bitten or cut in the fireplace, cigar ashes, screw-driver
and screws, etc. Put down a strip or "stepping stones" of stuff,
handkerchiefs, or paper on which the competitors shall walk (so as not to
confuse existing tracks). Let each scout (or patrol) come in separately and
have three minutes in which to investigate. Then to go out and give in his
solution, written or verbal, half an hour later.
Let one patrol make tracks by carrying out such a series as that which
D'Atagnan elucidated. The other patrol then acts as detectives and
endeavours to unravel the mystery from the tracks and other sign.

PLAY.

Any one of Sherlock Holmes stories makes a good play.

BOOKS TO READ.

"Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes."
"Adventures of Sherlock Holmes."
"The Thinking Machine" which contains a number of stories like Sherlock
Holmes.

"Criminal Investigation" by Dr. Gross. Edited by J. Adam. (Published by
Specialist Press, London.)

CHAPTER III.
WOODCRAFT;

or,
Knowledge of Animals and Nature.

CAMP FIRE YARN.—No. 8.
STALKING.

As an aid to Observation—How to hide yourself—How to learn
Stalking—Games—Book on Stalking.

At some manoeuvres lately, two hostile patrols of soldiers were
approaching, looking for each other, till the ground between them became
very open, and it seemed hopeless for a scout to cross it without being seen.
However, a small ditch about two feet deep and overgrown with bushes ran
across part of the open plain from the point where one patrol was lying
hidden. They noticed two calves which came out on to the plain from the
opposite side and walked across the open till they got to the end of this
ditch, and here they stopped and separated and began browsing.
A scout now started to make use of this ditch by crawling along it till he
should get to the far end near the calves, and there he hoped to find some
way of getting on further, or of at least peeping out and getting a nearer
view of the possible position of the enemy. When about half-way along the
ditch he was suddenly fired at by an enemy's scout already there, in the
ditch.
When the umpire rode up and asked him how he had got there without
being seen, the hostile scout said that finding he could not reach the ditch
without being seen if he went across the plain, he seized two calves which

he had found among the bushes where his patrol were hiding, and stepping
between them, he drove the pair of them, by holding their tails across the
open ditch; here he let them go and slid himself into the ditch without being
noticed.

HOW TO HIDE YOURSELF.

When you want to observe wild animals you have to stalk them, that is, to
creep up to them without their seeing or smelling you.
A hunter when he is stalking wild animals keeps himself entirely hidden, so
does the war scout when watching or looking for the enemy; a policeman
does not catch pickpockets by standing about in uniform watching for them,
he dresses like one of the crowd and as often as not gazes into a shop
window and sees all that goes on behind him reflected as if in a looking-
glass.
If a guilty person finds himself being watched it puts him on his guard,
while an innocent person becomes annoyed. So when you are observing a
person don't do so by openly staring at them but notice the details you want
to at one glance or two, and if you want to study them more, walk behind
them; you can learn just as much from a backview, in fact, more than you
can from a frontview, and, unless they are scouts and look round frequently,
they do not know that you are observing them.
War scouts and hunters stalking game always carry out two important
things when they don't want to be seen.
One is—they take care that the ground behind them, or trees, or buildings,
etc., are of the same colour as their clothes.
And the other is—if an enemy or a deer is seen looking for them they
remain perfectly still without moving so long as he is there.
In that way a scout even though he is out in the open will often escape
being noticed.
In choosing your background, consider the colour of your clothes; thus, if
you are dressed in khaki, don't go and stand in front of a white-washed wall,
or in front of a dark-shaded bush, but go where there is khaki-coloured sand

or grass or rocks behind you—and remain perfectly still. It will be very
difficult for an enemy to distinguish you even at a short distance.
If you are in dark clothes, get among dark bushes, or in the shadow of trees,
or rocks, but be careful that the ground beyond you is also dark—if there is
light-coloured ground beyond the trees under which you are standing, for
instance, you will stand out clearly defined against it.
If you are in red, try and get against red brick buildings, or red earth or
rocks, and so on.

Stalking Attitudes.

In making use of hills as lookout places be very careful not to show
yourself on the top or sky-line. That is the fault which a Tenderfoot
generally makes.
It is quite a lesson to watch a Zulu scout making use of a hill-top or rising
ground as a look-out place. He will crawl up on all fours, lying flat in the
grass; on reaching the top he will very slowly raise his head, inch by inch,
till he can see the view. If he sees the enemy on beyond, he will have a good
look, and, if he thinks they are watching him, will keep his head perfectly
steady for an immense time, hoping that he will be mistaken for a stump or
a stone. If he is not detected he will very gradually lower his head, inch by
inch, into the grass again, and crawl quietly away. Any quick or sudden

movement of the head on the sky-line would be very liable to attract
attention, even at a considerable distance.
At night keep as much as possible in low ground, ditches, etc., so that you
are down in the dark while an enemy who comes near will be visible to you
outlined against the stars on higher ground.
By squatting low in the shadow of the bush at night, and keeping quite still,
I have let an enemy's scout come and stand within three feet of me, so that
when he turned his back towards me I was able to stand up where I was and
fling my arms round him.
A point also to remember in keeping hidden while moving, especially at
night, is to walk quietly; the thump of an ordinary man's heel on the ground
can be heard a good distance off, but a scout or hunter always walks lightly,
on the ball of his foot not on his heels; and this you should practise
whenever you are walking by day or by night, indoors as well as out, so that
it becomes a habit with you—so as to walk as lightly and silently as
possible. You will find that as you grow into it your power of walking long
distances will grow, you will not tire so soon as you would if clumping
along in the heavy footed manner of most people.
Remember always that to stalk a wild animal, or a good scout you must
keep down wind of him even if the wind is so slight as to be merely a slight
air.
Before starting to stalk your enemy then you should be sure which way the
wind is blowing, and work up against it. To find this out you should wet
your thumb all round with your tongue, and then hold it up and see which
side feels coldest, or you can throw some light dust, or dry grass or leaves
in the air, and see which way they drift.
The Red Indian Scouts when they wanted to reconnoitre an enemy's camp,
used to tie a wolf's skin on their backs and walk on all fours, and, imitating
the howl of a wolf, prowled round the camps at night.
In Australia the natives stalk emus—which are great birds something like an
ostrich—by putting an emu's skin over themselves and walking with body
bent and one hand held up to represent the bird's head and neck.
American scouts when peeping over a ridge or any place where their head
might be seen against the sky line put on a cap made of wolf's head skin

with ears on it—so that they may be mistaken for a wolf if seen.

From "Sketches in Mafeking and East Africa." By permission of Messrs.
Smith & Elder.

Our scouts also when looking out among grass etc., tie a string or band
round their head and stick a lot of grass in it, some upright some dropping
over their face, so that their head is very invisible.
When hiding behind a big stone or mound, etc., they don't look over the top
but round the side of it.

HOW TO TEACH STALKING.

Demonstrate the value of adapting colour of clothes to background, by
sending out one boy about 500 yards to stand against different backgrounds
in turn, till he gets one similar in colour to his own clothes.
The rest of the patrol to watch and to notice how invisible he becomes when
he gets a suitable background, e.g. a boy in a grey suit standing in front of
dark bushes, etc., is quite visible—but becomes less so if he stands in front
of a grey rock or house; a boy in dark suit is very visible in a green field but
not when he stands in an open door-way against dark interior shadow.

GAMES IN STALKING.

Scout Hunting.

One scout is given time to go out and hide himself, the remainder then start
to find him, he wins if he is not found, or if he can get back to the starting
point within a given time without being touched.

Despatch Running.

A scout is told to bring a note into a certain spot or house from a distance
within a given time: other hostile scouts are told to prevent any message
getting to this place and to hide themselves at different points to stop the
despatch carrier getting in with it.
To count as a capture two scouts must touch the despatch runner before he
reaches the spot for delivering the message.

Stalking.

Instructor acts as a deer—not hiding but standing, moving a little now and
then if he likes.
Scouts go out to find and each in his own way tries to get up to him unseen.
Directly the instructor sees a scout he directs him to stand up as having
failed. After a certain time the instructor calls "time," all stand up at the spot
which they have reached and the nearest wins.
The same game may be played to test the scouts in stepping lightly—the
umpire being blindfolded. The practice should preferably be carried out
where there are dry twigs lying about, and gravel, etc. The scout may start
to stalk the blind enemy at 100 yards distance, and he must do it fairly fast
—say in one minute and a half—to touch the blind man before he hears
him.

Stalking and Reporting.

The umpire places himself out in the open and sends each scout or pair of
scouts away in different directions about half a mile off. When he waves a
flag, which is the signal to begin, they all hide and then proceed to stalk
him, creeping up and watching all he does. When he waves the flag again,
they rise, come in, and report each in turn all that he did, either by handing
in a written report or verbally as may be ordered. The umpire meantime has
kept a look-out in each direction, and, every time he sees a scout, he takes
two points off that scout's score. He, on his part, performs small actions,
such as sitting down, kneeling up, and looking through glasses, using
handkerchief, taking hat off for a bit, walking round in a circle a few times,
to give scouts something to note and report about him. Scouts are given
three points for each act reported correctly. It saves time if the umpire
makes out a scoring card beforehand, giving the name of each scout, and a
number of columns showing each act of his and what mark that scout wins,
also a column of deducted marks for exposing themselves.

BOOK ON STALKING.

"Deer Stalking." Badminton Library Series.

CAMP FIRE YARN.—NO. 9.
ANIMALS.

The calling of Wild Animals—Animals—Birds—Reptiles—Fish—
Insects—Practical Instruction about Animals—Games—A Play about
Animals—Books to read.

Scouts in many parts of the world use the calls of wild animals and birds for
communicating with each other, especially at night or in thick bush, or in
fog, etc., but it is also very useful to be able to imitate the calls if you want
to watch the habits of the animals. You can begin by calling chickens; or by
talking to dogs in dog language and you very soon find you can give the

angry growl or the playing growl of a dog. Owls, woodpigeons, and curlews
are very easily called.
In India I have seen a certain tribe of gipses who eat jackals. Now a jackal
is one of the most suspicious animals that lives and is very difficult to catch
in a trap, but these gipsies catch them by calling them in this way.
Several men with dogs hide themselves in a grass and bushes round a small
field. In the middle of this open place one gipsy imitates the call of the
jackals calling to each other; he gets louder and louder till they seem to
come together; then they begin to growl and finally tackle each other with
violent snapping, snarling and yelling, and at the same time he shakes a
bundle of dried leaves which sounds like the animals dashing about among
grass and reeds. Then he flings himself down on the ground and throws up
dust in the air so that he is completely hidden in it, still growling and
fighting. If any jackal is within sound of this he comes tearing out of the
jungle and dashes into the dust to join in the fight. When he finds a man
there he comes out again in a hurry; but meantime the dogs have been
loosed from all sides, and they quickly catch him and kill him.
Mr. William Long in his very interesting book, called "Beasts of the Field,"
describes how he once called a moose. The moose is a very huge kind of
stag with a ugly, bulging kind of nose. He lives in the forests of North
America and Canada, and is very hard to get near; and is pretty dangerous
when he is angry.

Indian Gipsy calling Jackals.

Mr. Long was in a canoe fishing when he heard a moose bull calling in the
forest—so just for fun he went ashore and cut a strip of bark of a birch tree
and rolled it up into a cone or trumpet shape so as to make a kind of
megaphone (about fifteen inches long, five inches wide at the larger end,
and about an inch or two at the mouth-piece). With this he proceeded to
imitate the roaring grunt of the bull-moose. The effect was tremendous; the
old moose came tearing down and even came into the water and tried to get
at him—and it was only by hard paddling that in the end he got away.
One of the best things in scouting is the hunting of big game—that is going
after elephants, lions, rhino, wild boar, deer, and those kind of animals; and
a fellow has to be a pretty good scout if he hopes to succeed at it.
You get plenty of excitement and plenty of danger too; and all that I have
told you about observation and tracking and hiding yourself comes in here.

And in addition to these you must know all about animals and their habits
and ways if you want to be successful.
I have said the "hunting" or "going after big game is one of the best things
in scouting." I did not say shooting or killing the game was the best part; for
as you get to study animals you get to like them more and more, and you
will soon find that you don't want to kill them for the mere sake of killing,
and that the more you see of them the more you see the wonderful work of
God in them.
All the fun of hunting lies in the adventurous life in the jungle, the chance
in many cases of the animal hunting you instead of you hunting the animal,
the interest of tracking him up, stalking him and watching all that he does
and learning his habits. The actual shooting the animal that follows is only a
very small part of the fun.
No scout should ever kill an animal unless there is some real reason for
doing so, and in that case he should kill it quickly and effectively, so as to
give it as little pain as possible.
In fact many big-game hunters nowadays prefer to shoot their game with
the camera instead of with the rifle—which gives just as interesting results
—except when you and your natives are hungry, then you must, of course,
kill your game.
My brother was lately big game shooting in East Africa and had very good
sport with the camera, living in the wilds, and tracking and stalking and
finally snap-shotting elephants, rhinoceros and other big animals.
One day he had crept up near to an elephant and had set up his camera and
had got his head under the cloth focussing it, when his native cried, "Look
out, sir!" and started to run. My brother poked his head out from under the
cloth and found a great elephant coming for him, only a few yards off. So
he just pressed the button, and then lit out and ran too. The elephant rushed
up to the camera, stopped, and seemed to recognise that it was only a
camera after all and smiling at his own irritability lurched off into the jungle
again.
Mr. Schillings' book "With Flashlight and Rifle in Africa" is a most
interesting collection of instantaneous photos of wild animals, most of them
taken by night by means of flashlight, which was set going by the animals

themselves striking against wires which he had put out for the purpose. He
got splendid photos of lions, hyænas, deer of all sorts, zebras, and other
beasts. There is one of a lion actually in the air springing on to a buck.
The boar is certainly the bravest of all animals; he is the real "King of
Jungle," and the other animals all know it. If you watch a drinking pool in
the jungle at night, you will see the animals that come to it all creeping
down nervously, looking out in every direction for hidden enemies. But
when the boar comes he simply swaggers down with his great head and its
shiny tusks swinging from side to side: he cares for nobody, but everybody
cares for him; even a tiger drinking at the pool will give a snarl and sneak
quickly out of sight.
I have often lain out on moonlight nights to watch the animals, especially
wild boars, in the jungle; and it is just as good fun as merely going after
them to kill them.
And I have caught and kept a young wild boar and a young panther, and
found them most amusing and interesting little beggars. The boar used to
live in my garden, and he never became really tame though I got him as a
baby.
He would come to me when I called him—but very warily; he would never
come to a stranger, and a native he would "go for" and try and cut him with
his little tusks.
He used to practise the use of his tusks while turning at full speed round on
old tree stump in the garden, and he would gallop at this and round it in a
figure-of-eight continuously for over five minutes at a time, and then fling
himself down on his side, panting with his exertions.
My panther was also a beautiful and delightfully playful beast, and used to
go about with me like a dog; but he was very uncertain with his dealings
with strangers.
I think one gets to know more about animals and to understand them better
by keeping them as pets at first, and then going and watching them in their
wild natural life.
But before going to study big game in the jungles everybody must study all
animals wild and tame at home. It would be a very good thing if every scout

kept some kind of animal such as a pony or a dog, or even birds, rabbits, or
even live butterflies.
Every boy scout ought to know all about the tame animals which he sees
every day. You ought to know all about grooming, feeding, and watering a
horse, about putting him into harness or taking him out of harness and
putting him in the stable, and know when he is going lame and should not
therefore be worked.
And when you harness a horse I hope you will show more knowledge of the
animal and more kindness towards him than do half the carriage coachmen
in London—by not putting bearing reins on him.
Prince Edward of Wales was reported a short time ago to have said as
follows:—
"When I am King I shall make three laws:

1. That no one shall cut puppies' tails, because it must hurt them so.
2. That there shall be no more sin in the country.
3. That nobody shall use bearing-reins because they hurt the horses."

These laws not only show us that King Edward VIII. will be a kind and
humane monarch, but that he is farseeing, for the last one at any rate might
well be a law of the country now. It is much needed.
Bearing reins are small extra reins which are hooked on to the horse's collar
to hold up his head. They are generally put on so tightly as to cause him
pain the moment he droops his head at all; when put on loosely they do not
cause him to hold up his head and therefore are not of any use.
There are no better drivers than the London cabbies and 'busmen, and they
do not use bearing reins, and their horses are more handy than those usually
seen in carriages.
Sometimes you see them used on horses in heavy carts; they are then called
"Hame-reins"—but they are cruel on the horse if tightly tied. A horse when
pulling a heavy cart wants to lean forward with his head down, just as you
or I would do when pulling a garden roller—but this hame-rein pulls at the
corners of his mouth and forces him to keep his head up.

Torture.

Comfort.

I saw lately a man in charge of a loaded cart whose horse was thus tied up.
He wanted to get the cart through some heavy mud (it was on the new Mall
from Buckingham Palace to Charing Cross) and the horse tried to lean
forward to pull but could not. The man beat him for not trying—the poor
beast in his pain and terror reared up on his hind legs, and the man beat him
again for "showing temper."
When I saw it I felt inclined to beat the man, but I went up and said I
thought I could make the horse do it. The man grinned while I was undoing
the hame-rein and said I should have to get another horse to do it then. But
when the horse found his head free and I smacked him on the back, he flung
the whole of his weight into the collar with his head well down, and with
both hind toes dug into the ground he heaved the cart forward a few inches,

and then again a few more, and not many seconds later had it all safe on the
hard road.
Often you can help a horse struggling with a load on a slippery road by
scattering a few handfuls of sand or ashes. Miss Lisette Rest used to do this
in London and when she died she left money for that purpose.
Other tame animals to understand are, of course, dogs. And a good dog is
the very best companion for a scout, who need not think himself a really
good scout till he has trained a young dog to do all he wants of him. It
requires great patience and kindness, and genuine sympathy with the dog.
A dog is the most human of all animals and, therefore the best companion
for a man. He is always courteous, and always ready for a game—full of
humour, and very faithful and loving.
Of course a scout who lives in the country has much better chances of
studying animals and birds than one who lives in a town.
Still if you live in London there are lots of different kinds of birds in the
parks, ducks and waterfowl of every kind, pelicans, woodpigeons,
woodpeckers, and most of the English birds; there is almost every animal
under the sun to be seen alive in the Zoological Gardens, or stuffed and set
up in the Natural History Museum at South Kensington—so that a Boy
Scout in London ought to know as much about all animals as most people.
And even in Leadenhall Market you can see a number of different kinds of
live animals for sale, as well as in the many animal shops about London or
any other big town.
In other towns it is perhaps a little more difficult, but most of them have
their Natural History Museum where a fellow can learn the appearance and
names of many animals; and you can do a lot of observing in the parks or
by starting a feeding-box for birds at your own window. And, best of all, by
going out into the country whenever you can get a few hours for it by train,
or bicycle or on your own flat feet, and there to stalk such animals as
rabbits, hares, water-rats, birds, fish, etc., and watch all they do, and get to
know their different kinds and their names, and also what kind of tracks
they make on the ground, their nests and eggs, and so on.
If you are lucky enough to own a camera you cannot possibly do better than
start making a collection of photos of animals and birds taken from life.

Such a collection is ten times more interesting than the ordinary boy's
collection of stamps, or crests, or autographs, which any ass can accomplish
by sitting at home and bothering other people to give.
And cameras can be got very cheaply now: it only means saving up money
in a money-box for a short time.
The wild animals I shall talk of now are those which you find in Great
Britain. Any scouts who live in the Colonies or elsewhere must make up
their own lists for themselves.
As a scout you should study the habits of as many of these animals as you
can:—

Red Deer
Hares
Rabbits
Rats
Badgers
Foxes
Mice
Weasles
Otters
Fallow Deer
Bats
Moles
Hedgehogs
Voles
Squirrels
Polecats
Stoats

Every animal is interesting to watch and it is just as difficult to stalk a
weasel as it is to stalk a lion. Even the humble hedgehog can be a hero
among animals. Here is a description of a fight between a hedgehog and a
viper by Mr. Millais in his book on the "Mammals of Great Britain and
Ireland." (Mammals mean animals that have "Mammas"—that is, they are

born alive, not like chickens in eggs that have to be hatched—birds are not
mammals.)
"Everyone knows that the hedgehog is a sworn enemy of reptiles in general
and of the viper in particular; but few, perhaps, are aware in what way he
overcomes so dangerous an enemy.
"My keeper was going his rounds this summer in a wood which was
infested by vipers when he espied an enormous one asleep in the sun. He
was on the point of killing it with a charge of shot, when he perceived a
hedgehog coming cautiously over the moss and noiselessly approaching the
reptile. He then witnessed a curious sight. As soon as the hedgehog was
within reach of his prey, he seized it by the tail with his teeth and as quick
as thought rolled himself into a ball. The viper, awakened by the pain, at
once turned and made a terrific dart at him. The hedgehog did not wince.
The viper, infuriated, extends itself, hisses and twists in fearful contortions.
In five minutes it is covered with blood, its mouth one large wound (from
the spines of the hedgehog), and it lies exhausted on the ground.
"A few more starts, and then a last convulsive agony, and it expires.
"When the hedgehog perceived that it was quite dead he let go his hold and
quietly unrolled himself. He was just about to begin his meal and devour
the reptile when the sight of my keeper, who had approached during the
struggle, alarmed him, and he rolled himself up again till the man had
retreated into the wood."
We are apt to think that all animals are guided in their conduct by instinct,
that is by a sort of idea that is born in them. For instance, we imagine that a
young otter swims naturally directly he is put into water, or that a young
deer runs away from a man from a natural inborn fear of him.
Mr. W. Long in his book "School of the Woods" shows that animals largely
owe their cleverness to their mothers who teach them while yet young. Thus
he has seen an otter carry two of her young upon her back into the water,
and after swimming about for a little while she suddenly dived from under
them and left them struggling in the water. But she rose near them and
helped them to swim back to the shore. In this way she gradually taught
them to swim.

I once saw a lioness in East Africa sitting with her four little cubs all in a
row watching me approaching her. She looked exactly as though she were
teaching her young ones how to act in the case of a man coming.
She was evidently saying to them, "Now, cubbies, I want you all to notice
what a white man is like. Then, one by one, you must jump up and skip
away, with a whisk of your tail. The moment you are out of sight in the long
grass you must creep and crawl till you have got to leeward (down-wind) of
him; then follow him, always keeping him to windward, so that you can
smell whereabouts he is and he cannot find you."

Teaching the Youngsters.

In "The School of the Woods," Long writes:
"Watch, say, a crow's nest. One day you will see the mother bird standing
near the nest and stretching her wings over her little ones. Presently the
young stand up and stretch their wings in imitation. That is the first lesson.
"Next day, perhaps, you will see the old bird lifting herself to tip-toe and
holding herself there by vigorous flapping. Again the young imitate and
soon learn that their wings are a power to sustain them. Next day you may
see both parent birds passing from branch to branch about the nest aided by
their wings in the long jumps. The little ones join and play and, lo! they
have learned to fly without even knowing that they were being taught."

BIRDS.

