. More than that, I should not only remain motionless
while the animal was gazing toward me, but I should assume at once some
form that suggested the character of the surrounding trees or bushes or
rocks. For example, among straight-boled, perfectly vertical trees, I
should stand upright; among uprooted trees, I should assume the
character of an overturned stump, by standing with inclined body, bent
legs, and arms and fingers thrust out at such angles as to suggest the
roots of a fallen tree. And he added that if I doubted the wisdom of
such an act, I should test it at a distance of fifty or a hundred
paces, and prove the difficulty of detecting a man who assumed a
characteristic landscape pose among trees or rocks. That was years
before the World War had brought the word _camouflage_ into general
use; for as a matter of fact, the forest Indians had been practising
_camouflage_ for centuries and, no doubt, that was one reason why many
of the Indians in the Canadian Expeditionary Force did such remarkable
work as snipers.
INDIANS IN THE WORLD WAR
For instance: Sampson Comego destroyed twenty-eight of the enemy.
Philip Macdonald killed forty, Johnny Ballantyne fifty-eight. "One of
their number, Lance-Corporal Johnson Paudash," as the Department of
Indian Affairs states, "received the Military Medal for his
distinguished gallantry in saving life under heavy fire and for giving
a warning that the enemy were preparing a counter-attack at Hill
Seventy; the counter-attack took place twenty-five minutes after
Paudash gave the information. It is said that a serious reverse was
averted as a result of his action. Like other Indian soldiers, he won
a splendid record as a sniper, and is officially credited with having
destroyed no less than eighty-eight of the enemy. Another Indian who
won fame at the front was Lance-Corporal Norwest; he was one of the
foremost snipers in the army and was officially credited with one
hundred and fifteen observed hits. He won the Military Medal and bar.
Still another, Corporal Francis Pegahmagabow, won the Military Medal
and two bars. He distinguished himself signally as a sniper and bears
the extraordinary record of having killed three hundred and
seventy-eight of the enemy. His Military Medal and two bars were
awarded, however, for his distinguished conduct at Mount Sorrell,
Amiens, and Passchendaele. At Passchendaele, Corporal Pegahmagabow led
his company through an engagement wi
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