50

OverviewTranscribeVersionsHelp

Facsimile

Transcription

I. T. - COL. BADEN-POWELL THE ENGLISH ROUGH RIDER, ON THE AMERICAN SCOUT.

Scouting as a fine art had its origin in America when the pioneer settled first upon the shores of the new country which stretched away, away, to the Westward, how far they knew not. What wonders, what dangers, what secrets were held by that unknown country by the forest primeval they likewise knew not.

They were surrounded by hostile savages, who came and went like shadows, who found their way as straight as the flight of a carrier pigeon through countless miles of trackless forest: who appeared and disappeared as quickly and completely as the elfs of the fabled fairy-lands. But the instinct of self-preservation sharpened their wits; no man sleeps soundly when danger threatens.

They learned first the secrets by which the Indian made his way from place to place, and tracked his foe for vengeance or his game for sustenance. They quickly discovered how by training and vigilance the eye became quick, the ear alert, and the touch-sensitive.

A crushed blade of grass or a weed, a broken twig, a bent bough, all these things were to the Indian as they are to Sherlock Holmes, sufficient to construct a theory as to the character and numbers of those he pursued.

THE WILD WEST AT THE VATICAN- "BUFFALO BILL'S" INDIAN AND COW-BOYS AT THE ANNIVERSARY CEREMONY OF Leo XIII.

New York Herald, March 4, 1890,- (From our Special Correspondent.) ROME, March 3.

One of the strangest spectacles ever seen within the venerable walls of the Vatican was the dramatic entry of "BUFFALO BILL" at the head of his Indians and cow-boys this morning, when the ecclesiastical and secular military court of the Holy See assembled to witness the twelfth annual thanksgiving of Leo XIII, for his coronation. In the midst of the splendid scene, crowded with the old Roman aristocracy, and surrounded by walls immortalized by Micheal Angelo and Rafael, there suddenly appeared a host of savages in war paint, feathers, and blankets, carrying Tomahawks and knives.

A vast multitude surged in the great square before St. Peter's early in the morning to witness the arrival of the Americans. Before half-past nine o'clock the Ducal Hall, Royal Hall, and Sextine Chapel of the Vatican were packed with those who had influence enough to obtain admittance. Through the middle of the three audiences, the pathway was bordered with the brilliant uniforms of the Swiss Guards, Palatine Guards, Papal gensdarmes and private

Notes and Questions

Nobody has written a note for this page yet

Please sign in to write a note for this page