A man who studies birds is called an ornithologist. Mark Twain, the
amusing, yet kind-hearted, American writer, says: "There are fellows who
write books about birds and love them so much that they'll go hungry and
tired to find a new kind of bird—and kill it.
"They are called 'ornithologers.'
"I could have been an 'ornithologer' myself, because I always loved birds
and creatures. And I started out to learn how to be one. I see a bird sitting
on a dead limb of a high tree, singing away with his head tilted back and his
mouth open—and before I thought I fired my gun at him; his song stopped
all suddenly, and he fell from the branch, limp like a rag, and I ran and
picked him up—and he was dead: his body was warm in my hand, and his
head rolled about this way and that, like as if his neck was broke, and there
was a white skin over his eyes, and one drop of red blood sparkled on the
side of his head—and—laws! I couldn't see nothing for the tears. I haven't
ever murdered no creature since then that warn't doing me no harm—and I
ain' agoing to neither."
A good scout is generally a good "ornithologer" as Mark Twain calls him.
That is to say he likes stalking birds and watching all that they do. He
discovers by watching them where and how they build their nests.
He does not, like the ordinary boy, want to go and rob them of their eggs,
but he likes to watch how they hatch out their young and teach them to feed
themselves and to fly. He gets to know every species of bird by its call and
by its way of flying; and he knows which birds remain all the year round
and which only come at certain seasons; and what kind of food they like
best, and how they change their plumage; what sort of nests they build,
where they build them, and what the eggs are like.
There are 177 different kinds of birds in Great Britain. Here are some of the
commoner birds which a scout should know by sight and sound:

Wood pigeon Heron Jackdaw
Pheasant Wren Rook
Partridge Wagtail Crow
Grouse Swallow Raven
Cuckoo Martin Thrush
Skylark Woodpecker Blackbird
Snipe Gull Tit
Wild duck Tern Finch
Plover Owl Woodcock
Wild goose Hawk Curlew
Robin Falcon Kingfisher
Starling Moorhen

A good deal of natural history can even be studied by keeping birds in your
houses, or watching them in your neighbourhood, especially if you feed
them daily in winter. It is interesting to note, for instance, their different
ways of singing, how some sing to make love to the hen birds, while others,
like the barndoor cock, crow or sing to challenge another to fight. A herring
gull makes an awful ass of himself, when he tries to sing and to show
himself off to the ladies, and an old crow is not much better. Then it is
interesting to watch how the young birds hatch out; some appear naked with
no feathers and their eyes shut and their mouths open. Others, with fluffy
kind of feathers all over them, are full of life and energy. Young moorhens,
for instance, swim as soon as they come out of the egg; young chickens
start running about and hunting flies within a very few minutes; while a
young sparrow is useless for days, and has to be fed and coddled by his
parents.
There are over forty different kinds of birds which visit England from
abroad, especially from India and Africa, at certain times of the year, chiefly
in April, such as the sand martin, swallow, house martin, nightingale, hobby
falcon, cuckoo, corncrake, and swift.
A good many birds are almost dying out in Great Britain, because so many
boys bag all their eggs when they find their nests.
Birds'-nesting is very like big game shooting—you look out in places that,
as a hunter, you know are likely places for the birds you want; you watch

the birds fly in and out and you find the nest. But do not then go and
destroy the nest and take all the eggs. If you are actually a collector, take
one egg and leave the rest, and, above all, don't pull the nest about,
otherwise the parent birds will desert it, and all those eggs which might
have developed into jolly young birds will be wasted.
Far better than taking the eggs is to take a photo or make a sketch of the hen
sitting on her nest, or to make a collection of pictures of the different kinds
of nests, made by the different kinds of birds.
Aberdeen in Scotland is supposed to be specially well off for skylarks, for
the following reason.
A few years ago there came a very severe gale and snowstorm late in March
—and all the high ground inland was so buried under snow and ice, that the
birds were all driven to the lower land near the coast. The fields by the
seashore were covered with them.
Numbers of people went out to catch them with bird-lime, nets, snares, and
guns. Large numbers were taken alive to be sent to market in London and
other towns.
One gentleman found a man selling a big cage full of them. They were
crowded up to a fearful extent and all fluttering with terror at their
imprisonment, struggling over each other in their frantic desire to escape.
He felt so sorry for them that he bought the whole lot and took them to his
warehouse where he was able to give them plenty of room and food and
water.
Then he offered to buy all the larks that were being captured for the market
at market prices. In this way he received over a thousand—and these he put
in a big room where they had comparative freedom and plenty of food. It is
said that the noise of their singing in the morning was almost deafening and
crowds of birds used to gather over the house to hear them.
At last the bad weather passed off, the sun shone out again and the fields
became green and bright, and then the kind man who had housed the birds
opened the windows of the room and all the birds flew out in a happy crowd
chirping and singing as they mounted into the bright warm air or fluttered
off to the adjoining fields and woods. And there they build their nests and

hatched out their young so that to-day the song of the lark is to be heard
everywhere round Aberdeen.
Through ignorance of natural history many keepers and others see no
difference between sparrow-hawks, merlins, and kestrels, and destroy all of
them as mischievous to game. Sparrow-hawks and merlins do, no doubt,
kill young game, but a kestrel hardly ever, if ever. He lives principally on
field mice. You can tell him by his flight—he spends much of his time
hovering in the air looking out with his sharp eyes for a mouse upon which
to swoop down. The sparrow-hawk flits in and out round rocks and over
fences hoping thus to come on prey by surprise. The merlin is a very small
but very plucky little hawk and hunts down his prey by fast flying.

REPTILES AND FISHES.

The more usual reptiles in Great Britain are:

Grass Snake.
Viper.
Frog.
Toad.
Lizard.

The commoner fishes are:

Trout.
Grayling.
Perch.
Roach.
Dace.
Chub.
Bream.
Pike.
Minnow.
Salmon.

and a number of sea fish.
Every scout ought to be able to fish in order to get food for himself. A
tenderfoot who starved on the bank of a river full of fish would look very
silly, yet it might happen to one who had never learnt to catch fish.
And fishing brings out a lot of the points in scouting, especially if you fish
with a fly. To be successful you must know a lot about the habits and ways
of the fish, what kind of haunt he frequents, in what kind of weather he
feeds, and at what time of day, which kind of food he likes best, how far off
he can see you, and so on. Without knowing these you can fish away until
you are blue in the face and never catch one.
A fish generally has his own particular haunt in the stream and when once
you discover a fish at home you can go and creep near and watch all that he
does.
Then you have to be able to tie very special knots with delicate gut—which
is a bit of a puzzler to any boy whose fingers are all thumbs.
And you have to have infinite patience; your line gets caught up in bushes
and reeds, or your clothes—or when it can't find any other body it ties itself
up in a knot round itself. Well, it's no use getting angry with it. There are
only two things to do—the first is to grin a smile, and the second is to set to
work, very leisurely, to undo it. Then you will have loads of
disappointments in losing fish through the line breaking, or other mishaps;
but remember those are what happen to everybody when they begin fishing
and are the troubles that in the end make it so very enjoyable when you
have got over them.
And when you catch your fish, do as I do—only keep those you specially
want for food or as specimens; put back the others the moment you have
landed them. The prick of the hook in their leathery mouth does not hurt
them permanently, and they swim off quite happily to enjoy life in their
water again.
If you use a dry fly, that is keeping your fly sitting on top of the water
instead of sunk under the surface, you have to really stalk your fish just as
you would deer or any other game, for a trout is very sharp-eyed and shy.
You can also catch fish by netting, or, as scouts often have to do, by
spearing them with a very sharp three-pronged spear. I have done it many a

time, but it requires practice to be successful.
A scout, of course, has to look at animals of all sorts, partly with an eye to
their being useful to him sometime or another for food. Reptiles don't look
tempting as food but, once you have tasted frogs legs nicely cooked, you
will want more of them.
I believe that fried snake, like fried eel, is not half bad.
I have eaten the huge kind of lizard called an iguana. He had his head and
tail cut off to enable him to go into the cooking pot, and when he was boiled
and put on the table he looked exactly like a headless baby with his arms
and legs and little hands. And when we ate him he tasted just like a baby
too. Well—you know what a baby tastes like—sort of soft chicken
flavoured with violet-powder!

A Viper (or Adder) has this marking on his head and
neck; other snakes have none—in Great Britain.

As far as snakes go, there are not, fortunately, many poisonous ones in
England—only the viper is poisonous. It is differently marked from other
snakes having a black V or arrow-head mark on its head and a dark zig-zag
line along its back. It is generally dark brown in colour. The viper is
sometimes called adder.
Of course a scout ought to know about snakes because in almost all wild
countries you come across plenty of them and many of them dangerous.
They have a horrid knack of creeping into tents and under blankets, or into
boots. You will always notice an old hand in camp before he turns in at
night look very carefully through his blankets, and in the morning before

putting on his boots he will carefully shake them out. I even find myself
doing it now in my bedroom at home, just from habit.
Snakes don't like crawling over anything rough as a rule; so in India you
often construct a kind of path made of sharp jagged stones all round a house
to prevent snakes crawling into it from the garden.
And on the prairie hunters sometimes lay a hair rope on the ground in a
circle round their blankets.
A hair rope has so many tiny spikes sticking out of it that it tickles the
snake's tummy to such an extent he cannot go over it.
I used to catch snakes when I was at school, by using a long stick with a
small fork at the end of it. When I saw a snake I stalked him, jammed the
fork down on his neck, and then tied him up the stick with strips of old
handkerchief, and carried him back to sell to anybody who wanted a pet.
But they are not good things to make pets of as a rule because so many
people have a horror of them, and it is not fair, therefore, to have them
about in a house where servants or others might get frightened by them.
Poisonous snakes carry their poison in a small kind of bag inside their
mouths. They have two fangs or long pointed teeth, which are on a kind of
hinge; they lie flat along the snake's gums till he gets angry and wants to
kill something; then they stand on end, and he dives his head forward and
strikes them into his enemy. As he does so the poison passes out of the
poison bag, or gland as it is called, into the two holes in your skin made by
the fangs. This poison then gets into the veins of the man who has been
bitten and is carried by the blood all over the body in a few seconds, unless
steps are at once taken to stop it by sucking the wound and binding the
veins up very tightly.

INSECTS.

Insects are very interesting animals to collect, or to watch, or to photograph.
Also for a scout who fishes, or studies birds, or reptiles, it is most important
that he should know a certain amount about the insects which are their
favourite food at different times of the year or different hours of the day.

The usual insects about which a scout ought to know something, are:

Moths.
Gnats.
Beetles.
Grasshoppers.
Ants.
Spiders.
Glow-worms.
Butterflies.
Lice.
Bees and wasps.

About bees alone whole books have been written—for they have wonderful
powers in making their honeycomb, in finding their way for miles—
sometimes as far as six miles—to find the right kind of flowers for giving
them the sugary juice for making honey, and getting back with it to the
hive.
They are quite a model community, for they respect their Queen and kill
their unemployed.
Then some insects are useful as food. Ants make a substitute for salt.
Locusts—a big kind of grasshopper—are eaten in India and South Africa.
We were very glad to get a flight or two of them over Mafeking. When they
settled on the ground we went, and with empty sacks, beat them down as
they tried to rise. They were then dried in the sun and pounded up and
eaten.

HINTS FOR INSTRUCTOR.

PRACTICES.

Set your scouts to find out by observation, and to report on such points as
these:

In Country: How does a wild rabbit dig his hole? When a lot of rabbits are
alarmed does a rabbit merely run because the others do, or does he look
round and see what is the danger before he goes, too?
Does a woodpecker break the bark away to get at insects on a tree trunk, or
does he pick them out of holes, or how does he get at them?
Does a trout when disturbed by people passing along the bank, go up or
down stream? Does he go away altogether, or return to his place? How
long does he stay away? etc.
In Town: Make your scouts go out and report if they see a lame horse or
one with collar gall or sore mouth or tight bearing-rein.
Patrol to make a beehive or two, and put in queen bees or swarms, and
start bee-farming for profit.
Scouts make lures, traps, snares, etc., and set them (not on preserved
ground) to catch birds and animals for food.

HONOURS.

The following marks can be gained in this section by First Class Scouts
towards Badge of Honour.
For drawing correctly the foot-tracks of twelve different animals or birds, 3
marks.
Name twelve different kinds of fish and describe the points by which they
may be recognised, up to 2 marks. The same illustrated by drawings, or
models in clay, up to 4 marks.
Photos or sketches from life of twelve wild animals, birds, reptiles, &c.,
with short description of about twenty words each. Taken and developed, or
drawn by the scout himself, up to 5 marks.

LION HUNTING.

A lion is represented by one scout who goes out with tracking irons on his
feet, and a pocketful of corn or peas, and six tennis balls. He is allowed half
an hour's start, and then the patrol go after him, following his spoor, each
armed with one tennis ball with which to shoot him, when they find him.
The lion may hide or creep about or run just as he feels inclined, but
whenever the ground is hard or very grassy, he must drop a few grains of
corn, every few yards to show the trail.
If the hunters fail to come up to him neither wins the game. When they
come near to his lair the lion fires at them with his tennis balls, and the
moment a hunter is hit he must fall out dead and cannot throw his tennis
ball. If the lion gets hit by a hunting tennis ball he is wounded, and if he
gets wounded three times he is killed.
Tennis balls may only be fired once; they cannot be picked up and fired
again in the same fight.
Each scout must collect and hand in his tennis balls after the game. In
winter if there is snow, this game can be played without tracking irons, and
using snowballs instead of tennis balls.

BOOKS TO READ.

"Every Boy's Book of British Natural History." by W. P. Westall. (Pub.
Religious Tract Society, London.)
"With Flashlight and Rifle in East Africa," by Schilling.
"Duty," by S. Smiles. (Chap. XIII., XIV.) 2s. 6d.
"A Year with Nature," by Westall. Giving the habits of animals and birds of
the British Isles according to the months.
"Beasts of the Field" by William J. Luy. (Pub. Ginn & Co.).
"Countryside," weekly, Illustrated, 1d.
"Wild Sports of the Highlands," by C. St. John. (Murray.)
"I Go A-walking Through Lanes and Meadows." Photos and short accounts
of English birds. Rev. C. Johns. (Foulis.)

* "The Jungle Book," by Rudyard Kipling.
"Jock of the Bushveld," by Sir Percy Fitz Patrick. A story of big game
hunting in S. Africa, and the active part that "Jock" the terrier played in it.

PLAY.

"The Wild Animal Play." By Mrs. E. Thompson Seton. A musical play in
which the parts of Lobo, Waahb, and Vixen are taken by boys and girls.
Price 6d. Published by Doubleday, Page & Co., 133 East 16th Street, New
York City, U.S.A.

CAMP-FIRE YARN.—No. 10.
PLANTS.

Trees and their leaves—Eatable Plants—Practices and games connected
with Plants—Books about Plants.

TREES.

Although they are not animals, trees are things about which scouts should
know something. Very often a scout has to describe country which he has
seen, and if he says it is "well-wooded" it would often be of great
importance that the reader of his report should know what kind of trees the
woods were composed of.
For instance, if the wood were of fir or larch trees it would mean you could
get poles for building bridges; if it were palm trees you know you could get
cocoa-nuts (or dates if they were date palms), and the palm juice for
drinking. Willow trees mean water close by.
Or if pine woods or sugar bush or gum-trees it would mean lots of good
fuel. And he must know a poplar tree by sight, so as not to use poplar wood

in camp if there are any old scouts present—they have a superstition that
poplar brings bad luck.
A scout should, therefore, make a point of learning the names and
appearances of the trees in his country.
He should get hold of a leaf of each kind and compare it with the leaf on the
tree.

Oak.

Elm.

Poplar.

Plane.

Sycamore.

Ash.

Spanish Chestnut.

Horse chestnut is not so called because horses like the chestnuts, but
because it has on the bark of its smaller branches small marks like horse-
shoes with all the nails in them; and then get to know the general shape and
appearance of each kind of tree, so as to be able to recognise it at a distance,
and not only in summer, but also in winter.
The common trees in Great Britain which a scout should know by sight are:

Oak Poplar Holly Beech
Elm Pine Horse Birch
Plane Sycamore Chestnut Spanish
Cedar Larch Ash Chestnut
Fir Willow Lime Walnut

PLANTS.

But especially you ought to know which kinds of plants are useful to you in
providing you with food. Supposing you were out in a jungle without any
food, as very often happens; if you knew nothing about plants you would

probably die of starvation, or of poisoning, from not knowing which fruit or
roots were wholesome and which dangerous to eat.
There are numbers of berries, nuts, roots, barks, and leaves that are good to
eat.
The same with crops of different kinds of corn and seed, vegetable roots,
and even grasses and vetches. Seaweed is much eaten in Ireland (Sloke) and
Scotland. Certain kinds of moss are also used as food.

HINTS FOR INSTRUCTOR.

PRACTICES.

Take out scouts to get specimens of leaves, fruits, or blossoms of various
trees, shrubs, etc., and observe the shape and nature of the tree both in
summer and in winter.
Collect leaves of different trees; let scouts make tracings of them and write
the name of the tree on each.
In the country make scouts examine crops in all stages of their growth so
that they know pretty well by sight what kind of crop is coming up.
Start gardens, if possible, either a patrol garden or individual scout's
garden. Let them grow flowers and vegetables for profit to pay for their
equipment, etc.
Show all the wild plants which may be made use of for food.

COMPETITIONS AND GAMES.

Marks towards a Badge of Honour may be awarded to first-class scouts for
collection of not less than twenty-five kinds of leaf—pressed, with names
neatly written against them. Marks, 3; or the leaves may be drawn on
paper. Marks awardable, 4.

Prize for best window-box of flowers planted and grown by the scout
himself.

GAMES.

Plant Race.

Start off your scouts, either cycling or on foot, to go in any direction they
like, to get a specimen of any ordered plant, say a sprig of yew, a shoot of
ilex, a horseshoe mark from a chestnut-tree, a briar rose, or something of
that kind, whichever you may order, such as will tax their knowledge of
plants and will test their memory as to where they noticed one of the kind
required, and will also make them quick in getting there and back.

BOOKS TO READ.

"School Gardening," by W. E. Watkins, 2s. (Philip & Son.)

PLAY.
THE DIAMOND THIEF.

(Best performed in the open air and in dumbshow.)
A party of prospectors have been out into the wild country in South Africa,
and have found a magnificent diamond. They are now making their way
back to civilization with it. Horse-sickness has killed off their horses, and so
they are doing the journey on foot, carrying their blankets, food, and
cooking pots.
As the heat of the day comes on they camp for the day, meaning to push on
again at night. They rig up blanket-tents and light fires and cook their food,
weave mattresses, sing songs of home, play cards, etc. The diamond is
taken out of the sardine tin in which it is kept for all to look at and admire.
It is then put carefully back. The box is placed out in the open where it can
be seen and one man is told off as a sentry to guard it. The remainder have
their food, and then gradually lie down to sleep. When the camp is all still,
the sentry gets tired of standing and presently sits down and begins to nod.
While he is dozing the diamond thief sneaks into sight, creeps near to the
camp, and crouches, watching the sleeping man; when the sentry wakes up
for a moment with a start the thief crouches flat.
Eventually the sentry reclines and goes to sleep. Inch by inch the thief
creeps up, till he stealthily removes the sentry's gun (or pistol) out of his
reach; then he swiftly glides up to the diamond-box, seizes it, and sneaks
quickly away, without being discovered, dodges about, walks backward,
and wipes out his tracks as he goes in order to confuse pursuers.
The leader wakes with a yawn, and, when looking round, starts when he
sees there is no sentry standing about. He springs up, rushes to the sleeping
sentry, shakes him up, and asks him where is the diamond. Sentry wakes up
confused and scared. Remainder wake and crowd angrily together
threatening and questioning the sentry.
When one suddenly sees the footprints of the thief he follows in jerks of a
few paces; along the trail the rest follow and help to pick it up, first one and

then another finding it till they go off the scene. The leader is about to
follow them when he stops, and waves them onward, and then turns back to
the sentry who is standing stupefied. He hands him a pistol and hints to him
that having ruined his friends by his faithlessness, he may as well shoot
himself. The leader then turns to follow the rest, looking about for them. A
shout is heard in the distance just as the guilty sentry is putting the pistol to
his head—the leader stops him from shooting himself. And both stand
listening to shouts in the distance.
Remainder of the men return bringing in with them the thief and the
diamond all safe.
They then sit round in a semicircle, the leader on a mound or box in the
centre with the diamond in front of him. The thief standing with arms
bound, is tried and condemned to be shot. He goes away a few paces and
sits down with his back to the rest and thinks over his past life.
They then try the sentry, and condemn him as a punishment for his
carelessness to shoot the thief.
All get up. They start to dig a grave. When ready, the thief is made to stand
up, his eyes are bound. The sentry takes a pistol and shoots him. Remainder
then bring a blanket and lift the dead man into it and carry him to the grave
—to the opposite side from the audience so that everyone can see the
"body" lowered into the grave. They then withdraw the blanket, fill in the
grave, and trample the earth down. All shake hands with the sentry to show
that they forgive him.
Pack up camp, put out fire, and continue their journey with the diamond.
N.B.—The grave is managed thus: A hole must be previously prepared
rather near to the edge of the scena. Then a tunnel must be made by which
the "corpse" can creep out of the grave and get away underground. This is
done by digging a trench and roofing it with boards or hurdles and covering
it over with earth and turf again, so that the audience will not notice it. The
grave, too, is made in the same way, but shallower and partly filled up with
sods; the diggers remove the top earth, then, hidden by the rest crowding
round, they remove the board and pile up the sods on the surface. As soon
as the corpse is lowered into the grave he creeps away down the tunnel, and

so goes off the scene The diggers throw in some earth, jump down and
trample it, then pile up the sods on top till they make a nice, looking grave.
The whole thing wants careful rehearsing beforehand, but is most effective
when well done, especially if accompanied by sympathetic music.
It is a good thing to use for an open air show to attract a crowd when raising
funds for your troop.

SCOUTING FOR BOYS.

PART III.

will be published on February 12th, 1908,
at FOURPENCE.

CONTENTS—

Chapter IV.—CAMP LIFE.

Hints to Instructors.

Camp Fire Yarn No. 11.—PIONEERING.

" " " No. 12.—CAMPING.

" " " No. 13.—COOKING.

Practices, Games, Competitions, and Play.

Books on Camp Life.

Chapter V.—CAMPAIGNING;
or, Work in the Woods and Plains.

Hints to Instructors.

Camp Fire Yarn No. 14.—LIFE IN THE OPEN.

" " " No. 15.—PATHFINDING.

" " " No. 16.—INFORMATION BY
SIGNAL.

Practices. Games, Competitions, and Play.

Books on Campaigning.

Published by Horace Cox, Windsor House,
Bream's Buildings, London, E.C.

CONTENTS OF THE PARTS.

PART I.

Scoutcraft and Scout Law, giving the
Duties of Boy Scouts, their Secret Signs,
Laws, Badges, War Dance, etc.

PART II.

Observation and Tracking.

Woodcraft and Knowledge of Animals.

PART III.

Campaigning and Camp Life.

Pioneering and Resourcefulness.

PART IV.

Endurance and Health.

Chivalry and Brave Deeds.

Discipline.

PART V.

Saving Life and First-Aid.

Patriotism and Loyalty.

PART VI.

Scouting Games, Competitions, and Plays.

Words to Instructors.

Part III. FORTNIGHTLY. Price 4d. net.

Scouting
For Boys

LIEUT GEN.
BADEN POWELL C.B.

Published by Horace Cox, Windsor House,
Bream's Buildings, London, e.c.

Scouting for Boys.

A HANDBOOK FOR INSTRUCTION

IN

GOOD CITIZENSHIP,

BY

Lieut.-General R. S. S. BADEN-POWELL, C.B., F.R.G.S.

All communications should be addressed to—

Lieut.-General BADEN-POWELL,

Boy Scouts' Office,

Goschen Buildings,

Henrietta Street,

LONDON, W.C.

by whom Scouts will be enrolled, and from where
all further information can be obtained.

