ots of native beer on their
heads, the mouths of the pots being stopped 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 had been blowing.
There was no wind now, but there had been about five A.M., and it was
now nearly seven. So we read from these signs that a party of women
had brought beer during the night from the village 15 miles distant,
and had taken it to the enemy on the hills, arriving there about six
o'clock. The men would probably start to drink the beer at once (as it
goes sour if kept for long), and would, by the time we could get
there, be getting sleepy from it, so we should have a favourable
chance of reconnoitring their position. We accordingly followed the
women's tracks, found the enemy, made our observations, and got away
with our information without any difficulty."

In the chapters referring to his work as Sir Frederick Carrington's
Chief of the Staff in the Matabele campaign of 1896, we shall see what
great service Baden-Powell has rendered the army by his tireless
scouting. Here I can hardly do better than quote from his _Aids_, for
in this book he unlocks his heart as a scout, and in order to
encourage non-commissioned officers and men to interest themselves in
the more intelligent side of soldiering (not for self-advertisement)
tells us innumerable instances of his own interesting experiences. The
chief charm of scouting, of course, is in actual warfare, when a man
goes out, sometimes alone and unattended, to find out what a
well-armed enemy is doing and how many fighting men are to be expected
in the morrow's battle. But just as Cervantes could "engender" the
ingenious Don Quixote in a miserable prison, so Baden-Powell in the
arid times of peace finds means of enjoying the fascinations of
scouting. When out in India he used to spend many an early morning in
practising, and he gives the result of one of these mornings in his
little book on Scouting, which I would have you read in its entirety.
It is a book which has many of the virtues of a novel, and is written
in plain English.

The following instance will show you how assiduously B.-P. practises
scouting, and will also give you an idea as to beguiling your next
country walk.

_Ground:_ A well-frequented road in an Indian
hill-station--dry--gravel, grit, and sand.

_Atmosphere:_ Bright and dry, no wind.

_Time:_ 6 A.M.