The Chief Scout Talk

Taranaki Daily News, 18 October 1930, Page 9 (Supplement)

The Chief Scout Talk

BACKWOODMANSHIP.

(By 1 Lt.. Gen. Lord 'Baden-Powell.)

, A man said to me one day that it was of very little use to t#ach scouts to be good backwoodsmen, because there are no backwoods left in the world now. It is all becoming too civilised. Aren’t there ?

was of very little use to t#ach scouts to be good backwoodsmen, because there are no backwoods left in the world now. It is all becoming too civilised. Aren’t there ? In India alone 2000 people were killed in one year by wild animals, half of them by tigers, and 300 by wolves,280 by bears, 80 by elephants or hyenas. The Government pays a reward for every dangerous wild animal that is killed, and here is the bag it

paid for in that one year: 74,000 snakes, 1200 tigers, 6000 leopards, 2000 bears,. 2000 wolves. So there is still an opening for many a young hunter or trapper. Only he must look out for snakes; 24,000 people were killed in one year lately in India by snakes alone. No backwoods indeed! WHAT IS WOODCRAFT? • Woodcraft means knowing all about animals, which knowledge 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 you are in want of food, or if, as I have said above, they are

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dangerous to the lives of other people. By continually watching animals in their natural state one gets to. like them too well to want to kill them.

.Many good sportsmen now “shoot” their big gaiqg with; a camera or .cinematograph apparatus instead.of with a gun. The whole' sport .of hunting animals lies in the woodcraft of stalking them, and not the actual killing. Woodcraft includes, besides being able to see the tracks and other small signs, the power to read their inean--ing, such as at what pace the animal was going, whether he was frightened, or unsuspicious and so on. THE KING OF THE JUNGLE. It enables the hunter also to find his way in the jungle or desert; it.teach.es him which are the best wild fiuits, roots, etc. for his own food, or which are favourite food for animals and, therefore, likely to attract them. The boar is certainly the bravest of all animals; lie is the real “King of the Jungle” and the other animals 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 wl ,en the boar comes he simply swaggers down- with' his great head and its shiny tusks swinging from side to side; “he cares for nobody, no not he,” but everybody cares for him. Even a tiger drink in<f at the pool will give a snarl and sneak quickly out of sight. I have often laid out on moonlight .nights to watch the animals, especial*ly°wild boars, in the jungle; and it is just as good fun as'merely going after them to .kill them. STUDY ALL ANIMALS. But before; going out to study big o-ame in the jungles everybody ought to study all animals, wild and tame, at home. It Would be a very good thingif every scout and guide kept some kind of animal, such as a pony or a dog, birds or rabbits, or even live butterflies. ( ■ Every scout ought to know all about tlu time animals he sees every day. You ought to know about groowing, feeding and watering a horse, about putting him into harness and. taking him out of harness. .. 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,