Copyrighted by Lieut.-General R. S. S. Baden-Powell, C.B., F.R.G.S.

1908.

All rights reserved.

PART III

CONTENTS: CHAPTER IV.
CAMP LIFE.
HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS.
CAMP FIRE YARNS.
11.—Pioneering: Knot-tying; Hut-making; Felling Trees; Bridging;
Measurements; Handicrafts.
12.—Camping: Comfort in Camp; Camp Fires; Tidiness; Camp Orders.
13.—Cooking: Cooking; Bread-making; Driving Cattle; Cleanliness; Water.
PRACTICES, GAMES, COMPETITIONS, Etc.
BOOKS TO READ ON CAMP LIFE.
CONTENTS: CHAPTER V.
(Commences on page 172.)
CAMPAIGNING.
HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS.
CAMP FIRE YARNS.
14.—Life in the Open: On the Veldt; Exploring; Boating; Watermanship;
Mountaineering; Patrolling; Night Work; Weather Wisdom.
15.—Pathfinding: Finding the Way; Judging Heights and Distances;
Finding the North.
16.—Signalling Information: Hidden Information; Signalling; Whistle and
Flag Signals.
PRACTICES, GAMES, and COMPETITIONS IN CAMPAIGNING.

BOOKS ON CAMPAIGNING.

CHAPTER IV.
CAMP LIFE.

CAMP FIRE YARN.—No. 11.
PIONEERING.

Knot-tying—Hutmaking—Felling Trees—Bridging—Measurements—
Handicrafts.

Pioneers are men who go ahead to open up a way in the jungles or
elsewhere for those coming after them.
When I was on service on the West Coast of Africa I had command of a
large force of native scouts, and, like all scouts, we tried to make ourselves
useful in every way to our main army. So not only did we look out for the
enemy and watch his moves, but we also did what we could to improve the
road for our own army, since it was merely a narrow track through thick
jungle and swamps. That is, we became pioneers as well as scouts. In the
course of our march, we built nearly two hundred bridges of timber over
streams. But when I first set the scouts to do this most important work I
found that, out of the thousand men, a great many did not know how to use
an axe to cut down the trees, and, except one company of about sixty men,
none knew how to make knots—even bad knots. So they were quite useless
for building bridges, as this had to be done by tying poles together.
So every scout ought to be able to tie knots.
To tie a knot seems to be a simple thing, and yet there are right ways and
wrong ways of doing it, and scouts ought to know the right way. Very often
it may happen that lives depend on a knot being properly tied.
The right kind of knot to tie is one which you can be certain will hold under
any amount of strain, and which you can always undo easily if you wish to.

Pioneering Scouts in Ashanti.

A bad knot, which is called a "granny," is one which slips away when a hard
pull comes on it, or which gets jammed so tight that you cannot untie it.
The following are useful knots which every scout ought to know, and ought
to use whenever he is tying string or rope, etc.

1.—Reef Knot, for tying
ropes together.

2.—Sheet Bend, for tying two
rope ends together.

3.—Clove Hitch, for fastening
a rope to a pole.

4.—Two Half-Hitches to
make a rope fast to a pole
with a sliding loop.

5.—Bowline, for making a loop that will not slip, such at you tie round a
man when you want to rescue him from fire, etc.

First step in the bowline.

Second step in the bowline.

6.—Overhand Knot.

7.—Middleman's Knot.

NOTE.—In
the above
diagrams this
means the end
of the rope.

This means the
continuation of
the rope.

Rope.

We had no rope with us in West Africa, so we used the strong creeping
plants, and also used thin withes or long whippy sticks which we made still
more pliant or bendable by holding one end under foot and twisting the
other round and round with our hands. The best wood for withes in England
is willow or hazel. You see them used for binding faggots of wood together.
You cannot tie all knots with them as with rope—but they can generally
make a timber hitch; or this withe knot.

HUT BUILDING.

To live comfortably in camp a scout must know how to make a bivouac
shelter for the night, or a hut if he is going to be for a long time in camp.
It all depends on the country and weather as to what sort of shelter you put
up.
In making your roof, whether of branches of fir-trees, or of grass or reeds,
etc., put them on as you would do tiles or slates, beginning at the bottom so
that the upper overlap the lower ones and thus run off the rain without
letting it through.
Notice which direction the wind generally blows from and put the back of
your shelter that way with your fire in front of it.
The simplest shelter is to plant two forked sticks firmly in the ground, and
rest a cross bar on them as ridge-pole. Then lean other poles against it, or a
hurdle or branches, and thatch it with grass, etc.
Or another good way, and quicker, is to cut one pole only and lean it against
a tree, binding its end there; then thatch it with branches or brushwood, etc.
Where you have no poles available you can do as the South African natives
do—pile up a lot of brushwood, heather, etc., into a small wall made in
semi-circle to keep out the cold wind; and make your fire in the open part.
If your tent or hut is too hot in the sun, put blankets or more straw, etc., over
the top. The thicker the roof the cooler is the tent in summer. If it is too

cold, make the bottom of the walls thicker, or build a small wall of sods
about a foot high round the foot of the wall outside. Never forget to dig a
good drain all round your hut, so that if heavy rain comes in the night your
floor will not get flooded from outside.

Framework of a Bivouac Shelter, to be thatched with
brushwood or grass. A second lean-to roof on opposite side
of ridge pole will then make a hut.

Zulus make their huts by planting in the ground a circle of long whippy
sticks standing upright, then they bend the tops all down towards the centre
and tie them together, then they weave more whippy sticks round in and out
of the uprights horizontally until they have made a kind of circular bird-
cage, this they then cover with a straw mat or thatch, or with straw woven
into the sticks. Sometimes a small hole is left at the top where all the sticks
join, to act as a chimney.

Hut.

The Red Indians make their "Tee Pee" with several poles tied together in
the form of a pyramid, and over these they pass a piece of canvas, which at
a little distance looks like a bell tent.

FELLING TREES.

A scout must know how to use an axe or bill-hook for chopping down small
trees and branches.
The way to cut down a tree is first to chop out a chunk of wood near the
bottom of the stem on that side to which you want the tree to fall, then go
round to the other side, and chop away on the opposite side of the stem a
few inches above the first cut until the tree topples over. It is a matter of
practice to become a wood-cutter, but you have to be very careful at first
lest in chopping you miss the tree and chop your own leg.

HOW TO MAKE BRIDGES.

As I told you before, my scouts in Ashanti, when also acting as pioneers,
had to build nearly two hundred bridges—and they had to make them out of
any kind of material that they could find on the spot.
There are many ways of making bridges. In the Army they are generally
made of poles lashed together. In India, in the Himalaya Mountains the
natives make bridges out of three ropes stretched across the river and
connected together every few yards by V-shaped sticks, so that one rope
forms the footpath and the other two make the handrail on each side. They
are jumpy kind of bridges to walk across, but they take you over; and they
are easily made.

How to Fell a Tree.

The simplest way for bridging a narrow, deep stream is to fell a tree, or two
trees side by side, on the bank, so that they fall across the stream. With an
adze you then flatten the topside; put up a hand-rail, and there you have a
very good bridge.
Rafts, too, can be used. You build your raft alongside the bank, in the water
if the river is shallow; on the bank if deep. When it is finished you hold on
to the down stream end, push the other out from the bank and let the stream
carry it down into position.

Rope Bridge.

SELF MEASURES.

Every pioneer should know his exact personal measurement in the
following details (of which I give the average man's measure):
Nail joint of forefinger, or breath of thumb 1 inch.

Span of thumb and forefinger 8 inches.

Span of thumb and little finger or other finger 9 inches.

(This also gives you the length of your foot).

Wrist to elbow 10 inches.

Elbow to tip of forefinger (called "cubit") 17 inches.

Middle of kneecap to ground 18 inches.

Extended arms, from finger-tip to finger-tip, is called a fathom and nearly
equals your height.
Pulse beats about 75 times a minute: each beat is a little quicker than a
second.
Pace: A pace is about 2-1/2 feet: about 120 paces equal 100 yards. Fast
walking paces are shorter than when going slow.
Fast walking you walk a mile in 16 minutes, or nearly four miles an hour.

THE SCOUT IS ALWAYS A HANDY-MAN.

Pioneers are always "handy-men." In the Army the Regimental Pioneers are
the men who in war make bridges and roadways for the troops to get along;
they destroy the enemy's bridges and railways so that he cannot get away;
and they blow up his fortifications so that the rest of the soldiers can rush in
and capture the place, and so on. In peace-time the pioneers do all the
useful jobs in barracks, such as carpentering, doing plumbers' and painters'
work, bricklaying and metal work, making chairs, tables, bookshelves, etc.
So scouts, if they want to be handy pioneers, should also learn this kind of
work; and it will always be useful to them afterwards.
Also scouts must know how to mend and even to make themselves clothes
and boots. I have made myself boots as well as shoes out of all sorts of
materials, but always wished I had, while a boy, learned to do a bit of boot-
mending from a cobbler.

HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS.

Start a carpentry class, or instruction in electricity, or plumbing,
elementary engineering, etc., with a view to teaching the boys handicrafts
that may be of real use to them in their future life. If you do not know
enough about it yourself, get a friend to come and demonstrate with models
or instruments for a few evenings.
Get leave to take the scouts over a factory to study the engines, etc.

Teach the boys to chop firewood. If they learn to chop up old packing cases,
etc., and make the billets into bundles for the trade, they can earn a good
deal towards their funds.
Teach them to make wooden mechanical toys, (from one or two penny ones
as models.) Thereby teaching them elementary mechanics, and handiness
with tools.

PRACTICES.

Knot-tying should be practised against time, by knot-tying races between
scouts in heats, the losers to pair off again for further heats till the slowest
knot-tyer is found. In this way (which should be used in other branches of
instruction also) the worst performers get the most practice—and the
emulation is just as great to avoid being the worst, as it would be in striving
to be the best, and win a prize.
Knot-tying races should also be carried out in the dark, the instructor
turning out the light for a few seconds on naming the knot to be tied.
Hurdle-making by planting a row of upright stakes and weaving in withes.
Make models of bridges with scouts' staves, cords, planks out of old packing
cases.

BOOKS TO READ.

"Manual of Military Engineering": War Office Publication.
"Active Service Pocket Book," by Mr. Bertrand Stewart, 3s. 6d. (Clowes
and Son.)
"Romance of Engineering and Mechanism," 5s. (Published by Seely and
Co.)
"How it Works." Showing how such things work as steam engines, motors,
vacuum brakes, telephones, telegraphs, etc.
1s. books on Carpentering, Joinery, Engine-driving, etc.

CAMP FIRE YARN.—No. 12.
CAMPING.

Comfort in Camp—Useful Tricks and Dodges—Camp Fires and all
about them—Tidiness.

COMFORT IN CAMP.

Some people talk of "roughing it" in camp. Those people are generally
"tenderfoots"; an old backwoodsman doesn't rough it, he knows how to
look after himself and to make himself comfortable by a hundred little
dodges. For instance if there are no tents he doesn't sit down to shiver and
grouse, but at once sets to work to rig up a shelter or a hut for himself. He
chooses a good spot for it where he is not likely to be flooded out if a storm
of rain were to come on. Then he lights up a camp fire and makes himself a
comfortable mattress of ferns or straw. An old scout is full of resource, that
is he can find a way out of any difficulty or discomfort. He is full of
"dodges," like the boy who had to rap on the door with the knocker which
he could not reach. He showed resourcefulness.
A bivouac is a halt without tents and generally is not meant to last for many
hours; a camp generally means a resting place with tents or huts to live in.
There are many ways of making a comfortable bed in camp, but always if
possible have some kind of covering over the ground between your body
and the earth, especially after wet weather. Cut grass or straw or bracken are
very good things to lay down thickly where you are going to lie, but if you
cannot get any of these and are obliged to lie on the ground, do not forget
before lying down to make a small hole about the size of a tea-cup in which
your hip joint will rest when you are lying on your side; it makes all the
difference for sleeping comfortably. A very comfortable bed, almost a
spring mattress, is made in Canada by cutting a large number of tops of the
fir-tree branches and planting them upright in the ground as close together
as possible, like bristles in a brush, so close that when you lie down on them
they form a comfortable and springy couch.

Resourcefulness in Doing a Good Turn.

Remember when sleeping in camp the secret of keeping warm is to have as
many blankets underneath you as you have above you. If a patrol were
sleeping round a fire you would all lie with your feet towards it like the
spokes of a wheel. If your blankets do not keep you sufficiently warm, put
straw or bracken over yourselves and newspapers if you have them. It is
also a good tip in cold weather, if you have not sufficiently warm clothing,
to put a newspaper under your coat or waistcoat up your back and round
your body, it will be as good as a great-coat in giving you extra warmth.
To make a bed, cut four poles—two of seven feet, two of three—lay them
on the ground so as to form the edges.

Bed.

Cut four pegs, two feet long, and sharpen, drive them into the ground at the
four corners to keep the poles in place.
Cut down a fir tree; cut off all branches and lay them overlapping each
other like slates on a roof till a thick bed of them is made; the outside ones
underlapping the poles. Cover with a blanket.
To make a mattress you first set up a camp loom (see "Hints to Instructors,"
page 163) and weave a mattress out of bracken, ferns, heather, straw, or
grass, etc., six feet long and two feet nine inches across.
With this same loom you can make grass or straw mats, with which to form
tents, or shelters, or walls, or carpets, etc.
Camp candlesticks can be made by bending a bit of wire into a small spiral
spring; or by using a cleft stick stuck in the wall; or a glass candle shade
can be made by cutting the bottom off a bottle and sticking it upside down
in the ground with a candle stuck into the neck.

Camp Candlesticks.

The bottom of the bottle may be cut off either by putting about an inch or an
inch and a half of water into the bottle and then standing it in the embers of
the fire till it gets hot and cracks at the water-level. Or it can be done by
passing a piece of string round the body of the bottle, and drawing it rapidly
to and fro till it makes a hot line round the bottle which then breaks neatly
off with a blow or on being immersed in cold water.
Camp forks can also be made out of wire sharpened at the points.
It is something to know how to sit down in a wet camp. You "squat" instead
of sitting. Natives in India squat on their heels, but this is a tiring way if you

have not done it as a child; though it comes easy if you put a sloping stone
or chock of wood under your heels.

Camp Fork.

Boers and other camp men squat on one heel. It is a little tiring at first.
Buttons are always being lost in camp, and it adds greatly to your comfort
to know how to make buttons out of bootlaces or string. This will be shown
to you. Scouts should also be able to carve collar studs out of wood, bone,
or horn.
A great secret of sleeping comfortably in camp is to have a canvas bag
about two feet long by one foot wide into which you pack odds and ends—
or carry empty and fill up with grass or underclothing to form your pillow
at night.

CAMP FIRES.—THE RIGHT WAY OF MAKING THEM.

Before lighting your fire remember always to do as every backwoodsman
does, and that is to cut away or burn all bracken, heather, grass, etc., round
the fire to prevent its setting light to the surrounding grass or bush. Many
bad bush-fires have been caused by young tenderfoots fooling about with
blazes which they imagined to be camp fires. In burning the grass for this
purpose, (or "ring-burning" as it is called) burn only a little at a time and
have branches of trees or old sacks ready with which you can beat it out
again at once when it has gone far enough.
Scouts should always be on the look-out to beat out a bush-fire that has
been accidentally started at any time as a "good turn" to the owner of the
land or to people who may have herds and crops in danger.

It is no use to learn how to light a fire by hearsay, the only way is to pay
attention to the instructions given you, and then practise laying and lighting
a fire yourself.
In the book called "Two Little Savages," instructions for laying a fire are
given in the following rhyme:

First a curl of birch bark as dry as it can be,
Then some twigs of soft wood dead from off a tree,
Last of all some pine knots to make a kettle foam,
And there's a fire to make you think you're sitting right at home.

Star Fire Ready to Light.

Remember to begin your fire with a small amount of very small chips or
twigs of really dry dead wood lightly heaped together and a little straw or
paper to ignite it; about this should be put little sticks leaning together in the
shape of a pyramid, and above this bigger sticks similarly standing on end.
When the fire is well alight bigger sticks can be added, and, finally, logs of
wood. A great thing for a cooking fire is to get a good pile of red hot wood
ashes, and if you use three large logs they should be placed lying on the
ground, star-shaped, like the spokes of a wheel, with their ends centred in
the fire. A fire made in this way need never go out, for as the logs burn
away you keep pushing them towards the centre of the fire, always making
fresh red hot ashes there. This makes a good cooking fire, and also one
which gives very little flame or smoke for the enemy to detect from a
distance.

To leave your fire alight at night, cover it over with a heap of ashes and it
will smoulder all night ready for early use in the morning, when you can
easily blow it into a glow.

Camp Grate.

If you want to keep a fire going all night to show or to warm you, put good-
sized logs end to end star shaped—and one long one reaching to your hand
so that you can push it in from time to time to the centre without trouble of
getting up to stoke the fire.
If coals or wood are difficult to get for making fires at home, don't forget
that old boots which you often find lying about on dustheaps, make very
good fuel.
You can do a good turn to any poor old woman in winter time by collecting
old boots and giving them to her for firing.
Another way to make a good cooking fire is one they use in America.
Drive two stout stakes into the ground about four feet apart, both leaning a
bit backwards. Cut down a young tree with a trunk some fifteen feet high
and ten inches thick; chop it into five-foot lengths; lay three logs, one on
top of another, leaning against the upright stakes. This forms the back of
your fireplace. Two short logs are then laid as fire-dogs, and a log laid
across them as front bar of the fire. Inside this "grate" you build a pyramid-

shaped fire, which then gives out great heat. The "grate" must, of course, be
built so that it faces the wind.
Tongs are useful about a camp-fire, and can be made from a rod of beech or
other tough wood, about four feet long and one inch thick. Shave it away in
the middle to about half its proper thickness, and put this part into the hot
embers of the fire for a few moments, and bend the stick over till the two
ends come together. Then flatten away the inside edges of the ends so that
they have a better grip—and there are your tongs.
A besom is also useful for keeping the camp clean, and can easily be made
with a few sprigs of birch bound tightly round a stake.
Drying Clothes.—You will often get wet through on service, and you will
see recruits remaining in their wet clothes until they get dry again; no old
scout would do so, as that is the way to catch fever and get ill. When you
are wet, take the first opportunity of getting your wet clothes off and drying
them, even though you may not have other clothes to put on, as happened to
me many a time. I have sat naked under a waggon while my one suit of
clothes was drying over a fire. The way to dry clothes over a fire is to make
a fire of hot ashes, and then build a small beehive-shaped cage of sticks
over the fire, and then to hang your clothes all over this cage, and they will
very quickly dry. Also, in hot weather it is dangerous to sit in your clothes
when they have got wet from your perspiration. On the West Coast of
Africa I always carried a spare shirt, hanging down my back, with the
sleeves tied round my neck; so soon as I halted I would take off the wet
shirt I was wearing and put on the dry, which had been hanging out in the
sun on my back. By these means I never got fever when almost everyone
else went down with it.

TIDINESS.

The camp ground should at all times be kept clean and tidy, not only (as I
have pointed out) to keep flies away, but also because if you go away to
another place, and leave an untidy ground behind you, it gives so much
important information to enemy's scouts. For this reason scouts are always
tidy, whether in camp or not, as a matter of habit. If you are not tidy at

home you won't be tidy in camp; and if you're not tidy in camp you will be
only a tenderfoot and no scout.

Right Shoe laced in the Scout's Way.

[One end of the lace is knotted under the lowest outside hole, and the lace is
brought through and threaded downwards through the opposite hole; it is
then taken up to the top. The dotted part of the lace is the part which lies
underneath the shoe and is not visible.]
A scout is tidy also in his tent or room, because he may yet be suddenly
called upon to go off on an alarm, or something unexpected: and if he does
not know exactly where to lay his hand on his things he will be a long time
in turning out, especially if called up in the middle of the night. So on going
to bed, even when at home, practise the habit of folding up your clothes and
putting them where you can at once find them in the dark and get into them
quietly.
A scout even ties his shoe laces neatly—in fact they are not tied, but are
wove through the eyelet holes from top of the boot downwards, and so need
no tying.

HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS.

CAMP ORDERS.

In going into camp it is essential to have a few "Standing Orders"
published, which can be added to from time to time if necessary. These
should be carefully explained to patrol leaders, who should then be held
fully responsible that their scouts carry them out exactly.
Such orders might point out that each patrol will camp separately from the
others, and there will be a comparison between the respective cleanliness
and good order of tents and surrounding ground.
Patrol leaders to report on the good work or otherwise of their scouts,
which will be recorded in the scoutmaster's book of marks.
Rest time for one hour and a half in middle of day.
Bathing under strict supervision to prevent non-swimmers getting into
dangerous water.
"Bathing piquet of two good swimmers will be on duty while bathing is
going on, and ready to help any boy in distress. This piquet will be in the
boat (undressed) with greatcoats on. They may only bathe when the general
bathing is over and the last of the bathers has left the water."
Orders as what is to be done in case of fire alarm.
Orders as to boundaries of grounds to be worked over, damages to fences,
property, etc.

Latrine, with screens across.

Camp Latrines.—A simple trench should be dug, one foot wide, two and a
half feet deep, for the user to squat astride. Straw mats or canvas screens to
be put up across the trench every four feet to secure privacy between the
users. (N.B.—This is an important point in education.) Side screens to hide
the latrine from outside view.

PRACTICES.

To Make a Camp Loom.—Plant a row of five stakes, 2ft. 6in., firmly in the
ground; opposite to them, at a distance of 6ft. to 7ft., drive in a row of from
two to five stakes. Fasten a cord or gardener's twine to the head of each
stake in No. 1 row and stretch it to the corresponding stake in No. 2 and
make it fast there, then carry the continuation of it back over No. 1 row for
some 5ft. extra, and fasten it to a loose crossbar or "beam" at exactly the
same distances apart from the next cord as it stands at the stakes. This beam
is then moved up and down at slow intervals by one scout, while the
remainder lay bundles of fern or straw, etc., in layers alternately under and
over the stretched strings, which are thus bound in by the rising or falling
on to them.

Camp Loom, for making Mats and Mattresses.

If in camp, practise making different kinds of beds.
If indoors, make camp candlesticks, lamps, forks, tongs, buttons, besoms.
If outdoors, practise laying and lighting fires.
Make scouts lace shoes neatly on the principle given.

CAMP FIRE YARN.—No. 13.
CAMP LIFE.

Cooking, Right Ways and Wrong Ways—Bread-making—Driving
Cattle—Cleanliness—Water.

COOKING.

Every scout must, of course, know how to cook his own meat and
vegetables and to make bread for himself without regular cooking utensils.
For boiling water a scout would usually have his tin "billy," and in that he
can boil vegetables or stew his meat, and often he will want it for drinking
and will cook his meat in some other way. This would usually be done by
sticking it on sharp sticks and hanging it close to the fire so that it gets
broiled; or the lid of an old biscuit tin can be used as a kind of frying-pan.
Put grease or water in it to prevent the meat getting burnt before it is
cooked.
Meat can also be wrapped in a few sheets of wet paper or in a coating of
clay and put in the red-hot embers of the fire, where it will cook itself. Birds
and fish can also be cooked in this manner, and there is no need to pluck the
bird before doing so if you use clay, as the feathers will stick to the clay
when it hardens in the heat, and when you break it open the bird will come
out cooked, without its feathers, like the kernel out of a nutshell.
Another way is to clean out the inside of the bird, get a pebble about the
size of its inside, and heat it till nearly red-hot, place it inside the bird, and
put the bird on a gridiron or on a wooden spit over the fire.
Birds are most easily plucked immediately after being killed.

Don't do as I did once when I was a tenderfoot. It was my turn to cook, so I
thought I would vary the dinner by giving them soup. I had some pea-flour,
and I mixed it with water and boiled it up, and served it as pea-soup; but I
did not put in any stock or meat juice of any kind. I didn't know that it was
necessary or would be noticeable. But they noticed it directly—called my
beautiful soup a "wet peas-pudding," and told me I might eat it myself—not
only told me I might, but they jolly well made me eat it. I never made the
mistake again.

Camp Kitchen.

To boil your "billy" or camp kettle you can either stand it on the logs
(where it often falls over unless care is taken), or, better, stand it on the
ground among the hot embers of the fire, or else rig up a triangle of three
green poles over the fire, tying them together at the top and hanging the pot
by a wire or chain from the poles. But in making this tripod do not, if there
is an old scout in camp, use poplar sticks for poles, because, although they
are easy to cut and trim for the purpose, old-fashioned scouts have a fancy
that they bring bad luck to the cooking. Any other kind of wood will do
better.
This is as good a kind of camp kitchen as any, it is made with two lines of
sods, bricks, stones, or thick logs, flattened at the top, about six feet long,
slightly splayed from each other, being four inches apart at one end and
eight inches at the other—the big end towards the wind.

Another way, when there are several "billies" to cook, is to put them in two
lines a few inches apart, one end of the line facing towards the wind. Lay
your fire of small wood between the two lines, and put a third row of
"billies" standing on top of the first two rows—so that a small tunnel is
made by the "billies." In the windward end of this tunnel start your fire; the
draught will carry its heat along the tunnel, and this will heat all the pots.
The fire should be kept up with small split chunks of wood.
When boiling a pot of water on the fire, do not jam the lid on too firmly, as
when the steam forms inside the pot it must have some means of escape or
it will burst the pot.
To find out when the water is beginning to boil, you need not take off the
lid and look, but just hold the end of a stick, or knife, etc., to the pot, and if
the water is boiling you will feel it trembling.
Kabobs.—Cut your meat up into a slice about half or three-quarters of an
inch thick; cut this up into small pieces about one to one and a half inches
across. String a lot of these chunks on to a stick or iron rod, and plant it in
front of the fire, or suspend it over the hot embers for a few minutes till the
meat is roasted.
Hunter's Stew.—Chop your meat into small chunks about an inch or one
and a half inches square.
Scrape and chop up any vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots, onions, etc.,
and put them into your "billy."
Add clean water or soup till it is half full.
Mix some flour, salt, and pepper together, and rub your meat well in it, and
put this in the "billy."
There should be enough water just to cover the food—no more.
Let the "billy" stand in the embers and simmer for about one hour and a
quarter.
The potatoes take longest to cook. When these are soft (which you try with
a fork) enough not to lift out, the whole stew is cooked.

BREAD MAKING.

To make bread, the usual way is for a scout to take off his coat, spread it on
the ground, with the inside uppermost (so that any mess he makes in it will
not show outwardly when he wears his coat afterwards); then he makes a
pile of flour on the coat and scoops out the centre until it forms a cup for the
water which he then pours in hot; he then mixes the dough with a pinch or
two of salt, and of baking-powder or of Eno's Fruit Salt, and kneads and
mixes it well together until it forms a lump of well-mixed dough. Then with
a little fresh flour sprinkled over the hands to prevent the dough sticking to
them, he pats it and makes it into the shape of a large bun or several buns.
Then he puts it on a gridiron over hot ashes, or sweeps part of the fire to
one side, and on the hot ground left there he puts his dough, and piles hot
ashes round it and lets it bake itself.
Only small loaves like buns can be made in this way.
If real bread is required, a kind of oven has to be made, either by using an
old earthenware pot or tin box, and putting it into the fire and piling fire all
over it, or by making a clay oven, lighting a fire inside it, and then when it
is well heated raking out the fire and putting the dough inside, and shutting
up the entrance tightly till the bread is baked.
Another way is to cut a stout club, sharpen its thin end, peel it and heat it in
the fire. Make a long strip of dough, about two inches wide and half an inch
thick: wind it spirally down the club; then plant the club close to the fire
and let the dough toast itself, just giving the club a turn now and then.
Ration Bags.—Very often on service they serve you out with a double
handful of flour instead of bread or biscuits, a bit of meat, a spoonful of
salt, one of pepper, one of sugar, one of baking-powder, and a handful of
coffee or tea. It is rather fun to watch a tenderfoot get this ration and see
how he carries it away to his bivouac.
How would you do it?
Of course you could put the pepper into one pocket, the salt into another,
the sugar into another, the flour into your hat, and carry that in one hand,
the bit of beef in the other hand, and the coffee in the other.
Only if you are in your shirt sleeves, as you generally are, you haven't many
pockets, and if, like some people, you have only two hands, it is a difficult
job.

The old campaigner, therefore, always has his three "ration bags," little bags
which he makes himself out of bits of shirt tails or pocket-handkerchiefs, or
other such luxuries; and into one he puts the flour and baking-powder, into
No. 2 his coffee and sugar, into No. 3 his salt and pepper.
Very often just after we had got our rations we would have to march at
once. How do you suppose we made our flour into bread in one minute?
We just mixed it with a lot of water in a mug and drank it! It did just as well
in the end.

CATTLE-DRIVING AND SLAUGHTERING.

Before you cook your hare you've got to catch him. So with mutton or beef
—you have to bring the sheep or ox to the place where you want him. Then
you have to kill him and cut him up before you can cook him and eat him.
Scouts ought to know how to drive sheep and cattle and horses. Tenderfoots
always forget to send someone in front of the herd to draw them on.
Sheep are apt to crowd up too much together so that those in the middle of
the flock soon get half suffocated in dust and heat, and then they faint. It is
often therefore, advisable for one driver to keep moving in the centre of the
flock to make an occasional opening for air, and it keeps the whole flock
moving better. If you come to an obstacle like a stile or wall with sheep, lift
one or two over it and the rest will soon follow, but they should not be too
hurried.
Scouts should also know how to kill and cut up their cattle.
Cattle are generally poleaxed, or a spike is driven into the forehead with a
mallet, or a shot or blank cartridge is fired into the forehead, or a big sharp
knife is driven into the spine just behind the horns, the animal's head having
first been securely tied down to a cart wheel or fence.
Sheep are generally killed either by being laid on their side and having their
head drawn back and throat cut with a big sharp knife, or by being shot in
the forehead with a revolver or blank cartridge of a rifle.

The animal should then be gutted by having the belly slit open and the
inside taken out, liver and kidneys being kept.
To skin the beast, lay the carcase on its back and slit the skin down the
centre with a sharp knife, slit up the inside of the legs, and pull the skin off,
helping it with the knife where it sticks to the body, first one side and then
the other down to the back bone.
The carcase is split in half in the case of a big beast; with a sheep it is cut
into two, and the fore quarters and hind quarters are then again divided into
joints.
A scout should know how to milk a cow or a goat, else he may go thirsty
when there is lots of milk available. A goat is not so easy to milk as you
might think. You have to keep hold of its head with one hand, its hind leg
with the other, and milk it with the other if you had a third. The way a
native does it is to catch hold of its hind leg between his big toe and the
next, and thus he has a hand to spare to milk with.

CLEANLINESS.

One thing to remember in camp is that if you get sick you are no use as a
scout, and are only a burden to others, and you generally get ill through
your own fault. Either you don't change into dry clothes when you get wet,
or you let dirt get into your food, or you drink bad water.
So, when cooking your food, always be careful to clean your cooking pots,
plates, forks, etc., very thoroughly.
Flies are most dangerous, because they carry about seeds of disease on their
feet, and if they settle on your food they will often leave the poison there
for you to eat—and then you wonder why you get ill. Flies generally live
best where there is dirt, and scraps of food are left lying about.
For this reason you should be careful to keep your camp very clean, so that
flies won't come there. All slops and scraps should be thrown away into a
properly-dug hole, where they can be buried, and not scattered about all
over the place. Patrol leaders must be very careful to see that this is always
done.

WATER.

Good drinking water is one of the most important of all things in
campaigning, in order to make sure of your being healthy.
All water has a large number of tiny animals floating about in it, too small
to be seen without the help of a microscope. Some of them are poisonous,
some are not; you can't tell whether the poisonous ones are there, so the
safest way is to kill them all before you drink any water; and the way to kill
them is to boil the water, and let it cool again before drinking it. In boiling
the water don't let it merely come to a boil and then take it off, but let it boil
fully for a quarter of an hour, as these little beasts, or microbes as they are
called, are very tough customers, and take a lot of boiling before they get
killed.
For the same reason it is very dangerous to drink out of streams, and
especially out of ponds, when you feel thirsty, for you may suck down any
amount of poison in doing so. If a pond is your only water-supply, it is best
to dig a small well, three feet deep, about ten feet away from the pond, and
the water will ooze through into it, and will be much more healthy to drink.
We did this in Mafeking, when the Boers cut off our regular water-supply,
and so had no sickness from bad water.

HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS.

Practise in mixing dough and baking; it is useful. If possible, get a baker to
give a lesson. But let each scout mix his own dough with the amount of
water he thinks right. Let him make his mistakes at first to get experience.
A visit to a slaughter-house and butcher's shop to see the cutting up is
useful for boys.
Get scouts to make their own linen ration bags.
Issue raw rations, and let each scout make his own fire and cook his own
meal.

CAMP GAMES.

Hockey, Rounders, Football, Basket Ball, which is practically football
played only with the hands, with a basket seven feet above ground as goal.
A small bit of ground or a room or court will do for the game.
"Bang the Bear" (from Mr. Seton Thompson's "Birchbark of the Woodcraft
Indians.") One big boy is bear, and has three bases, in which he can take
refuge and be safe. He carries a small air balloon on his back. The other
boys are armed with clubs of straw rope twisted, with which they try to
burst his balloon while he is outside the base. The bear has a similar club,
with which he knocks off the hunters' hats. The hat represents the hunter's
life. A good game for introducing strange or shy boys to each other.
Songs, recitations, small plays, etc., can be performed round the camp fire,
and every scout should be made to contribute something to the programme,
whether he thinks he is a performer or not. A different patrol may be told off
for each night of the week to provide for the performance; they can thus
prepare it beforehand.

BOOK TO READ.

"Woodcraft." By Nessmuk. 2s. (Pub.: Forest and Stream, New York.)

CHAPTER V.
CAMPAIGNING.

CAMP FIRE YARN.—No. 14.
LIFE IN THE OPEN.

Outdoor Training—Exploration—Boat Cruising—Watermanship—
Mountaineering—Patrolling—Nightwork—Weather Wisdom.

The native boys of the Zulu and Swazi tribes learn to be scouts before they
are allowed to be considered men, and they do it in this way: when a boy is
about fifteen or sixteen he is taken by the men of his village, stripped of all
clothes and painted white from head to foot, and he is given a shield and
one assegai or small spear, and he is turned out of the village and told that
he will be killed if anyone catches him while he is still painted white. So the
boy has to go off into the jungle and mountains and hide himself from other
men until the white paint wears off, and this generally takes about a month;
so that all this time he has to look after himself and stalk game with his one
assegai and kill it and cut it up; he has to light his fire by means of rubbing
sticks together in order to cook his meat; he has to make the skin of the
animal into a covering for himself; and he has to know what kind of wild
root, berries, and leaves are good for food as vegetables. If he is not able to
do these things, he dies of starvation, or is killed by wild animals. If he
succeeds in keeping himself alive, and is able to find his way back to his
village, he returns when the white paint has worn off and is then received
with great rejoicings by his friends and relations, and is allowed to become
a soldier of the tribe since he has shown that he is able to look after himself.
It is a pity that all British boys cannot have the same sort of training before
they are allowed to consider themselves men—and the training which we
are now doing as scouts is intended to fill that want as far as possible. If

every boy works hard at this course and really learns all that we try to teach
him, he will, at the end of it, have some claim to call himself a scout and a
man, and will find if ever he goes on service, or to a colony, that he will
have no difficulty in looking after himself and in being really useful to his
country.
There is an old Canadian scout and trapper, now over eighty years of age,
still living, and, what is more, still working at his trade of trapping. His
name is Bill Hamilton. In a book which he lately wrote, called "My Sixty
Years in the Plains," he describes the dangers of that adventurous line of
life. The chief danger was that of falling into the hands of the Red Indians.
"To be taken prisoner was to experience a death not at all to be desired. A
slow fire is merciful beside other cruelties practised by the Indians. I have
often been asked why we exposed ourselves to such danger? My answer has
always been that there was a charm in the open-air life of a scout from
which one cannot free himself after he has once come under its spell. Give
me the man who has been raised among the great things of Nature; he
cultivates truth, independence, and self-reliance; he has generous impulses;
he is true to his friends, and true to the flag of his country."
I can fully endorse what this old scout has said, and, what is more, I find
that those men who come from the furthest frontiers of the Empire, from
what we should call a rude and savage life, are among the most generous
and chivalrous of their race, especially towards women and weaker folk.
They become "gentle men" by their contact with nature.
Mr. Roosevelt, the President of the United States of America, also is one
who believes in outdoor life, and he indulges in it himself on every possible
occasion when his duties allow. He writes:
"I believe in outdoor games, and I do not mind in the least that they are
rough games, or that those who take part in them are occasionally injured. I
have no sympathy with the overwrought sentiment which would keep a
young man in cotton wool. The out-of-doors man must always prove the
better in life's contest. When you play, play hard; and when you work, work
hard. But do not let your play and your sport interfere with your study."
I knew an old Boer who after the war said that he could not live in the
country with the British, so he went off to take service with the German
troops which were at that time fighting in the neighbouring district of South

West Africa. But after some months he came back and said that after all he
preferred to be with the British.
He said that one of his reasons for disliking the British was that when they
arrived in the country they were so 'stom' as he called it—i.e. so utterly
stupid when living on the veldt that they did not know how to look after
themselves, to make themselves comfortable in camp, to kill their food or to
cook it, and they were always losing their way on the veldt; he allowed that
after six months or so the English soldiers got to learn how to manage for
themselves fairly well. But when he went to the Germans he found that they
were even more 'stom' than the British, with the great difference that they
went on being 'stom,' no matter how long they remained in the country. He
said they were 'stom' till they died, and they generally died through
blundering about at the business end of a mule.
The truth is that, being brought up in a civilised country like England,
soldiers and others have no training whatever in looking after themselves
out on the veldt, or in the backwoods, and the consequence is that when
they go out to a colony or on a campaign they are for a long time perfectly
helpless and go through a lot of hardship and trouble which would not occur
had they learnt, while boys, how to look after themselves both in camp and
when on patrol. They are just a lot of "Tenderfoots."
They have never had to light a fire, or to cook their own food; that has
always been done for them. At home, if they wanted water they merely had
to turn on the tap, and had no idea of how to set about finding water in a
desert place by looking at the grass, or bush, or by scratching at the sand till
they began to find signs of dampness; and if they lost their way, or did not
know the time, they merely had to "ask a policeman." They had always
found houses to shelter them, and beds to lie in. They had never to
manufacture these for themselves, nor to make their own boots or clothing.
That is why a "tenderfoot" talks of "roughing in camp"; but living in camp
for a scout who knows the game is by no means "roughing it." He knows
how to make himself comfortable in a thousand small ways, and then when
he does come back to civilisation, he enjoys it all the more for having seen
a contrast; and even there he can do very much more for himself than the
ordinary mortal who has never really learned to provide for his own wants.
The man who has had to turn his hand to many things, as the scout does in
camp, finds that when he comes into civilisation he is more easily able to

obtain employment, because he is ready to turn his hand to whatever kind
of work may turn up.

EXPLORATION.

A good form of scout work can be got in Great Britain by scouts going
about either as patrols on an exploring expedition, or in pairs like knight-
errants of old on a pilgrimage through the country to find people wanting
help and to help them. This can equally well be done with bicycles, or, in
the winter, by skating along the canals.
Scouts in carrying out such a tramp should never, if possible, sleep under a
roof—that is to say, on fine nights they would sleep in the open wherever
they may be, or, in bad weather, would get leave to occupy a hay loft or
barn.
You should on all occasions take a map with you, and find your way by it,
as far as possible, without having to ask the way of passers-by. You would,
of course, have to do your daily good turn whenever opportunity presented
itself, but besides that, you should do good turns to farmers and others who
may allow you the use of their barns, and so on, as a return for their
kindness.
As a rule, you should have some object in your expedition, that is to say, if
you are a patrol of town boys, you would go off with the idea of scouting
some special spot, say a mountain in Scotland or Wales, or a lake in
Cumberland, or, possibly, some old castle, or battle-field, or a sea-side
beach. Or you may be on your way to join one of the larger camps.
If, on the other hand, you are a patrol from the country, you can make your
way up to London, or to a big town, with the idea of going to see its
buildings, and its Zoological Gardens, circuses, museums, etc. And you
should notice everything as you go along the roads, and remember, as far as
possible, all your journey, so that you could give directions to anybody else
who wanted to follow that road afterwards. And make a map. Explorers, of
course, keep a log or journal giving a short account of each day's journey,
with sketches or photos of any interesting things they see.

BOAT CRUISING.

Instead of tramping or cycling, it is also an excellent practice for a patrol to
take a boat and make a trip in that way through the country; but none should
be allowed in the boat who is not a good swimmer, because accidents are
pretty sure to happen, and if all are swimmers, it does not matter; in fact, it
is rather a good experience than otherwise.
I once made such a cruise with two of my brothers. We took a small
folding-up canvas boat, and went as far up the Thames as we could possibly
get till it became so narrow and small a stream that we were continually
having to get out and pull our boat over fallen trees and stopped up bits of
river. Then we took it on the Avon, which rises near the source of the
Thames, but flows to the westward, and here, again, we began where the
river was very small, and gradually worked our way down until it
developed into a big stream, and so through Bath and Bristol on to the
Severn. Then across the Severn, and up the Wye into Wales. We carried
with us our tent, stores, and cooking apparatus, so that we were able to live
out independent of houses the whole time. A more enjoyable trip could not
be imagined, and the expense was very small.

WATERMANSHIP.

It is very necessary for a scout to be able to swim, for he never knows when
he may have to cross a river, to swim for his life, or to plunge in to save
someone from drowning, so those of you that cannot swim should make it
your business to begin at once and learn; it is not very difficult.
Also, a scout should be able to manage a boat, to bring it properly alongside
the ship or pier, that is, either by rowing it or steering it in a wide circle so
that it comes up alongside with its head pointing the same way as the bow
of the ship or towards the current. You should be able to row one oar in time
with the rest of the boat's crew, or to scull a pair of oars, or to scull a boat
by screwing a single oar over the stern. In rowing, the object of feathering
or turning the blade of the oar flat when it is out of the water, is to save it
from catching the wind and thereby checking the pace of the boat. You

should know how to throw a coil of rope so as to fling it on to another boat
or wharf, or how to catch and make fast a rope thrown to you. Also you
should know how to make a raft out of any materials that you can get hold
of, such as planks, logs, barrels, sacks of straw, and so on, for often you
may want to cross a river with your food and baggage where no boats are
available, or you may be in a shipwreck where nobody can make a raft for
saving themselves. You should also know how to throw a lifebuoy to a
drowning man. These things can only be learnt by practice.
As a scout you must know how to fish, else you would find yourself very
helpless, and perhaps starving, on a river which is full of food for you if you
were only able to catch it.

MOUNTAINEERING.

A good deal of interesting mountaineering can be done in the British Isles if
you know where to go; and it is grand sport, and brings out into practice all
your scout-craft to enable you to find your way, and to make yourself
comfortable in camp.
You are, of course, continually losing your direction because, moving up
and down in the deep gullies of the mountain side, you lose sight of the
landmarks which usually guide you, so that you have to watch your
direction by the sun, and by your compass, and keep on estimating in what
direction your proper line of travel lies.
Then, again, you are very liable to be caught in fogs and mists, which are at
all times upsetting to the calculations even of men who know every inch of
the country. I had such an experience in Scotland last year when, in
company with a Highlander who knew the ground, we got lost in the mist.
But supposing that he knew the way, I committed myself entirely to his
guidance, and after going some distance I felt bound to remark to him that I
noticed the wind had suddenly changed, for it had been blowing from our
left when we started, and was now blowing hard on our right cheek.
However, he seemed in no way nonplussed, and led on. Presently I
remarked that the wind was blowing behind us, so that either the wind, or
the mountain, or we ourselves were turning round; and eventually it proved

as I suggested, that it was not the wind that had turned, or the mountain, it
was ourselves who had wandered round in a complete circle, and were
almost back at the point we started from within an hour.
Then scouts working on a mountain ought to practise the art of roping
themselves together, as mountaineers do on icy slopes to save themselves
from falling into holes in the snow and slipping down precipices. When
roped together in this way supposing that one man falls, the weight of the
others will save him from going down into the depths.
When roped together each man has about 14ft. between himself and the
next man. The rope is fastened round his waist by a loop or bowline, the
knot being on his left side. Each man has to keep back off the man in front
of him so as to keep the rope tight all the time; then if one falls or slips the
others lean away from him with all their weight and hold him up till he
regains his footing. A loop takes up about 4ft. 6in. of rope and should be a
"bowline" at the ends of the rope, and an "overhead knot" or a
"middleman's loop" for central men on the rope.

PATROLLING.

Scouts generally go about scouting in pairs, or sometimes singly; if more go
together they are called a patrol. When they are patrolling the scouts of a
patrol hardly ever move close together, they are spread out so as to see more
country and so that if cut off or ambuscaded by an enemy they will not all
get caught, some will get away to give information. A patrol of six scouts
working in open country would usually move in this sort of formation: in
the shape of a kite with the patrol leader in the centre, if going along a street
or road the patrol would move in a similar way, but in this formation keep
close to the hedges or walls. No. 2 scout is in front, Nos. 3 and 4 to the right
and left, No. 5 to the rear, and No. 6 with the leader (No. 1) in the centre.
Patrols when going across open country where they are likely to be seen by
enemies or animals should get over it as quickly as possible, i.e., by moving
at the scout's pace, walking and running alternately from one point of cover
to another. As soon as they are hidden in cover they can rest and look round
before making the next move. If as leading scout you get out of sight of

your patrol, you should, in passing thick bushes, reeds, etc., break branches
or stems of reed and grass every few yards, making the heads point forward
to show your path, for in this way you can always find your way back
again, or the patrol or anyone coming after you can easily follow you up
and they can judge from the freshness of the grass pretty well how long ago
it was you passed that way. It is also useful to "blaze" trees—that means
take a chip out of the bark with your axe or knife, or chalk marks upon
walls, or make marks in the sand, or lay stones, or show which way you
have gone by the signs which I have given you.

Patrol in the Open, or on a Road or Street.

NIGHT WORK.

Scouts must be able to find their way equally well by night as by day. In
fact, military scouts in the Army work mostly by night in order to keep
hidden, and lie up during the day.
But unless they practise it frequently, fellows are very apt to lose
themselves by night, distances seem greater, and landmarks are hard to see.

Also, you are apt to make more noise than by day, in walking along, by
accidently treading on dry sticks, kicking stones, etc.
If you are watching for an enemy at night you have to trust much more to
your ears than to your eyes, and also to your nose, for a scout who is well-
practised at smelling out things and who has not damaged his sense of smell
by smoking, can often smell an enemy a good distance away. I have done it
many times myself and found it of the greatest value.
When patrolling at night, scouts keep closer together than by day, and in
very dark places, such as woods, etc., they should keep touch with each
other by each catching hold of the end of the next scout's staff.
When working singly the scout's staff is most useful for feeling the way in
the dark, and pushing aside dry branches, etc.
Scouts working apart from each other in the dark keep up communication
by occasionally giving the call of their patrol-animal. Any enemy would
thus not be made suspicious.
All scouts have to guide themselves very much by the stars at night.

WEATHER WISDOM.

Weather.—Every scout ought to be able to read signs of the weather,
especially when going mountaineering or cruising, and to read a barometer.
He should remember the following points:

Red at night shepherd's delight (i.e., fine day coming).
Red in morning is the shepherd's warning (i.e., rain).
Yellow sunset means wind.
Pale yellow sunset means rain.
Dew and fog in early morning means fine weather.
Clear distant view means rain coming or just past.
Red dawn means fine weather—so does low dawn.
High dawn is when sun rises over a bank of clouds;
high above the horizon means wind.
Soft clouds, fine weather.
Hard edged clouds, wind.
Rolled or jagged, strong wind.
"When the wind's before the rain,
Soon you may make sail again;
When the rain's before the wind,
Then your sheets and halyards mind."

HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS.

PRACTICES.

Practise roping scouts together for mountain climbing. Practise (if boats
available) coming alongside, making fast, sculling, punting, laying oars,
coiling ropes, etc., and other details of boat management. Read barometer.

GAMES IN LIFE IN THE OPEN.

Night Patrolling.

Practise scouts to hear and see by night by posting some sentries, who must
stand or walk about, armed with rifles and blank cartridges, or with
whistles. Other scouts should be sent out as enemies to stalk and kill them.

If a sentry hears a sound he fires, calls, or whistles. Scouts must at once
halt and lie still. The umpire comes to the sentry and asks which direction
the sound came from, and, if correct, the sentry wins. If the stalker can
creep up within 15 yards of the sentry without being seen, he deposits some
article, such as a handkerchief, on the ground at that point, and creeps
away again. Then he makes a noise for the sentry to fire at, and when the
umpire comes up, he can explain what he has done.

GAMES.

A Whale Hunt.

The whale is made of a big log of wood with a roughly shaped head and tail
to represent a whale. Two boats will usually carry out the whale hunt, each
boat manned by one patrol—the patrol leader acting as captain, the corporal
as bowman or harpooner, the remainder of the patrol as oarsmen. Each boat
belongs to a different harbour, the two harbours being about a mile apart.
The umpire takes the whale and lets it loose about halfway between the two
harbours, and on a given signal, the two boats race out to see who can get to
the whale first. The harpooner who first arrives within range of the whale
drives his harpoon into it, and the boat promptly turns round and tows the
whale to its harbour. The second boat pursues, and when it overtakes the
other, also harpoons the whale, turns round, and endeavours to tow the
whale back to its harbour. In this way the two boats have a tug-of-war, and
eventually the better boat tows the whale, and, possibly, the opposing boat
into its harbour. It will be found that discipline and strict silence and
attention to the captain's orders are very strong points towards winning the
game. It shows, above all things, the value of discipline. The game is
similar to one described in E. Thompson Seton's "Birchbark of the
Woodcraft Indians."

A Whale Hunt.

Mountain Scouting.

This has been played by tourists' clubs in the Lake District, and is very
similar to the "Spider and Fly" game. Three hares are sent out at daybreak
to hide themselves about in the mountains; after breakfast a party of hounds
go out to find them before a certain hour, say 4 p.m. If they find them, even
with field glasses, it counts, provided that the finder can say definitely who
it was he spotted. Certain limits of ground must be given, beyond which
anyone would be out of bounds, and therefore disqualified.

BOOKS ON LIFE IN THE OPEN.

"A Woman Tenderfoot," by Mrs. Ernest Thompson Seton. 5s. (Published by
Doubleday.) A book of outdoor adventures and hints for camping for
women and girls.
"Two Little Savages," by Ernest Thompson Seton. 6s. (Published by A.
Constable & Co.)
"Mountaineering." Badminton Library Series.

CAMP FIRE YARN.—No. 15.
PATHFINDING.

Finding the Way—Judging Distances—Finding the North.

Among the Red Indian scouts the man who was good at finding his way in a
strange country was termed a "Pathfinder," which was with them a name of
great honour, because a scout who cannot find his way is of very little use.
Many a tenderfoot has got lost in the veldt or forest, and has never been
seen again, through not having learned a little scouting, or what is called
"eye for a country," when a boy. I have known many instances of it myself.
In one case a man got off a coach, which was driving through the bush in
Matabeleland, for a few minutes, while the mules were being changed. He
apparently walked off a few yards into the bush, and when the coach was
ready to start they called for him in every direction, and searched for him,
but were unable to find him; and at last, the coach being unable to wait any
longer, pursued its journey, leaving word for the lost man to be sought for.
Full search was made for him; his tracks were followed as far as they could
be, in the very difficult soil of that country, but he was not found for weeks
afterwards, and then his dead body was discovered nearly fifteen miles
away from where he started, and close to the road.
It often happens that when you are tramping along alone through the bush,
or even in a town, you become careless in noticing what direction you are
moving in; that is, you frequently change it to get round a fallen tree, or
some rocks, or some other obstacle, and having passed it, you do not take
up exactly the correct direction again, and a man's inclination somehow is
to keep edging to his right, and the consequence is that when you think you
are going straight, you are really not doing so at all; and unless you watch
the sun, or your compass, or your landmarks, you are very apt to find
yourself going round in a big circle after a short time.
In such a case a tenderfoot, when he suddenly finds himself out of his
bearings, and lost alone in the desert or forest, at once loses his head and
gets excited, and probably begins to run, when the right thing to do is to
force yourself to keep cool and give yourself something useful to do—that

is, to track your own spoor back again; or, if you fail, start getting firewood
for making signal fires to direct those who are looking for you.
The main point is not to get lost in the first instance.
Every old scout on first turning out in the morning notices which way the
wind is blowing.
When you start out for a walk or on patrol, you should notice which
direction, by the compass, you start in, and also notice which direction the
wind is blowing, as that would be a great help to you in keeping your
direction, especially if you have not got a compass, or if the sun is not
shining.
Then you should notice all landmarks for finding your way, that is, in the
country notice any hills or prominent towers, steeples, curious trees, rocks,
gates, mounds, bridges, and so on; any points, in fact, by which you could
find your way back again, or by which you could instruct anyone to go the
same line which you have gone. If you notice your landmarks going out you
can always find your way back by them, but you should take care
occasionally to look back at them after passing them, so that you get to
know their appearance for your return journey. The same holds good when
you are in a town, or when you arrive in a new town by train; the moment
you step out from the station notice where the sun is, or which way the
smoke is blowing. Also notice your landmarks, which would be prominent
buildings, churches, factory chimneys, names of streets and shops, etc., so
that when you have gone down numerous streets you can turn round and
find your way back again to the station without any difficulty. It is
wonderfully easy when you have practised it a little, yet many people get
lost when they have turned a few corners in a town which they do not know.
The way to find which way the wind is blowing if there is only very light
air is to throw up little bits of dry grass, or to hold up a handful of light dust
and let it fall, or to suck your thumb and wet it all round and let the wind
blow on it, and the cold side of it will then tell you which way the wind is
blowing. When you are acting as scout to find the way for a party you
should move ahead of them and fix your whole attention on what you are
doing, because you have to go by the very smallest signs, and if you get
talking and thinking of other things you are very apt to miss them. Old
scouts are generally very silent people, from having got into this habit of

fixing their attention on the work in hand. Very often you see a "tenderfoot"
out for the first time, thinking that the leading scout looks lonely, will go
and walk or ride alongside of him and begin a conversation, until the scout
shows him by his manner or otherwise that he does not particularly want
him there. On Thames steamers you see a notice, "Don't speak to the man at
the wheel," and the same thing applies with a scout who is guiding a party.
When acting as scout you must keep all your thoughts on the one subject,
like Kim did when Lurgan tried to mesmerise him.

JUDGING HEIGHTS AND DISTANCES.

Every scout must be able to judge distance from an inch up to a mile and
more. You ought, first of all, to know exactly what is the span of your hand
and the breadth of your thumb, and the length from your elbow to your
wrist, and the length from one hand to the other with your arms stretched
out to either side, and also the length of your feet; if you remember these
accurately they are a great help to you in measuring things. Also it is useful
to cut notches on your staff, showing such measurements as one inch, six
inches, one foot, and one yard. These you can measure off with a tape
measure before you use your staff, and they may come in very useful.
Judging the distance of objects from you is only gained by practice, and
judging the distance of a journey is generally estimated by seeing how long
you have been travelling, and at what rate; that is to say, supposing you
walk at the rate of four miles an hour, if you have been walking for an hour
and a half you know that you have done about six miles.
Distance can also be judged by sound; that is to say, if you see a gun fired
in the distance, and you count the number of seconds between the flash and
the sound of the explosion reaching you, you will be able to tell how far off
you are from the gun.
Sound travels at the rate of 365 feet in a second; that is, as many feet as
there are days in the year.
A scout must also be able to estimate heights, from a few inches up to two
or three thousand feet or more; that is to say, he ought to be able to judge
the height of a fence, the depth of a ditch, or the height of an embankment,

of a house, tree, of a tower, or hill, or mountain. It is easy to do when once
you have practised it for a few times, but it is very difficult to teach it by
book.
You must also know how to estimate weights, from a letter of an ounce, or a
fish, or a potato of one pound, or a sack of bran, or a cartload of coals; and
also the probable weight of a man from his appearance—these, again, are
only learnt by practice, but as a scout you should take care to learn them for
yourself.
Also you should be able to judge of numbers; that is to say, you should be
able to tell at a glance about how many people are in a group, or on a 'bus,
or in a big crowd, how many sheep in a flock, how many marbles on a tray,
and so on. These you can practise for yourself at all times in the street or
field.
In the German Army instructions for judging distance are given as follows:
At fifty yards, mouth and eyes of the enemy can be clearly seen.
At 100 yards, eyes appear as dots; 200 yards, buttons and details of uniform
can still be seen. At 300 yards, face can be seen; at 400 yards, the
movement of the legs can be seen; at 500 yards the colour of the uniform
can be seen.
For distances over these, think out for yourself which point is halfway to
the object. Estimate how far this may be from you, and then double it to
obtain the distance. Or another way is to estimate the furthest distance that
the object can be away, and then the very nearest it could be, and strike a
mean between the two.
Objects appear nearer than they really are: First, when the light is bright and
shining on the object; secondly, when looking across water or snow, or
looking uphill or down. Objects appear further off when in the shade; across
a valley; when the background is of the same colour; when the observer is
lying down or kneeling; when there is a heat haze over the ground.

FINDING THE NORTH.

Every sailor boy knows the points of the compass by heart and so should a
scout. I have talked a good deal about the north, and you will understand
that it is a most important help to a scout in pathfinding to know the
direction of the north.
If you have not a compass the sun will tell you by day where the north is,
and the moon and the stars by night.
At six o'clock in the morning the sun is due east, at nine o'clock he is south-
east, at noon he is south, at three o'clock in the afternoon he is south-west,
and at six o'clock he is due west. In winter he will have set long before six
o'clock, but he will not have reached due west when he is set.
The Phoenicians who sailed round Africa in ancient times noticed that when
they started the sun rose on their left-hand side—they were going south.
Then they reported that they got to a strange country where the sun got up
in the wrong quarter, namely, on their right-hand. The truth was that they
had gone round the Cape of Good Hope and were steering north again up
the east side of Africa.

Directions.

To find the south at any time of day by the sun—hold your watch flat, face
upwards, so that the sun shines on it. Turn it round till the hour hand points
at the sun. Then, without moving the watch, lay the edge of a piece of paper
or a pencil across the face of the watch so that it rests on the centre of the
dial and points out halfway between the Figure XII. and the hour hand. The
line given by that pencil will be the true south and north line.
(Instructor should make each boy find the south for himself with a watch).

The Stars.—The stars appear to circle over us during the night, which is
really due to our earth turning round under them.
There are various groups which have got names given to them because they
seem to make some kind of pictures or "sky-signs" of men and animals.
The "Plough" is an easy one to find, being shaped something like a plough.
And it is the most useful one for a scout to know, because in the northern
part of the world it shows him exactly where the north is. The Plough is also
called the "Great Bear," and the four stars in the curve make its tail. It is the
only bear I know of that wears a long tail.

Great Bear.

The two stars in the Plough called the "Pointers" point out where the North
or Pole Star is. All the stars and constellations move round, as I have said,
during the night, but the Pole Star remains fixed in the north. There is also
the "Little Bear" near the Great Bear, and the last star in his tail is the North
or Pole Star.
The sky may be compared to an umbrella over you. The pole star is where
the stick goes through the centre of it.
A real umbrella has been made with all the stars marked on it in their proper
places. If you stand under it and twist it slowly round you see exactly how
the stars quietly go round, but the Pole Star remains steady in the middle.
Then another set of stars or "constellation," as it is called, represents a man
wearing a sword and belt, and is named "Orion." It is easily recognised by
the three stars in line, which are the belt, and three smaller stars in another
line, close by which are the sword. Then two stars to right and left below
the sword are his feet, while two more above the belt are his shoulders, and
a group of three small stars between them make his head.
Now the great point about Orion is that by him you always can tell which
way the north or Pole Star lies, and which way the south, and you can see
him whether you are in the south or the north part of the world. The Great
Bear you only see when you are in the north, and the Southern Cross when
you are in the south.
If you draw a line, by holding up your staff against the sky, from the centre
star of Orion's belt through the centre of his head, and carry that line on
through two big stars till it comes to a third, that third one is the North or
Pole star.
Then if you draw a line the other way, beginning again with the centre star
of the belt, and passing through the centre star of the sword your line goes
through another group of stars shaped like the letter L. And if you go about
as far again past L, you come to the South Pole, which unfortunately is not
marked by any star.
Roughly, Orion's sword—the three small stars—points north and south.
The Zulu scouts call Orion's belt and sword the "Ingolubu," or three pigs
pursued by three dogs. The Masai in East Africa say that the three stars in

Orion's belt are three bachelors being followed by three old maids. You see
scouts all know Orion, though under different names.

Orion and his sword always point
North and South.

On the south side of the world, that is in South Africa, South America, and
Australia, the Plough or Great Bear is not visible, but the Southern Cross is
seen. The Southern Cross is a good guide as to where the exact south is,
which, of course, tells a scout just as much as the Great Bear in the north
pointing to the North Star.

Southern Cross.

HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS.

PRACTICES IN PATHFINDING.

Teach the boys to recognise the Great Bear and the Pole Star, and Orion; to
judge time by the sun; find the south by the watch. Practise map reading
and finding the way by the map; and mark off roads by blazing, broken

branches, and signs drawn on the ground. Practise judging distance,
heights and weights, and numbers.
The way to estimate the distance across a river is to take an object X, such
as a tree or rock on the opposite bank; start off at right angles to it from A,
and pace, say, ninety yards along your bank; on arriving at sixty yards,
plant a stick or stone, B; on arriving at C, thirty yards beyond that, that is
ninety from the start, turn at right angles and walk inland, counting your
paces until you bring the stick and the distant tree in line; the number of
paces that you have taken from the bank C D will then give you the half
distance across A X.

Distance.

Height.

To find the height of an object, such as a tree (A X), or a house, pace a
distance of, say, eight yards away from it, and there at B plant a stick, say,
six feet high; then pace on until you arrive at a point where the top of the
stick comes in line C with the top of the tree; then the whole distance A C
from the foot is to A X, the height of the tree, the same as the distance B C,
from the stick, is to the height of the stick; that is if the whole distance A C
is thirty-three feet, and the distance B C from the stick is nine (the stick
being six feet high), the tree is twenty-two feet high.
Mr. G. L. Boundy, of Exeter, has been practising his boys in judging
distances in the following manner:
He has a board put up on which are given the actual distances and heights
and measurements of the various streets and buildings round about with
which they are well acquainted. This gives the boys a standard to work
upon, and they then go out and guess heights and distances, and other
objects given to them by Mr. Boundy, who has previously ascertained their
correct measurements by inquiry or otherwise. In this way they are able to

learn a good deal of the subject in the immediate neighbourhood in the
middle of the town.
It is often useful for the instructor, if he has a bicycle, to measure a number
of distances beforehand by running over them and counting the revolutions
of his wheel. He can then make the boys guess those distances, and can
check them, knowing the correct distance himself.

GAMES IN PATHFINDING.

Instructor takes a patrol in patrolling formation into a strange town or into
an intricate piece of strange country, with a cycling map. He then gives
instructions as to where he wants to go to, makes each scout in turn lead the
patrol, say for seven minutes if cycling, fifteen minutes if walking. This
scout is to find the way entirely by the map, and marks are given for ability
in reading, that is to say, each scout is given ten marks on starting, and one
is deducted for every mistake that he makes. If he makes no mistake at all
throughout the exercise, his ten small marks will count as one real scout
mark towards a badge "of merit."
Star-gazing.—Take out the scouts on clear nights and post them separately,
and let each find the North Star and Orion, etc., and point them out to you
as you come round.
Judging Distance.—Take a patrol and station its members about in different
directions and with different background, according to the colour of their
clothes; then take another patrol to judge distance of these points. Two
competitors are sent in turn to three different points. At the first point they
are merely given the compass bearing of the next one, which is some three
hundred yards distant, and so on in succession. At each point each pair of
scouts notices regarding the enemy—first, how many visible; second, how
far off; third, what is their compass direction; fourth, how they are clothed.
The best answers win provided they are within the specified time. The time
allowed should be one minute for observation at each station, and half a
minute for each bit of running.
Find the North.—Scouts are posted thirty yards apart, and each lays down
his staff on the ground pointing to what he considers the exact north (or

south), without using any instrument. The umpire compares each stick with
the compass; the one who guesses nearest wins. This is a useful game to
play at night or on sunless days as well as sunny days.
Other Games.—For further games in "Pathfinding," see Appendix, Part VI.

BOOKS TO READ.

"Guide to the Umbrella Star Map," by D. MacEwan, member of the British
Astronomical Association, 1s. "The Umbrella Star Map," made by Reid &
Todd, 215, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow. (An ordinary umbrella with all the
stars in their proper places on the inside. This map can be correctly set for
any day in the year and any hour, showing the approximate positions of the
stars.)
"The Science Year Book," by Major Baden-Powell. 5s. King, Sell &
Olding, 27, Chancery Lane.
"An Easy Guide to the Constellations," by the Rev. James Gall. 1s. (Gall &
Inglis.) Contains diagrams of the constellations.
"Astronomy for Everybody," by Simon Newcomb. 6s. (Publisher, Isbister.)
Also books on astronomy by Professors Ball, Heath, Maunder, and
Flammarion.

CAMP FIRE YARN.—No. 16.
INFORMATION BY SIGNAL.

Hidden Despatches—Signalling—Whistle and Flag-Signals.

Scouts have to be very clever at passing news secretly from one place to
another, or signalling to each other; and if it should ever happen that an
enemy got into England, the Boy Scouts would be of greatest value if they
have practised this art.

Before the siege of Mafeking commenced, I received a secret message from
some unknown friend in the Transvaal, who sent me news of the Boers'
plans against the place, and the numbers that they were getting together of
men, horses, and guns. This news came to me by means of a very small
letter which was rolled up in a little ball, the size of a pill, and put inside a
tiny hole in a rough walking stick, and plugged in there with wax. The stick
was given to a native, who merely had orders to come into Mafeking and
give me the stick as a present. Naturally, when he brought me this stick, and
said it was from another white man, I guessed there must be something
inside it, and soon found this very important letter.
Also I received another letter from a friend, which was written in
Hindustani language, but in English writing, so that anybody reading would
be quite puzzled as to what language it was written in; but to me it was all
as clear as daylight.
Then when we sent letters out from Mafeking, we used to give them to
natives, who were able to creep out between the Boer outposts, and once
through the line of sentries, the Boers mistook them for their own natives,
and took no further notice of them. They carried their letters in this way.
The letters were all written on thin paper in small envelopes, and half a
dozen letters or more would be crumpled up tightly into a little ball, and
then rolled up into a piece of lead paper, such as tea is packed in. The native
scout would carry a number of these little balls in his hand, and hanging
round his neck loosely by strings. Then, if he saw he was in danger of being
captured by a Boer, he would drop all his balls on the ground, where they
looked exactly like so many stones, and he would notice landmarks from
two or three points round about him, by which he would be able again to
find the exact spot where the letters were lying; then he would walk boldly
on until accosted by the Boer, who, if he searched him, would have found
nothing suspicious about him. He would then wait about for perhaps a day
or two until the coast was clear, and come back to the spot where the
landmarks told him the letters were lying.
"Landmarks," you may remember, mean any objects, like trees, mounds,
rocks, or other details which do not move away, and act as signposts for a
scout who notices and remembers them.

SIGNALLING.

Captain John Smith was one of the first to make use of signals to express
regular words, three hundred years ago.
He was then fighting on the side of the Austrians against the Turks. He
thought it wicked for Christian men to fight against Christians if it could
possibly be avoided, but he would help any Christian, although a foreigner,
to fight against a heathen; so he joined the Austrians against the Turks.
He invented a system of showing lights at night with torches, which when
held in certain positions with each other meant certain words.
Several officers in the Austrian forces practised these signals till they knew
them.
On one occasion one of these officers was besieged by the Turks. John
Smith brought a force to help him, and arrived on a hill near the town in the
night. Here he made a number of torch signals, which were read by the
officer inside, and they told him what to do when Smith attacked the enemy
in the rear; and this enabled the garrison to break out successfully.
In the American Civil War, Captain Clowry, a scout officer, wanted to give
warning to a large force of his own army that the enemy were going to
attack it unexpectedly during the night, but he could not get to his friends,
because there was a flooded river between them which he could not cross,
and a storm of rain was going on.
What would you have done if you had been him?
A good idea struck him. He got hold of an old railway engine that was
standing near him. He lit the fire, and got up steam in her, and then started
to blow the whistle with short and long blasts—what is called the Morse
alphabet. Soon his friends heard and understood, and answered back with a
bugle. And he then spelt out a message of warning to them, which they read
and acted upon. And so their force of 20,000 men was saved from surprise.
Lieutenant Boyd-Alexander describes in his book "From the Niger to the
Nile," how a certain tribe of natives in Central Africa signal news to each
other by means of beats on a drum. And I have known tribes in the forests
of the West Coast of Africa who do the same.

Morse and Semaphore
Codes.

Morse and Semaphore
Codes.

Every scout ought to learn the "dot and dash" or Morse method of
signalling, because it comes in most useful whenever you want to send
messages some distance by flag signalling, as in the Army and Navy, and it
is also useful in getting you employment as a telegraphist. It is not difficult
to learn if you set about it with a will. I found it most useful once during the
Boer War. My column had been trying to get past a Boer force who was
holding a pass in the mountains. Finding they were too strong for us, we
gave it up late in the evening, and leaving a lot of fires alight as if we were
in camp in front of them, we moved during the night by a rapid march right

round the end of the mountain range, and by daylight next day we were
exactly in rear of them without their knowing it. We then found a telegraph
line evidently leading from them to their headquarters some fifty miles
further off, so we sat down by the telegraph wire and attached our own little
wire to it and read all the messages they were sending, and they gave us
most valuable information. But we should not have been able to do that had
it not been that some of our scouts could read the Morse code.
Then the semaphore signalling, which is done by waving your arms at
different angles to each other, is most useful and quite easy to learn, and is
known by every soldier and sailor in the service. Here you have all the
different letters, and the different angles at which you have to put your arms
to represent those letters, and though it looks complicated in the picture,
when you come to work it out, you will find it is very simple.
For all letters from A to G the right arm only is used, making a quarter of a
circle for each letter in succession. Then from H to N (except J), the right
arm stands at A, while the left moves round the circle again for the other
letters. From O to S the right arm stands at B, and the left arm moves round
as before. For T, V, Y, and the "annul" the right arm stands at C, the left
moving to the next point of the circle successively.
The letters A to K also mean figures 1 to 9, if you first make the sign Y to
show that you are going to send numbers.
If you want to write a despatch that will puzzle most people to read, use the
Morse or Semaphore letters in place of the ordinary alphabet. It will be
quite readable to any of your friends who understand signalling.
Also if you want to use a secret language in your patrol you should all set to
work to learn "Esperanto." It is not difficult, and is taught in a little book
costing one penny. This language is being used in all countries so that you
would be able to get on with it abroad now.

WHISTLE AND FLAG SIGNALS.

Each patrol leader should provide himself with a whistle and a lanyard or
cord for keeping it. The following commands and signals should be at your

finger ends, so that you can teach them to your patrol, and know how to
order it properly.

Words of Command.

"Fall in" (in line).
"Alert" (stand up smartly).
"Easy" (stand at ease).
"Stand easy" (sit or lie down without leaving the ranks).
"Dismiss" (break off).
"Right" (or left); (each scout turns accordingly).
"Patrol right" (or left); (each patrol with its scouts in line wheels to that
hand).
"Quick march" (walk smartly, stepping off on the left foot).
"Double" (run at smart pace, arms hanging loose).
"Scouts' Pace" (walk fifty yards and run fifty yards alternately).

Signals and Signs.

When a scoutmaster wants to call his troop together he makes his bugler
sound the "The Scout's Call."
Patrol leaders thereupon call together their patrols by sounding their
whistles, followed by their patrol (animal) war cry. Then they double their
patrol to the scoutmaster.

Whistle Signals are these: One long blast means: "Silence;" "Alert;"
"Look out for my next signal."
1. A succession of long slow blasts means: "Go out;" "Get further
away;" or "Advance;" "Extend;" "Scatter."
2. A succession of short, sharp blasts means: "Rally;" "Close in;"
"Come together;" "Fall in."

3. A succession of short and long blasts alternately means: "Alarm;"
"Look out;" "Be ready;" "Man your alarm posts."
4. Three short blasts followed by one long one, from scoutmaster calls
up the patrol leaders—i.e. "Leaders come here!"

Any whistle signal must be instantly obeyed at the double as fast as ever
you can run—no matter what other job you may be doing at the time.
Hand Signals, which can also be made by patrol leaders with their patrol
flags when necessary.
Hand waved several times across the face from side to side, or flag waved
horizontally from side to side opposite the face means: "No; Never mind;
As you were."
Hand or flag held high, and waved very slowly from side to side at full
extent of arm, or whistle a succession of slow blasts means: "Extend; Go
further out; Scatter."
Hand or flag held high and waved quickly from side to side at full extent of
arm, or whistle a succession of short, quick blasts means: "Close in; Rally;
Come here."
Hand or flag pointing in any direction means: "Go in that direction."
Hand or flag jumped rapidly up and down several times, means: "Run."
Hand or flag held straight up over head, means: "Stop;" "Halt."
When a leader is shouting an order or message to a scout who is some way
off, the scout, if he hears what is being said, should hold up his hand level
with his head all the time. If he cannot hear he should stand still making no
sign. The leader will then repeat louder or beckon to the scout to come in
nearer.
The following signals are made by a scout with his staff when he is sent out
to reconnoitre within sight of his patrol, and they have the following
meanings: Staff held up horizontally, that is flat with both hands above the
head, means "a few enemy in sight."
The same, but with staff moved up and down slowly, means "a number of
enemy in sight, a long way off."

The same, staff moved up and down rapidly means "a number of enemy in
sight, and close by."
The staff held straight up over the head means "no enemy in sight."

PRACTICES IN SIGNALLING.

Practice laying, lighting, and use of signal fires of smoke or flame.
Practice whistle and drill signals.
Teach Semaphore and Morse Codes; also Esperanto if feasible.
Encourage competitive ingenuity in concealing despatches on the person.

HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS.

In all games and competitions, it should be arranged as far as possible that
all the scouts should take part, because we do not want to have merely one
or two brilliant performers, and the others no use at all. All ought to get
practice, and all ought to be pretty good. In competitions where there are
enough entries to make heats, ties should be run off by losers instead of the
usual system of by winners, and the game should be to find out which are
the worst instead of which are the best. Good men will strive just as hard
not to be worst, as they would to gain a prize, and this form of competition
gives the bad man most practice.

MARKS TOWARDS BADGES OF HONOUR IN CAMPAIGNING.

Making a complete model bridge. Up to four marks.
Lay and light the following fires separately, using only six matches for the
whole: First, cooking fire, and cook a bannock. Second, flame signal fire
and make signals. Third, smoke signal fire and make signals. Marks up to
three.

To measure without instruments, within ten per cent. of correctness, three
different widths of river, or impassable ground, without crossing it. Heights
of three different trees or buildings. Number of sheep in a flock, stones on a
table, etc. Weights of four different things from one ounce up to one
hundred pounds. Four distances between one inch and one mile. Marks up
to five for the whole lot.

DISPATCH RUNNING.

A scout is given a dispatch to take to the headquarters of a besieged town,
which may be a real town (village, farm, or house), and he must return with
a receipt for it. He must wear a coloured rag 2ft. long pinned on to his
shoulder. He must start at least four miles away from the town he is going
to. Besiegers who have to spot him can place themselves where they like,
but must not go nearer to the headquarters' building than three hundred
yards. (Best to give certain boundaries that they know or can recognise.)
Anyone found within that limit by the umpire will be ruled out as shot by
the defenders at headquarters. The dispatch runner can use any ruse he
likes, except dressing up as a woman, but he must always wear the red rag
on his shoulder. To catch him, the enemy must get the red rag from him.
Ten hours may be allowed as the limit of time, by which the dispatch runner
should get his message to headquarters and get back again to the starting-
point with the receipt. This game may also be made a life-and-death
venture, in which case any scout who volunteers to risk his life (i.e. his
scout's badge) in getting through with a dispatch, gains the badge "For
Merit" if he wins; but if he fails, he loses his scout's badge (fleurs-de-lis),
and cannot get it again, although he may still remain a member of the corps.
The enemy win three marks each if they spot him, and lose three marks if
he succeeds. To win a badge of merit there must be not less than two patrols
out against him. A similar game can be played in a city, but requires
modifications to suit the local conditions.
For Exploration Practice, see Appendix, Part VI., for imitating exploring
expedition in Africa, Arctic regions, etc.

DISPLAY.

Act a scene of castaways on a desert island. They make camp fire: pick
seaweed, grass, roots, etc., and cook them: Make pots, etc., out of clay:
Weave mats out of grass: Build raft, and if water is available get afloat in it:
put up a mast and grass mat sail, etc.: and punt or sail away, or can be
rescued by sighting ship and making smoke signals or getting a boat's crew
of sailors to come and fetch them.

SCOUTING FOR BOYS.

CONTENTS OF PARTS IV., V., and VI.

PART IV.

Endurance and Health.

Chivalry and Brave Deeds.

Discipline.

PART V.

Saving Life and First-Aid.

Patriotism and Loyalty.

PART VI.

Scouting Games, Competitions, and Plays.

Words to Instructors.

WHAT PARTS I. and II. CONTAIN.

Part I.—SCOUTCRAFT.

Special Foreword for Instructors.—The Boy
Scouts scheme and its easy application to all existing
organisations.

Scoutcraft.—Its wide uses and wide interest.

Summary of Scout's Course of Instruction,
showing the scope of Scout's work.

Organisation.—Dress, secret signs, scouts' songs,
and tests for badges of honour.

Scouts' Law and Scouts' Honour under the
guiding motto "Be Prepared."

Scouting Games and Practices for indoors and
out of doors, in town and in country.

Part II.—TRACKING and WOODCRAFT.

Observation and its value; how to use your eyes,
nose, and ears, and how to follow a night trail.

Spooring.—Tracks of men and animals and games
in tracking.

Reading "Sign" and making deductions from it.

Woodcraft.—How to stalk and how to hide properly.

Animals.—How to stalk and know them—a better
game than stamp collecting.

Birds, Fishes, and Insects all scouts should know.

Plants and Trees.

Games and Competitions in Tracking, Stalking, and
Woodcraft.

Part IV. Fortnightly. Price 4d. net.

Scouting
For Boys

(LIEUT. GEN. BADEN POWELL C.B.)

The Boy Scout in Action.

Published by Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream's Buildings, London,
e.c.

Scouting for Boys.

A HANDBOOK FOR INSTRUCTION

IN
GOOD CITIZENSHIP,

by

Lieut.-General R. S. S. BADEN-POWELL, C.B., F.R.G.S.

All communications should be addressed to—

Lieut.-General BADEN-POWELL,

Boy Scouts' Office,

Goschen Buildings,

Henrietta Street,

LONDON, W.C.

by whom Scouts will be enrolled, and from where
all further information can be obtained.

Copyrighted by Lieut.-General R. S. S. Baden-Powell, C.B., F.R.G.S.

1908.

PART IV.

CONTENTS: CHAPTER VI.
ENDURANCE FOR SCOUTS;
Or, How to be Strong.
HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS for Helping in a Great National Work.
CAMP FIRE YARNS.

17.—How to Grow Strong: Endurance for Scouting; Body Exercises;
Care of the Body, Nose, Ears, Eyes, Teeth, etc.
18.—Health-Giving Habits: Keep Clean; Don't Smoke; Don't Drink;
Avoid Self-Abuse; Rise Early; Laugh and Grow Fat.
19.—Preventing Disease: Camp Doctoring; Fighting the Microbes;
Proper Food; Clothing; Use of Drill.

PRACTICES, GAMES, and BODY EXERCISES. BOOKS ON HEALTH.
CONTENTS: CHAPTER VII.
(Commences on page 240.)
CHIVALRY of the KNIGHTS.
HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS.
CAMP FIRE YARNS.

20.—Chivalry to Others: Knight Errantry; Helpfulness; Courtesy.
21.—Self-Discipline: Honour; Obedience; Courage; Cheeriness.
22.—Self-Improvement: Religion; Thrift; How to get on.

PRACTICES, GAMES, DISPLAYS, Etc., IN CHIVALRY.
BOOKS TO READ.

ENDURANCE FOR SCOUTS.

HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS.
HOW TO HELP IN A GREAT NATIONAL WORK.

Recent reports on the deterioration of our race ought to act as a warning to
be taken in time before it goes too far.
One cause which contributed to the downfall of the Roman Empire was the
fact that the soldiers fell away from the standard of their forefathers in
bodily strength.
Our standard of height in the Army was 5ft. 6in. in 1845; it was FOUR
INCHES less in 1895. In 1900 forty-four men in every thousand recruits
weighed under 7st. 12lbs.; in 1905 this deficiency had increased to seventy-
six per thousand.
This year our recruits were two inches below the standard height of men of
their age, viz., eighteen to nineteen, and six pounds under the average
weight.
Three thousand men were sent home from the South African War on account
of bad teeth.
Reports on school children, made by the London County Council, show that
out of 700 examined only twenty had sound teeth, 323 had more than five
teeth decayed.
Out of 1,521 examined for adenoids in the throat 29 per cent. had
enlargements, 10 per cent. required operation. Out of 1,000 boys of
thirteen, sons of rich or well-to-do persons, examined by Dr. Clement
Dukes, 526 had knock-knees, 445 had curvature of the spine, 329 flat feet,
126 pigeon-breasts—all preventable deformities. In this case, however, the
teeth were well cared for.
Deafness from adenoids and weak eyesight are also very prevalent among
them.

Dr. Wright Thomson, in the "British Medical Journal," September 14th,
1907, shows how town children suffer greatly from defective sight, which
might be, to a great extent, remedied by special exercises for the eyes and
by good feeding.
The report [see Blue Book C. D. 3637] last year on the school children of
Glasgow showed their average weight and height were very much below the
standard; and these varied almost exactly according to the number of rooms
occupied by the family, that is, according to the air space available.
These and the many similar reports show that much PREVENTABLE
deterioration is being allowed to creep in among the rising generation.
Then there is also prevalent a great amount of illness resulting from self-
abuse and venereal disease, as well as from drink. Also much pauper over-
population due to want of self-restraint on the part of men and women.
The training of Boy Scouts would be therefore incomplete if it did not
endeavour to help in remedying these evils. Some idea is much needed
among boys of their personal hygiene. It has been stated on good authority
that half our losses in the Boer War from sickness might have been avoided
had our men and officers had any knowledge of personal care of their
health.
No doubt it is the same in peace time, as numbers of men are thrown out of
work by sickness, which might be avoided if they knew how to look after
themselves, and took reasonable precautions.
Since most of these causes of physical decay are preventable, they open to
instructors a field for doing a work of national value.
For these reasons the following chapter suggests the instruction of boys in
being PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE for their own Strength, Health and
Sanitary Surroundings.

CHAPTER VI.
ENDURANCE for SCOUTS;

or,

How to be Strong.

CAMP FIRE YARN.—No. 17.
HOW TO GROW STRONG.

Need for Scouts to be strong—Exercises—Care of Body—Nose—Ears—
Eyes—Teeth—Practices.

A SCOUT'S ENDURANCE.

A scout lay sick in hospital in India with that most fatal disease called
cholera. The doctor told the native man in attendance on him that the only
chance of saving his life was to violently warm up his feet and keep the
blood moving in his body by constantly rubbing him. The moment the
doctor's back was turned the native gave up rubbing and squatted down to
have a quiet smoke. The poor patient, though he could not speak,
understood all that was going on—and he was so enraged at the conduct of
his native attendant, that he resolved then and there that he would get well if
only to give the native a lesson. Having made up his mind to get well he got
well.
A scout's motto is "Never say die till you're dead"—and if he acts up to this
it will pull him out of many a bad place when everything seems to be going

wrong for him. It means a mixture of pluck, patience, and strength, which
we call "Endurance."
The great South African hunter and scout, F. C. Selous, gave a great
example of scout's endurance when on a hunting expedition in Barotseland
north of the Zambesi River some years ago. In the middle of the night his
camp was suddenly attacked by a hostile tribe who fired into it at close
range and charged in.
He and his small party of natives scattered at once into the darkness and hid
themselves away in the long grass. Selous himself had snatched up his rifle
and a few cartridges and got safely into the grass. But he could not find any
of his men, and seeing that the enemy had got possession of his camp and
that there were still a few hours of darkness before him in which to make
his escape, he started off southward, using the stars of the Southern Cross as
his guide.
He crept past an outpost of the enemy whom he overheard talking, and then
swam across a river and finally got well away, only dressed in a shirt, and
shorts and shoes. For the next few days and nights he kept walking
southward, having frequently to hide to avoid hostile natives. He shot deer
for food.
But one night going into what he thought was a friendly village he had his
rifle stolen from him, and was again a fugitive without any means of
protecting himself or of getting food. However, he was not one to give in
while there was a chance of life left, and he pushed on and on till at length
he reached a place where he met some of his men who had also escaped,
and after further tramping they got safely back into friendly country.
But what a terrible time they must have had!
Three weeks had passed since the attack, and the great part of that time
Selous had been alone—hunted, starving, and bitterly cold at night, and in
sweltering heat by day.
None but a scout with extraordinary endurance could have lived through it,
but then Selous is a man who as a lad had made himself strong by care and
exercise; and he neither drinks nor smokes. And he kept up his pluck all the
time.

It shows you that if you want to get through such adventures safely when
you are a man you must train yourself up to be strong, healthy, and active as
a lad.

EXERCISES AND THEIR OBJECT.

There is a great deal of nonsense in fashion in the way of bodily exercises;
so many people seem to think that their only object is to make huge muscle.
But to make yourself strong and healthy it is necessary to begin with your
inside and to get the blood into good order and the heart to work well; that
is the secret of the whole thing, and physical exercises should be taken with
that intention. This is the way to do it:

(a) Make the heart strong, in order to pump the blood properly to
every part of the body and so to build up flesh, bone, and muscle.
Exercise: The "Struggle" and "Wrist Pushing." See Page 219.
(b) Make the lungs strong, in order to revive the blood with fresh air.
Exercise: "Deep breathing." See Page 227.
(c) Make the skin perspire, to get rid of the dirt from the blood.
Exercise: Bath, or dry rub with a damp towel every day.
(d) Make the stomach work, to feed the blood.
Exercise: "Cone," or "Body Bending," and "Twisting." See Page 237.
(e) Make the bowels active, to remove the remains of food and dirt
from the body.
Exercise: "Body Bending" and "Kneading the Abdomen." Drink plenty
of good water. Regular daily "rear."
(f) Work muscles in each part of the body, to make the blood circulate
to that part, and so increase your strength.
Exercise: Running and walking, and special exercises of special
muscles, such as "Wrist Pushing," etc.

The secret of keeping well and healthy is to keep your blood clean and
active. These different exercises will do that if you will use them everyday.
Someone has said, "If you practise body exercises every morning you will
never be ill: and if you also drink a pint of hot water every night you will
never die."
The blood thrives on simple good food, plenty of exercise, plenty or fresh
air, cleanliness of the body both inside and out, and proper rest of body and
mind at intervals.
The Japs are particularly strong and healthy, as was shown in the late war
with Russia. There was very little sickness among them and those who were
wounded generally very quickly recovered because their skin was clean and
their blood was in a healthy, sound condition. They are the best example
that we can copy. They keep themselves very clean by having two or three
baths every day.
They eat very plain food, chiefly rice and fruit, and not much of it. They
drink plenty of water, but no spirits. They take lots of exercise. They make
themselves good-tempered and do not worry their brain. They live in fresh
air as much as possible day and night. Their particular exercise is "Ju-Jitsu,"
which is more of a game than drill and is generally played in pairs. And
pupils get to like the game so much that they generally go on with it after
their course of instruction has finished.
By Ju-Jitsu, the muscles and body are developed in a natural way in the
open air as a rule. It requires no apparatus, and once the muscles have been
formed by it they do not disappear again when you cease the practices as is
the case in ordinary gymnastics.
Admiral Kamimura, the great Admiral of our friends the Japanese, strongly
recommends all young men and lads to practise Ju-Jitsu, as it not only
makes them strong, but also quick in the mind.

THE NOSE.

A scout must be able to smell well in order to find his enemy by night. If he
always breathes through the nose and not through the mouth this helps him

considerably. But there are other reasons more important than that for
always breathing through the nose. Fifty years ago, Mr. Catlin in America
wrote a book called "Shut your mouth and save your life," and he showed
how the Red Indians for a long time had adopted that method with their
children to the extent of tying up their jaws at night to ensure their only
breathing through their nose.
Breathing through the nose prevents germs of disease getting from the air
into the throat and stomach, it also prevents a growth in the back of the
throat called "adenoids" which are apt to stop the breathing power of the
nostrils, and also to cause deafness.
For a scout nose-breathing is also specially useful.
By keeping the mouth shut you prevent yourself from getting thirsty when
you are doing hard work. And also at night if you are in the habit of
breathing through the nose it prevents snoring, and snoring is a dangerous
thing if you are sleeping anywhere in an enemy's country. Therefore
practise keeping your mouth shut and breathing through your nose at all
times.

EARS.

A scout must be able to hear well. Generally the ears are very delicate and
once damaged are apt to become incurably deaf. People are too apt to fiddle
about with their ears in cleaning them by putting the corners of
handkerchiefs, hairpins and so on into them, and also stuffing them up with
hard cotton wool, all of which are dangerous with such a delicate organ as
the ear, the drum of the ear being a very delicate, tightly-stretched skin
which is easily damaged. Very many children have had the drums of their
ears permanently injured by getting a box on the ear.

EYES.

A scout, of course, must have particularly good eyesight; he must be able to
see anything very quickly and to see at a long way off. By practising your

eyes in looking at things at a great distance they will grow stronger. While
you are young you should save your eyes as much as possible, or they are
not strong when you get older: therefore avoid reading by lamplight as
much as possible and also sit with your back or side to the light when doing
any work during the day; if you sit facing the light it strains your eyes.
The strain of the eyes is a very common failure with growing boys,
although very often they do not know it, and headaches come most
frequently from the eyes being strained; frowning on the part of a boy is
very generally a sign that his eyes are being strained.
A scout, besides having good eyesight, must be able to tell the colour of
things which he sees. Colour blindness is a great infliction which some boys
suffer from. It takes away a pleasure from them, and it also makes them
useless for certain trades and professions.
For instance, a railway signalman or engine-driver or a sailor would not be
much good if he couldn't tell the difference between red and green.
It can very often be cured, and a simple way of doing this, if you find you
are rather colour blind, is to get a collection of little bits of wool, or paper,
of every different kind of colour, and pick out which you think is red, blue,
yellow, green, and so on, and then get someone to tell you where you were
right and where wrong. Then you go at it again, and in time you will find
yourself improving, until you have no difficulty in recognising the right
colours. It is better still to practise by looking at coloured lights at night in
chemists' shops, railway signals, etc.

TEETH.

A would-be recruit came up to the recruiting officer to be enlisted during
the Boer War. He was found to be a sufficiently strong and well-made man
but when they came to examine his teeth they found that these were in bad
condition, and he was told that he could not be accepted as a soldier. To this
he replied: "But, sir, that seems hard lines. Surely we don't have to eat the
enemy when we've killed them, do we?"

A scout with bad teeth is no use at all for scouting work, because he has to
live on hard biscuits and hard meat which he cannot possibly eat or digest if
his teeth are not good, and good teeth depend upon how you look after them
when you are young, it means that you should keep them very carefully
clean. At least twice a day they should be brushed, when you get up in the
morning and when you go to bed, both inside and out, with a tooth brush
and tooth powder; and should be rinsed with water if possible after every
meal but especially after eating fruit or acid food.
Scouts in the jungle cannot always find tooth brushes, but they make
substitutes out of dry sticks which they fray out at the end and make an
imitation of a brush.
Three thousand men had to be sent away from the war in South Africa
because their teeth were so bad that they could not chew the hard biscuits,
etc., on which they had to live there.

Camp Toothbrush.

"Out West," in America, cowboys are generally supposed to be pretty rough
customers, but they are in reality peace scouts of a high order. They live a
hard life doing hard and dangerous work far away from towns and
civilisation—where nobody sees them. But there is one civilised thing that
they do—they clean their teeth every day, morning and evening.
Years ago I was travelling through Natal on horseback, and I was anxious to
find a lodging for the night, when I came across a hut evidently occupied by
a white man, but nobody was about. In looking round inside the hut, I
noticed that though it was very roughly furnished there were several tooth-
brushes on what served as a wash-hand stand, so I guessed that the owner
must be a decent fellow, and I made myself at home until he came in, and I
found that I had guessed aright.

HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS.

PRACTICES IN DEVELOPING STRENGTH.

Measurement of the Boy.

It is of paramount importance to teach the young citizen to assume
responsibility for his own development and health.
Physical drill is all very well as a disciplinary means of development, but it
does not give the lad any responsibility in the matter.
It is therefore deemed preferable to tell each boy, according to his age, what
ought to be his height, weight, and various measurements (such as chest,
waist, arm, leg, etc.). He is then measured, and learns in which points he
fails to come up to the standard. He can then be shown which exercises to
practise for himself in order to develop those particular points.
Encouragement must afterwards be given by periodical measurements, say
every three months or so.
Cards can be obtained from the "Boy Scouts" Office, Henrietta Street,
London, W.C., which, besides giving the standard measurements for the
various ages, give columns to be filled in periodically showing the boy's re-
measurements and progress in development. If each boy has his card it is a
great incentive to him to develope himself at odd times when he has a few
minutes to spare.
Teach how to make camp tooth brushes out of sticks. "Dragon-root" sticks
for cleaning teeth can be got at chemists' shops as samples.

GAMES TO DEVELOP STRENGTH.

Boxing, wrestling, rowing, skipping, cock-fighting, are all valuable health
aids to developing strength.

Old Spotty-face (To develop eyesight).—Prepare squares of cardboard
divided into about a dozen small squares. Each scout should take one, and
should have a pencil and go off a few hundred yards, or, if indoors, as far as
space will allow. The umpire then takes a large sheet of cardboard, with
twelve squares ruled on it of about three inch sides if in the open, or one
and a half to two inches if indoors. The umpire has a number of black paper
discs (half an inch diameter) and pins ready, and sticks about half a dozen
on to his card, dotted about where he likes. He holds up his card so that it
can be seen by the scouts. They then gradually approach, and as they get
within sight they mark their cards with the same pattern of spots. The one
who does so at the farthest distance from the umpire wins. Give five points
for every spot correctly shown, deduct one point for every two inches
nearer than the furthest man. This teaches long sight.

"Spotty-face" for Strengthening the
Eyesight.

"Quick Sight" can also be taught with the same apparatus, by allowing the
scouts to come fairly close, and then merely showing your card for five
seconds, and let them mark their cards from memory. The one who is most
correct wins.
"The Struggle."—Two players face each other about a yard apart, stretch
arms out sideways, lock fingers of both hands, and lean towards each other
till their chests touch, push chest to chest, and see who can drive the other
back to the wall of the room or on to a goal line. At first a very short

struggle is sufficient to set their hearts pumping, but after practice for a few
days the heart grows stronger and they can go on for a long time.

The "Struggle" for Strengthening the Heart.

"Wrist Pushing" by one man alone. Stand with both your arms to the front
about level with the waist, cross your wrists so that one hand has knuckles
up, the other knuckles down. Clench the fists.
Now make the lower hand press upwards and make the upper hand press
downwards.

Press as hard as you can with both wrists gradually, and only after great
resistance let the lower push the upper one upwards till opposite your fore-
head, then let the upper press the lower down, the lower one resisting all the
time.
These two exercises, although they sound small and simple, if carried out
with all your might, develop most muscles in your body and especially
those about the heart. They should not be carried on too long at a time, but
should be done at frequent intervals during the day for a minute or so.
"Wrist Pushing" can also be played by two boys half facing each other,
each putting out the wrist nearest to his opponent, at arm's length; pressing
it against the other's wrist and trying to turn him round backwards.

BOOKS TO READ.

"Cassell's Physical Educator," by E. Miles (Cassell & Co.). A complete
compendium of all kinds of Physical Training for boys and girls.
"Ju-jitsu." Price 6d. (Published by Richard Fox.)
"School Games," by T. Chesterton. (Educational Supply Association.)
"Boxing," by A. J. Newton, 1s. (C. A. Pearson Ltd.)

CAMP FIRE YARN.—No. 18.
HEALTH-GIVING HABITS.

Keep Clean—Don't Smoke—Don't Drink—Avoid Self-Abuse—Rise
Early—Laugh and Grow Fat.

HOW TO KEEP HEALTHY.

All the great peace-scouts who have succeeded in exploring or hunting
expeditions in wild countries have only been able to get on by being pretty

good doctors themselves; because diseases, accidents, and wounds are
always being suffered by them or their men, and they don't find doctors and
chemists' shops in the jungles to cure them. So that a scout who does not
know something about doctoring would never get on at all; he might just as
well stay at home for all the good he will be.
Therefore, practise keeping healthy yourself, and then you will be able to
show others how to keep themselves healthy too.
In this way you can do many good turns.
David Livingstone, the great missionary and peace-scout, endeared himself
to the natives by his cleverness as a doctor.
Also, if you know how to look after yourself you need never have to pay for
medicines. The great English poet, Dryden, in his poem, "Cymon and
Iphigenia," wrote that it was better to trust to fresh air and exercise than to
pay doctors' bills to keep yourself healthy:

Better to hunt in fields for health unbought
Than fee the doctor for a nauseous draught;
The wise, for cure, on exercise depend;
God never made his work for man to mend.

KEEP YOURSELF CLEAN.

In the war in South Africa we lost an enormous number of men dying from
disease as well as from wounds. The Japs, in their war, lost very few from
sickness, and a very small proportion of those who were wounded. What
made the difference? Probably a good many things. Our men were not so
particular as to what water they drank as the Japs were, and they ate more
meat than the Japs; but, also, they did not keep themselves or their clothes
very clean—it was often difficult to find water. The Japs, on the other hand,
kept themselves very clean, with baths every day.
If you cut your hand when it is dirty it is very likely to fester, and to become
very sore; but if your hand is quite clean and freshly washed no harm will

come of it, it heals up at once. It was the same with wounds in the war; they
became very bad in the case of men who had not kept themselves clean.
Cleaning your skin helps to clean your blood. The Japs say that half the
good of exercise is lost if you do not have a bath immediately after it.
It may not be always possible for you to get a bath every day, but you can at
any rate rub yourself over with a wet towel, or scrub yourself with a dry
one, and you ought not to miss a single day in doing this if you want to
keep fit and well.
You should also keep clean in your clothing, both your underclothing as
well as that which shows. Beat it out with a stick every day before putting it
on.
And to be healthy and strong you must keep your blood healthy and clean
inside you. This is done by breathing in lots of pure, fresh air, by deep
breathing, and by clearing out all dirty matter from inside your stomach,
which is done by having a "rear" daily, without fail; many people are the
better for having it twice a day. If there is any difficulty about it one day,
drink plenty of good water, both morning and evening, and practise body-
twisting exercises, and all should be well.
Never start work in the morning without some sort of food inside you, if it
is only a cup of hot water.
Never bathe in deep water very soon after a meal, it is very likely to cause
cramp, which doubles you up, and so you get drowned.

SMOKING.

A scout does not smoke. Any boy can smoke; it is not such a very
wonderful thing to do. But a scout will not do it because he is not such a
fool. He knows that when a lad smokes before he is fully grown up it is
almost sure to make his heart feeble, and the heart is the most important
organ in a lad's body. It pumps the blood all over him to form flesh, bone,
and muscle. If the heart does not do its work the body cannot grow to be
healthy. Any scout knows that smoking spoils his eyesight, and also his

sense of smell, which is of greatest importance to him for scouting on active
service.

The boy who apes the
man by smoking will
never be much good.

A strong and healthy
boy has the ball at his
feet.

Sir William Broadbent, the great doctor, and Professor Sims Woodhead
have both told us what bad effects tobacco smoking has on the health of
boys. Numerous well-known sportsmen and others in all kinds of
professions have given up the use of tobacco as they find they can do better
without it. Lord Roberts and Lord Wolseley as soldiers, Lord Charles
Beresford as a sailor, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the judge, Sir William
Grantham, all do not smoke, nor do Dr. Grace the cricketer, Mr. Noble and
seven of the chief Australian cricketers, Mr. Eustace Miles the champion
tennis player, Basset the football player, Hanlon the sculler, Weston the
pedestrian, Taylor the golf player, Burnham the scout, Selous the hunter,
and very many other celebrated men. They are all non-smokers.
The railway and post office authorities in America will not employ boys
who smoke. I know one big employer who not only does not smoke, but
will not employ a boy who does. So with a great many other employers in
Great Britain. In Japan no boy under twenty is allowed to smoke, and if he
does his parents are taken up and fined.
Professor Osler, in speaking against tobacco, said it would be a good thing
if all the beer and spirits in England could be thrown into the sea one day,

and if, on the second day, you dumped all the tobacco there too it would be
very good for everyone in England—although unhealthy for the fish.
No boy ever began smoking because he liked it, but generally because
either he feared being chaffed by the other boys as afraid to smoke, or
because he thought that by smoking he would look like a great man—when
all the time he only looks like a little ass.
So don't funk, but just make up your own mind for yourself that you don't
mean to smoke till you are grown up; and stick to it. That will show you to
be a man much more than any slobbering about with a half-smoked
cigarette between your lips. The other fellows will in the end respect you
much more, and will probably in many cases secretly follow your lead. If
they do this you will already have done a good thing in the world, although
you are only a boy. From that small start you will most probably go on and
do big things as you grow up.

DRINKING.

A priest in the East End of London has lately stated that out of a thousand
cases of distress known to him only two or three were not caused by drink.
A soldierly-looking man came up to me one night and brought out his
discharge certificates, showing that he had served with me in South Africa.
He said he could get no work, and he was starving. Every man's hand was
against him, apparently because he was a soldier. My nose and eyes told me
in a moment another tale, and that was the real cause of his being in
distress.
A stale smell of tobacco and beer hung about his clothes, his finger-tips
were yellow with cigarette smoke, he had even taken some kind of scented
lozenge to try and hide the whisky smell in his breath. No wonder nobody
would employ him, or give him more money to drink with, for that was all
that he would do with money if he got it.
Very much of the poverty and distress in this country is brought about by
men getting into the habit of wasting their money and time on drink. And a
great deal of crime, and also of illness, and even madness is due to the same

habit of drinking too much. Liquor—that is beer or spirits—is not at all
necessary to make a man strong and well. Quite the contrary. The old
saying, "Strong drink makes weak men," is a very true one.
Yet £166,400,000 were spent last year alone on drink in the United
Kingdom—enough to have made every family in the country better off by
£15 if they had drunk water. And this £15 would be increased to £22 if the
men gave up tobacco.
It would be simply impossible for a man who drinks to be a scout. Keep off
liquor from the very first, and make up your mind to have nothing to do
with it. Water, tea, or coffee are quite good enough drinks for quenching
your thirst or for picking you up at any time, or if it is very hot lemonade or
a squeeze of lemon are much better refreshment.
A good scout trains himself pretty well to do without liquid. It is very much
a matter of habit. If you keep your mouth shut when walking or running, or
chew a pebble (which also makes you keep your mouth shut), you do not
get thirsty like you do when you go along with your mouth open sucking in
the air and dry dust. But you must also be in good, hard condition. If you
are fat from want of exercise you are sure to get thirsty and want to drink
every mile. If you do not let yourself drink the thirst wears off after a short
time. If you keep drinking water on the line of march, or while playing
games, it helps to tire you and spoils your wind.
It is often difficult to avoid taking strong drinks when you meet friends who
want to treat you, but they generally like you all the better if you say you
don't want anything, as then they don't have to pay for it; if they insist you
can take a gingerbeer or something quite harmless. But it is a stupid fashion
when, in order to prove that you are friends, you have to drink with each
other. Luckily it is dying out now; the best men do not do it because they
know it does them no good. Wasters like to stand about a bar talking and
sipping—generally at the other fellow's expense, but they are wasters, and it
is as well to keep out of their company, if you want to get on and have a
good time.

EARLY RISING.

The scout's time for being most active is in the early morning, because that
is the time when wild animals all do their feeding and moving about; and
also in war the usual hour for an attack is just before dawn, when the
attackers can creep up unseen in the dark, and get sufficient light to enable
them to carry out the attack suddenly while the other people are still asleep.
So a scout trains himself to the habit of getting up very early; and when
once he is in the habit it is no trouble at all to him, like it is to some fat
fellows who lie asleep after the daylight has come.
The Emperor Charlemagne, who was a great scout in the old days, used
always to get up in the middle of the night.
The Duke of Wellington, who, like Napoleon Bonaparte, preferred to sleep
on a little camp bed, used to say, "When it is time to turn over in bed it is
time to turn out?"
Many men who manage to get through more work than others in a day, do
so by getting up an hour or two earlier. By getting up early you also can get
more time for play.
If you get up one hour earlier than other people you get thirty hours a month
more of life than they do; while they have twelve months in the year you
get 365 extra hours, or thirty more days—that is, thirteen months to their
twelve.
The old rhyme has a lot of truth in it when it says,

"Early to bed and early to rise,
Makes a man healthy, and wealthy, and wise."

SMILE.

Want of laughter means want of health. Laugh as much as you can: it does
you good; so whenever you can get a good laugh on. And make other
people laugh too, when possible, as it does them good.
If you are in pain or trouble make yourself smile at it: if you remember to
do this, and force yourself, you will find it really does make a great

difference.
If you read about great scouts like Captain John Smith, the "Pathfinder,"
and others, you will generally find that they were pretty cheery old fellows.
The ordinary boy is apt to frown when working hard at physical exercises,
but the boy scout is required to smile all the time: he drops a mark off his
score whenever he frowns.

HOW TO KEEP HEALTHY.

PRACTICES.

Deep Breathing.—Deep breathing is of the greatest importance for bringing
fresh air into the lungs to be put into the blood, and for developing the size
of the chest, but it should be done carefully, according to instructions, and
not overdone, otherwise it is liable to strain the heart. The Japs always carry
on deep breathing exercise for a few minutes when they first get up in the
morning, and always in the open air. It is done by sucking air in through the
nose until it swells out your ribs as far as possible, especially at the back;
then, after a pause, you breathe out the air slowly and gradually through the
mouth until you have not a scrap of air left in you, then after a pause draw
in your breath again through the nose as before.
Singing, if carried out on a system like that of Mr. Tomlin's, develops
simultaneously proper breathing and development of heart, lungs, chest,
and throat, together with dramatic feeling in rendering the song.

"Japanese Cock Fighting" to Strengthen the Legs.

For instance, his method of "Hooligan Taming" is to get a large crowd of
wild lads together, and to start shouting a chorus to piano accompaniment—
say, "Hearts of Oak." He shouts the suggestion of a story as they go along
with it; how they are marching boldly to attack a fort which they mean to
carry in style for the glory of themselves and their country, when suddenly
they become aware that the enemy does not know of their approach, so they
must creep and crawl, "in a whisper," as they stealthily get nearer to the
fort. Closer and closer they come with gradually increasing tone. Now
charge on up the hill, through shot and shell, a scramble, a rush and a fight,
and the fort is theirs. But there are wounded to be picked up tenderly, and
the dead to be laid out reverently with quiet and measured song, solemn and
soft.

"Body Twisting" for Stomach Muscles.

And then they pick up their arms again, and with the prisoners and spoils of
war they march gaily away in triumph, at the full power of their lungs.
Old English Morris Dances, too, are excellent practice for winter evenings,
with their quaint music and movements.

BOOKS TO READ.

"What's the Harm in Smoking?" By B. McCall Barbour, 1d. (Published by
S. W. Partridge.)
"In My Youth." Same series. Practical Hints on Purity. (B. M. Barbour, 37
Chambers Street, Edinburgh.)

"What a Young Boy ought to Know." By Sylvanus Stall. 4s. Giving
information and warning to boys regarding the organs of reproduction.
"A Note for Parents." By J. H. Bradley. 3d. (Ballantyne Press, London.)
Suggestions for teaching children about reproduction.

CAMP FIRE YARN.—No. 19.
PREVENTION OF DISEASE.

Camp doctoring—Microbes and how to fight them—Proper food—
Clothing—Use of drill and exercise.

CAMP DOCTORING.

Some years ago, when I was in Kashmir, Northern India, some natives
brought to me a young man on a stretcher who they said had fallen off a
high rock and had broken his back and was dying. I soon found that he had
only dislocated his shoulder and had got a few bruises, and seemed to think
that he ought to die.
So I pulled off my shoe, sat down alongside him facing his head, put my
heel in his arm-pit, got hold of his arm, and pulled with all my force till the
bone jumped into its socket. The pain made him faint and his friends
thought I really had killed him. But in a few minutes he recovered and
found his arm was all right. Then they thought I must be no end of a doctor,
so they sent round the country for all the sick to be brought in to be cured;
and I had an awful time of it for the next two days. Cases of every kind of
disease were carried in and I had scarcely any drugs with which to treat
them, but I did the best I could, and I really believe that some of the poor
creatures got better from simply believing that I was doing them a lot of
good.
But most of them were ill from being dirty and letting their wounds get
poisoned with filth; and many were ill from bad drainage, and from
drinking foul water, and so on.

This I explained to the headmen of the villages, and I hope that I did some
good for their future health.
At any rate, they were most grateful, and gave me a lot of help ever
afterwards in getting good bear-hunting and in getting food, etc.
If I had not known a little doctoring I could have done nothing for these
poor creatures.

MICROBES AND HOW TO FIGHT THEM.

Disease is carried about in the air and in water by tiny invisible insects
called "germs" or "microbes," and you are very apt to breathe them in
through the mouth or to get them in your drink or food and to swallow
them, and then they breed disease inside you. If your blood is in really good
order it generally does not matter, no harm results; but if your blood is out
of order from weakness or constipation—that is, not going regularly to the
"rear"—these microbes will very probably make you ill. A great point is,
therefore, to abolish the microbes if possible. They like living in dark,
damp, and dirty places. And they come from bad drains, old dustbins, and
rotting flesh, etc.; in fact, generally where there is a bad smell. Therefore,
keep your room, or your camp, and your clothes clean, dry, and as sunny as
possible and well aired; and keep away from places that smell badly. Before
your meals you should always wash your hands and finger-nails, for they
are very apt to harbour microbes which have come from anything that you
may have been handling in the day.
You frequently see notices in omnibuses and public places requesting you
not to spit. The reason for this is that many people spit who have diseased
lungs and from their spittle the microbes of their diseases get in the air and
are breathed by healthy people into their lungs, and they become also
diseased. Often you may have a disease in you for some years without
knowing it and if you spit you are liable to communicate that disease to
sound people; so you should not do it for their sake.
But you need not be afraid of diseases if you breathe through your nose and
keep your blood in good order. It is always well on coming out of a
crowded theatre, church or hall, to cough and blow your nose in order to get

rid of microbes which you might have breathed in from other people in the
crowd. One in every thirty of people that you meet has got the disease of
consumption on him—and it is very catching. It comes very much from
living in houses where the windows are kept always shut up. The best
chance of getting cured of it if you get the disease is to sleep always out of
doors.
A scout has to sleep a great deal in the open air, therefore when he is in a
house he sleeps with the windows as wide open as possible, otherwise he
feels stuffy; and also if he gets accustomed to sleeping in warm atmosphere
he would catch cold when he goes into camp, and nothing could be more
ridiculous or more like a tenderfoot than a scout with a cold in his head.
When once he is accustomed to having his windows open he will never
catch cold in a room.

FOOD.

A good many illnesses come from over-eating or eating the wrong kind of
food.
A scout must know how to take care of himself, else he is of no use. He
must keep himself light and active. Once he has got the right kind of
muscles on he can remain fit without further special exercising of those
muscles, provided that he eats the right kind of food.
Eustace Miles, the tennis and racket champion, does not go into training
before he plays his matches; he knows he has got his muscles rightly
formed, and he simply lives on plain, light food always, and so is always fit
to play a hard game. He never eats meat.
In the siege of Mafeking, when we were put on short commons, those of the
garrison who were accustomed to eat very little at their meals did not suffer
like some people, who had been accustomed to do themselves well in peace
time; these became weak and irritable. Our food there towards the end was
limited to a hunk of pounded-up oats, about the size of a penny bun, which
was our whole bread-supply for the day, and about a pound of meat and two
pints of "sowens," a kind of stuff like bill-stickers' paste that had gone
wrong.

English people as a rule eat more meat than is necessary, in fact they could
do without it altogether if they tried, and would be none the worse. It is an
expensive luxury. The Japanese are as strong as us, but they do not eat any
meat, and only eat small meals of other things.
The cheapest and best foods are Dried Peas, 2d. per lb; Flour, 1s. 4d. per
stone; Oatmeal, 2d. per lb.; Potatoes, 1/2d. per lb.; Hominy, 1-1/2d. per lb.;
Cheese at 6d. per lb. Other good foods are fruit, vegetables, fish, eggs, nuts,
rice, and milk, and one can live on these perfectly well without meat;
bananas are especially good food, they are cheap, have no seeds nor pips to
irritate your inside, their skin protects them from germs of disease and their
flesh is of a wholesome kind and satisfying.
The natives of the West Coast of Africa eat very little else all their lives and
they are fat and happy.
If you have lots of fresh air you do not want much food, if on the other hand
you are sitting indoors all day much food makes you fat and sleepy, so that
in either case you are better for taking a little; still, growing boys should not
starve themselves but, at the same time, they need not be like that little hog
at the school-feast who, when asked, "Can't you eat any more?" replied,
"Yes, I could eat more, but I've no room to swallow it."
A great cause of illness nowadays is the amount of medicine which fellows
dose themselves with when there is no reason for taking any medicine at all.
The best medicine is open-air and exercise and a big cup of water in the
early morning if you are constipated, and a pint of hot water on going to
bed.

CLOTHING.

A scout's clothing should be of flannel or wool as much as possible, because
it dries easily. Cotton next the skin is not good unless you change it directly
it gets wet—it is so likely to give you a chill, and a scout is no use if he gets
laid up.
One great point that a scout should take care about, to ensure his endurance
and being able to go on the march for a long time, is his boots.

A scout who gets sore feet with much walking becomes useless.
You should therefore take great care to have good, well-fitting, roomy
boots, and fairly stout ones, and as like the natural shape of your bare feet
as possible with a straighter edge on the inside than bootmakers usually
give to the swagger boot. Scouts have no use for swagger boots.
The feet should be kept as dry as possible; if they are allowed to get wet the
skin is softened and very soon gets blistered and rubbed raw where there is
a little pressure of the boot.
Of course they get wet from perspiration as well as from outside wet.
Therefore to dry this it is necessary to wear good woollen socks.
If a man wears thin cotton or silk socks you can tell at once that he is no
walker. A fellow who goes out to a Colony for the first time is called a
"Tender-foot" because he generally gets sore feet until by experience he
learns how to keep his feet in good order. It is a good thing to soap or
grease your feet and the inside of your socks before putting them on.
If your feet always perspire a good deal it is a useful thing to powder them
with powder made of boric acid, starch, and oxide of zinc in equal parts.
This powder should be rubbed in between the toes so as to prevent soft
corns forming there. Your feet can be hardened to some extent by soaking
them in alum and water, or salt and water.
Keep your boots soft with lots of grease, mutton fat, dubbin, or castor oil—
especially when they have got wet from rain, etc. Wash the feet every day.

PRACTICES.

Drill.

Scouts have to drill to enable them to be moved quickly from one point to
another in good order. Drill also sets them up, and makes them smart and
quick.
It strengthens the muscles which support the body and by keeping the body
upright the lungs and heart get plenty of room to work, and the inside

organs are kept on the proper position for proper digestion of food and so
on.
A slouching position on the other hand depresses all the other organs and
prevents them doing their work properly, so that a man in that position is
generally weak and often ill.
Growing lads are very apt to slouch and should therefore do all they can to
get out of the habit by plenty of physical exercises and drill.
Stand upright when you are standing and when you are sitting down sit
upright with your back well into the back part of the chair. Alertness of the
body whether you are moving, standing, or sitting means alertness of mind
and it is a paying thing to have because many an employer will select an
alert-looking boy for work and pass over a sloucher. When you have to
stoop over writing at a table or even tying a boot-lace do not round your
back but tuck in the small of your back which thus helps to strengthen your
body.

How not to sit.

How to sit.

Drill.—On the word "Alert" the scout stands upright with both feet
together, hands hanging naturally at the sides, fingers straight, and looking
straight to his front.
On the word "Easy" he carries the right foot away six inches to the right,
and clasps his hands behind his back, and can turn his head about. At the
word "Sit Easy" he squats down on the ground in any position he likes. "Sit
Easy" should usually be given whenever you don't want the boys to be at
the "Alert," provided that the ground is dry.
On the command "Quick March," boys move off with the left foot leading,
at a smart pace, swinging the arms freely, as this gives good exercise to the
body and muscles and interior organs.

Walking for Exercise. 1.—The right way. 2.—A common way. 3.—
A very usual way.

At the command "Double" boys run at a jog-trot with short sharp steps,
hands swinging loosely, not tucked up at the side.
On the command "Scout Pace" the boys march at the quick march for fifty
paces then double fifty paces, and so on alternately running and walking,
until the word is given "Quick March" or "Halt."
"Right turn" each boy turns to the right.
"Follow Your Leader." "Leader Right Turn"—the leading man turns to his
right, the remainder move up to the place where he turned and then follow
after him.
"Front Form" (when "following the leader"). Those in rear run up and form
in line alongside the leader on his left.
"Cone Exercises."—Standing at the "Alert" raise both hands as high as
possible over the head, and link fingers, lean backwards, then sway the
arms very slowly round in the direction of a cone so that the hands make a
wide circle above and round the body, the body turning from the hips, and
leaning over to one side then to the front, then to the other side and then
back; this is to exercise the muscles of the waist and stomach, and should be

repeated say six times to either hand. With the eyes you should be trying to
see all that goes on behind you during the movement.

"Body-bending" or "Cone" Exercise. Note.—The arrow —> means
when to draw in breath; the O—> means when to breathe out.

"Touch the Toes."—From the position of "Alert" raise the hands above the
head then bend slowly forward and touch the toes with the fingers, or
knuckles of clenched fists, then slowly rise to the original position and
continue the motion a dozen times, the knees not to be bent in performing
this exercise. This makes the body supple, and strengthens the back and
legs.
"Squatting Exercise."—From the position of the "Alert" bend the knees
and slowly lower the body into a squatting position, the back being kept
upright; after a momentary pause slowly rise to the standing position again,
repeat this a dozen times standing on the toes throughout. The hands may be
resting on the hips or held out straight to the front in line with the shoulders.
This exercise strengthens the leg and feet muscles.
"Leg Raising from the Back."—Lie on your back and slowly raise the legs
till they are upright above you, then slowly lower them almost to the ground

and raise them again, several times in succession. This strengthens the
stomach muscles.

GAMES.

"Ju-jitsu"—contains numerous interesting games to teach grips and holds,
and development of muscles.
"Doctoring"—each scout in turn acts as an explorer or missionary, with a
few simple remedies. Three patients are brought to him in succession to be
treated, each having a different disease or injury. He has to advise or show
what treatment should be carried out.
All ordinary boys' games, where all are players and none lookers-on, are
good for health and cheerfulness—"Leap-frog," "Rounders," "Squash-
football," "Tip-and run."

BOOKS TO READ.

"Japanese Physical Training," by Irving Hancock. (Pub. Putnam.)
"How to be well and strong," by W. Edwards. 4d. (Melrose.)
"Walking," by C. Lang Neil. 1s. (C. A. Pearson Ltd.) Useful hints on
walking, training, mountain-climbing, food, etc.
"Modern Physical Culture," by C. Lang Neil. 1s. (C. A. Pearson Ltd.) Gives
summary of various systems: Curative exercises; hints on food, on organs
of the body, etc.
"Health and Strength." Monthly Journal. 2d.

CHIVALRY OF THE KNIGHTS.

HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS.

One aim of the Boy Scouts scheme is to revive amongst us, if possible, some
of the rules of the knights of old, which did so much for the moral tone of
our race, just as the Bushido of the ancient Samurai Knights has done, and
is still doing, for Japan. Unfortunately, chivalry with us has, to a large
extent, been allowed to die out, whereas in Japan it is taught to the
children, so that it becomes with them a practice of their life, and it is also
taught to children in Germany and Switzerland with the best results. Our
effort is not so much to discipline the boys, as to teach them to discipline
themselves.
It is impossible in so short a space as I have at my disposal to do more than
touch upon subjects which the instructor may elaborate for himself. The
different qualities which the Knight's Code demanded are here grouped
under the three heads:

1.—Chivalry to Others.
2.—Discipline of Self.
3.—Self Improvement.

CHAPTER VII.
CHIVALRY of the KNIGHTS.

CAMP FIRE YARN.—No. 20.
CHIVALRY TO OTHERS.

Knights Errant—Helpfulness to Others—Courtesy to Women.

"In days of old, when knights were bold" it must have been a fine sight to
see one of these steel-clad horsemen come riding through the dark green
woods in his shining armour, with shield and lance and waving plumes,
bestriding his gallant war-horse, strong to bear its load, and full of fire to
charge upon an enemy. And near him rode his squire, a young man, his
assistant and companion, who would some day become a knight.
Behind him rode his group, or patrol of men-at-arms—stout, hearty
warriors, ready to follow their knight to the gates of death if need be. They
were the tough yeomen of the old days, who won so many of her fine fights
for Britain through their pluck and loyal devotion to their knights.
In peace time, when there was no fighting to be done, the knight would
daily ride about looking for a chance of doing a good turn to any wanting
help, especially woman or child who might be in distress. When engaged in
thus doing good turns he was called a "Knight Errant." His patrol naturally
acted in the same way as their leader, and a man-at-arms was always
equally ready to help the distressed with his strong right arm. The knights of
old were the patrol leaders of the nation, and the men-at-arms were the
scouts.
You patrol leaders and scouts are therefore very like the knights and their
retainers, especially if you keep your honour ever before you in the first
place and do your best to help other people who are in trouble or who want

assistance. Your motto is, "Be Prepared" to do this, and the motto of the
knights was a similar one, "Be Always Ready."
Chivalry—that is, the order of the knights—was started in England some
1500 years ago by King Arthur.
On the death of his father, King Uther Pendragon, he was living with his
uncle, and nobody knew who was to be King. He did not himself know that
he was son of the late King.
Then a great stone was found in the churchyard, into which a sword was
sticking, and on the stone was written:
"Whosoever pulleth this sword out of this stone is the rightwise King born
of all England."
All the chief lords had a try at pulling it out, but none could move it.
That day there was a tournament at which Arthur's cousin was to fight, but
when he got to the ground he found he had left his sword at home, and he
sent Arthur to fetch it. Arthur could not find it, but remembering the sword
in the churchyard he went there and pulled at it, and it came out of the stone
at once; and he took it to his cousin. After the sports he put it back again
into the stone; and again they all tried to pull it out, but could not move it,
but when he tried he drew it out quite easily. So he was proclaimed King.
He afterwards got together a number of knights, and used to sit with them at
a great round table, and so they were called the "Knights of the Round
Table." The table is still to be seen at Winchester.

ST. GEORGE.

They had as their patron saint St. George, because he was the only one of
all the saints who was a horseman. He is the patron saint of cavalry and
scouts all over Europe.
St. George is the special saint of England. The battle-cry of the knights used
to be, "For Saint George and Merrie England!"
St. George's Day is 23rd April, and on that day all good scouts wear a rose
in his honour and fly their flags. Don't forget it on the next 23rd April.

THE KNIGHTS' CODE.

The laws of the knights were these:

"Be Always Ready, with your armour on, except when you are taking
your rest at night.
Defend the poor, and help them that cannot defend themselves.
Do nothing to hurt or offend anyone else.
Be prepared to fight in the defence of England.
At whatever you are working try and win honour and a name for
honesty.
Never break your promise.
Maintain the honour of your country with your life.
Rather die honest than live shamelessly.
Chivalry requireth that youth should be trained to perform the most
laborious and humble offices with cheerfulness and grace; and to do
good unto others."

These are the first rules with which the old knights started, and from which
the scout laws of to-day come.
A knight (or scout) is at all times a gentleman. So many people seem to
think that a gentleman must have lots of money. That does not make a
gentleman. A gentleman is anyone who carries out the rules of chivalry of
the knights.
A London policeman, for instance, is a gentleman, because he is well
disciplined, loyal, polite, brave, good-tempered, and helpful to women and
children.

UNSELFISHNESS.

Captain John Smith, the old English adventurer of three hundred years ago,
was a pretty tough customer to deal with, as he had fought in every part of
the world and had been wounded over and over again; but he also had a
good, kind heart within him. He was as good a type of scout as you could
find anywhere. One of his favourite expressions was, "We were born, not
for ourselves, but to do good to others," and he carried this out very much
in his life, for he was the most unselfish of men.

SELF-SACRIFICE.

King Richard I., who was one of the first of the Scouts of the Empire, left
his kingdom, his family, and everything to go and fight against the enemies
of the Christian religion, and very nearly lost his kingdom by doing so, for
he was absent for some years, and in the meantime his brother tried to usurp
his place. On his way home from the wars in Palestine he was caught by the
King of Austria, and was put by him in prison, where he lingered for twelve
months. He was discovered by his minstrel, Blondel, who knowing that he
must have been captured somewhere went about Europe singing his
favourite songs outside the prisons until he was answered from inside; and
so he found him and procured his release.
(See "The Talisman," by Sir Walter Scott.)
But self-sacrifice is also to be found among us to-day. Only the other day a
lad of eighteen named Currie saw a little girl playing on the railway line at
Clydebank in front of an approaching train. He tried to rescue her, but he
was lame from an injury he had got at football, and it delayed him in getting
her clear. The train knocked both of them over, and both were killed.
But Currie's gallant attempt is an example of chivalry for scouts to follow. It
was sacrifice of himself in the attempt to save a child.

KINDNESS.

"Kindness and gentleness are great virtues," says an old Spanish proverb,
and another says, "Oblige without regarding whom you oblige," which

means be kind to anyone, great or small, rich or poor.
The great point about a knight was that he was always doing kindnesses or
good turns to people. His idea was that everyone must die, but you should
make up your mind that before your time comes you will do something
good. Therefore, do it at once, for you never know when you may be going
off.
So, with the scouts, it has been made one of our laws that we do a good turn
to somebody every day. It does not matter how small that good turn may be,
if it were only to help an old woman lift her bundle, or to guide a child
across a crowded street, or to put a halfpenny in the poor-box. Something
good ought to be done each day of your life, and you should start to-day to
carry out this rule, and never forget it during the remaining days of your
life. Remember the knot in your necktie and on your scout's badge—they
are reminders to you to do a good turn. And do your good turn not only to
your friends, but to strangers and even to your enemies.
When the Russians were besieged in Port Arthur by the Japanese in 1905,
the Japs got close up to their forts by digging long, deep trenches, into
which the Russians were not able to shoot. On one occasion they were so
close that a Russian soldier was able to throw a letter into the Japanese
trench. In this letter he said that he wanted to send a message to his mother
in Russia, as she was very anxious about him; but as Port Arthur was now
cut off from all communication he begged that the Japs would send the
message for him; and he inclosed a note for his mother and a gold coin to
pay the cost.
The Japanese soldier who found the note, instead of tearing up the letter and
keeping the money, did what every scout would do, took it to his officer,
and the officer telegraphed the Russian's message to his mother, and threw a
note back into the enemy's fort to tell him that he had done so.
This, with other instances of chivalry on both sides, is described in Mr.
Richmond Smith's book, "The Siege and Fall of Port Arthur."

GENEROSITY.

Some people are fond of hoarding up their money and never spending it. It
is well to be thrifty, but it is also well to give away money where it is
wanted; in fact, that is part of the object of saving up your money. In being
charitable, be careful that you do not fall into the mistake of false charity.
That is to say, it is very easy and comforting to you to give a penny to a
poor beggar in the street, but you ought not to do it. That poor beggar is
ninety-nine times out of a hundred an arrant old fraud, and by giving your
penny you are encouraging him and others to go on with that trade. There
may be, probably are, hundreds of really poor and miserable people hiding
away, whom you never see and to whom that penny would be a godsend.
The Charity Organisation Society knows where they are, and which they
are, and if you give your penny to them, they will put it into the right hands
for you.
You need not be rich in order to be charitable. Many of the knights were
poor men. At one time some of them wore as their crest two knights riding
on one horse, which meant that they were too poor to afford a horse apiece.

TIPS.

Then "tips" are a very bad thing.
Wherever you go, people want to be tipped for doing the slightest thing
which they ought to do out of common good feeling. A scout will never
accept a tip, even if it is offered him. It is often difficult to refuse, but for a
scout it is easy. He has only to say, "Thank you very much, but I am a scout,
and our rules don't allow us to accept anything for doing a good turn."
"Tips" put you on a wrong footing with everyone.
You cannot work in a friendly way with a man if you are thinking how
much "tip" you are going to get out of him, or he is thinking how much he'll
have to "tip" you. And all scouts' work for another ought to be done in a
friendly way.
Of course, proper pay that is earned by your work is another thing, and you
will be right to accept it.

FRIENDLINESS.

The great difference in a Colonial bushman and a stay-at-home Briton is
that the Colonial is in shirt-sleeves while the other is buttoned up in his
coat, and their characters are much the same. The Colonial is open and
cheery with everybody at once, while the Briton is rather inclined to shut
himself up from his neighbours inside his coat, and takes a deal of drawing
out before he becomes friendly. The free, open-air, shirt-sleeve habits of the
Colonial do away with this, and life becomes much more pleasant to
everybody all round. A boy scout should remember that he is like the
Colonial, and, like Kim, the "friend of all the world."
But don't let your friendliness lead you into that foolery that is too common
in England, namely, throwing away your hard-earned savings in "standing
treat" to your friends.

POLITENESS.

One of the stories that the knights used to tell as an example of politeness
was that Julius Cæsar, when he was entertained to supper by a poor peasant,
was so polite that when the man gave him a dish of pickles to eat, thinking
they were the sort of vegetables that a high-born officer would like, Cæsar
ate the whole dish, and pretended to like them, although they burnt his
mouth and disagreed with him considerably.
In Spain you ask a man the way—he does not merely point it out, but takes
off his hat, bows, and says that it will be a great pleasure to him to show it,
and walks with you till he has set you properly upon it. He will take no
reward.
A Frenchman will take off his hat when he addresses a stranger, as you may
often see him do in London, even when he asks a policeman the way.
The Dutch fishermen, big and brawny as they are, take up the whole street
when walking down it; but when a stranger comes along they stand to one
side, and smilingly take off their caps to let him pass.

A lady told me that when in one of the far west Canadian townships she met
a group of wild-looking cowboys walking down the street, she felt quite
alarmed. But as they got near they stood to one side, and took off their hats
with the greatest respect, and made way for her.

COURTESY TO WOMEN.

The knights of old were particularly attentive in respect and courtesy to
women.
Sir Nigel Loring in "The White Company" is a type of a chivalrous knight
of the old times. Although very small, and half blind by reason of some
lime which an enemy had thrown in his eyes early in his career, he was an
exceedingly brave man, and at the same time very humble, and very helpful
to others.
But above all things he reverenced women. He had a big, plain lady as his
wife, but he always upheld her beauty and virtue, and was ready to fight
anybody who doubted him.
Then with poor women, old or young, he was always courteous and helpful.
And that is how a scout should act.
King Arthur, who made the rules of chivalry, was himself chivalrous to
women of whatever class.
One day a girl rushed into his hall crying for help. Her hair was streaming
and smeared with mud, her arms were torn with brambles, and she was
dressed in rags. She had been ill-treated by a band of robbers who roved the
country, doing all the harm they could. When he heard her tale King Arthur
sprang on to his horse and rode off himself to the robbers' cave, and even at
the risk of his own life he fought and defeated them, so that they could no
more trouble his people.
When walking with a lady or a child, a scout should always have her on his
left side, so that his right is free to protect her.
This rule is altered when walking in the streets: then a man will walk on the
side of her nearest to the traffic, to protect her against accident, or mud-
splashes, etc.

In meeting a woman or a child, a man should, as a matter of course, always
make way for her, even if he has to step off the pavement into the mud.
So also in riding in a crowded tram or railway carriage no man worthy of
the name will allow a woman or a child to stand up if he has a seat. He will
at once give it up to the woman and stand himself. As a scout, you should
set an example in this by being the first man in the carriage to do it. And in
doing so, do it cheerfully, with a smile, so that she may not think you are
annoyed at having to do it.
When in the street always be on the look out to help women and children. A
good opportunity is when they want to cross a street, or to find the way, or
to call a cab or 'bus. If you see them, go and help them at once—and don't
accept any reward.
The other day I saw a boy help a lady out of a carriage, and as he shut the
door after her, she turned to give him some money, but he touched his cap,
and smilingly said, "No, thank you, Marm; it's my duty," and walked off. So
I shook hands with him, for I felt that although he had not been taught, he
was a scout by nature.
This is the kind of courtesy one wants to see more amongst boys of to-day.
Only the other day in London, a girl who had been robbed ran after a thief
and pursued him till he dashed down into a narrow alley, where she could
not follow, but she waited for him; so did the crowd. And when he came out
again, she collared him and struggled to prevent him escaping; but not one
of the crowd would help her, although there were men and boys present
there. They must have been a poor lot not to help a girl!
Of course, in accidents men and boys will always see that the women and
children are safely got out of danger, before they think of going themselves.
In two wrecks which occurred in 1906 on the south coast of England, viz.,
the Jebba, and the Suevic, it was very noticeable how carefully
arrangements were made for saving the women and children and old
people, before any idea was given as to how the men were to be rescued.
You should carry your courtesy on with ladies at all times. If you are sitting
down and a lady comes into the room, stand up, and see if you can help her
in any way before you sit down.

Don't lark about with a girl whom you would not like your mother or sister
to see you with.
Don't make love to any girl unless you mean to marry her.
Don't marry a girl unless you are in a position to support her, and to support
some children.

PRACTICES.

Other ways of doing good turns, are such small things as these: sprinkle
sand on a frozen road where horses are liable to slip; remove orange or
banana skins from the pavement, as they are apt to throw people down;
don't leave gates open, and don't injure fences or walk over crops in the
country; help old people in drawing water or carrying fuel, etc., to their
homes; help to keep the streets clean by removing scraps of paper.

A Scout looking out ready to help others.

Scout's Uniform.—Scout hat; Handkerchief (not a white one) round neck;
Shirt (not white); Belt, with pouch; Shorts, with hip pocket; Stockings, with
coloured garters; Boots or Shoes, with good nails; Long Stick for feeling
way; Whistle; Haversack, with food; Coat rolled, with dry socks and vest
inside in pockets.

HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS.

HOW TO PRACTISE CHIVALRY.

Make each scout tie a knot in his necktie every morning as a reminder to
carry out his idea of doing a good turn every day, till it becomes a habit
with him.
Take your boys to an armoury, such as the Tower of London or South
Kensington Museum, and explain to them the armour and weapons of the
knights.
Make a scout bring in a boy, who is a total stranger, as his guest for the
evening to play in club games, and hear camp yarns, etc.

GAMES.

"Knight Errantry."—Scouts go out singly, or in pairs, or as a patrol. If in a
town, to find women or children in want of help, and to return and report,
on their honour, what they have done. If in the country call at any farms or
cottages and ask to do odd jobs—for nothing. The same can be made into a
race called a "Good Turn" race.

PLAY.

"King Arthur and the Round Table." See Part VI.
Also other stories of chivalry, as in "Stories of King Arthur."

BOOKS TO READ.

"Ivanhoe," by Sir Walter Scott.
"Stories of King Arthur." Cutler. 3s. 6d.
"The White Company," by Sir Conan Doyle, 1s.
"The Broad Stone of Honour," by Kenelm Digby.
"Fifty-two stories of Chivalry."
"Puck of Pook's Hill," by Rudyard Kipling.

CAMP FIRE YARN.—No. 21.
SELF-DISCIPLINE.

Honour—Obedience—Courage—Cheeriness.

TO INSTRUCTORS.

The self-disciplined man is described by Browning as:

One who never turned his back but marched breast forward;
Never doubted clouds would break;
Never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would triumph;
Held we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better,
Sleep—to wake.

Lycurgus said that the wealth of a state lay not so much in money as in men
who were sound in body and mind, with a body fit for toil and endurance,
and with a mind well disciplined, and seeing things in their proper
proportions.

HONOUR.

The true knight placed his honour before all things. It was sacred, and he
will never do a dishonourable action, such as telling an untruth or deceiving
his superiors or employers. A man who is honourable is always to be
trusted, and always commands the respect of his fellow men. His honour
guides him in everything that he does. A captain sticks to the ship till the
last, in every wreck that was ever heard of. Why? She is only a lump of iron
and wood; his life is as valuable as that of any of the women and children
on board, but he makes everybody get away safely before he attempts to
save his more valuable life. Why? Because the ship is his ship, and he has
been taught that it is his duty to stick to it, and he considers it would be
dishonourable in him to do otherwise; so he puts honour before safety. So
also a scout should value his honour most of anything.
Fair Play.—Britons, above all other people, insist on fair play.
If you see a big bully going for a small or weak boy, you stop him because
it is not "fair play."
And if a man, in fighting another, knocks him down, he must not hit or kick
him while he is down; everybody would think him an awful beast if he did.
Yet there is no law about it; you could not get him imprisoned for it. The
truth is that "fair play" is an old idea of Chivalry that has come down to us
from the knights of old, and we must always keep up that idea.
Other nations are not all so good.
Often we hear of wounded men being again shot and killed in battle when
they are lying helpless on the ground. In the South African War, when
Major MacLaren, now our Manager in the Boy Scouts, was lying helpless,
with his thigh broken by a bullet and his horse shot on top of him, a Boer
came up and finding him alive, fired two more shots into him. Luckily he
recovered and is alive to-day. But that Boer had no Chivalry in him.
Honesty.—Honesty is a form of Honour. An honourable man can be trusted
with any amount of money or other valuables with the certainty that he will
not steal it.
Cheating at any time is a sneaking, underhand thing to do.
When you feel inclined to cheat in order to win a game, or feel very
distressed when a game in which you are playing is going against you, just

say to yourself, "After all, it is only a game. It won't kill me if I do lose.
One can't win always, though I will stick to it in case of a chance coming."
If you keep your head in this way, you will very often find that you win
after all from not being over-anxious or despairing.
And don't forget, whenever you do lose a game, if you are a true scout, you
will at once cheer the winning team or shake hands with and congratulate
the fellow who has beaten you.
This rule will be carried out in all games and competitions among Boy
Scouts.
Loyalty.—Loyalty was, above all, one of the distinguishing points about
the knights. They were always devotedly loyal to their King and to their
country, and were always ready and eager to die in their defence. In the
same way a follower of the Knights should be loyal not only to the King but
also to everyone who is above him, whether his officers or employers, and
he should stick to them through thick and thin as part of his duty.
He should also be equally loyal to his own friends and should support them
in evil times as well as in good times.
Loyalty to duty was shown by the Roman soldier of old who stuck to his
post when the city of Pompeii was overwhelmed with ashes and lava from
the volcano Vesuvius. His remains are still there, with his hand covering his
mouth and nose to prevent the suffocation which in the end overcame him.
His example was followed at some manoeuvres not long ago by a cadet of
Reigate Grammar School who when posted as sentry was accidentally left
on his post when the field day was over. But though night came on and it
was very cold—in November last—the lad stuck to his post till he was
found in the middle of the night, half-perished with cold, but alive and alert.

OBEDIENCE AND DISCIPLINE.

Discipline and obedience are as important as bravery for scouts and for
soldiers.