United States or Costa Rica ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
In the midst of the Matabele war, just as the weary, half-starved horses which had carried his men eighty-seven miles drew near the stronghold of Wedza, Baden-Powell was exhilarated by a meeting with a lion. In his diary against that date he wrote: "To be marked with a red mark when I can get a red pencil."
The bitter feeling that was roused in us in our helplessness is not to be described. General Baden-Powell was in Rustenburg, and Magatonek was also in possession of the enemy. It was a most interesting and adventurous time that we spent near the Magalies Mountains.
Be sure that never a thought of adding to his own reputation enters the mind of Baden-Powell in little Mafeking, that never does bitterness for tardy release enter his soul, and that all his labour has but one great all-embracing end the victory of his side. "Play the game; play that your side may win. Don't think of your own glorification or your own risks your side are backing you up.
Another narrow escape occurred during the Matabele campaign, when Baden-Powell was quietly and peacefully marching by the side of a mule battery. One of the mules had a carbine strapped on to its pack-saddle, and by some extraordinary act of carelessness the weapon had been left loaded, and at full-cock.
That nigger's knobkerrie and photograph are now in the Baden-Powell museum a museum which began with butterflies and birds' eggs, and now includes mementos of nearly every tribe and animal on the face of the earth. After the fight Baden-Powell got back to Buluwayo in time for late lunch, and "made up for lost time in the office."
This rat only comes out of its hole early in the night, and retires long before the Eastern day begins, so that several hours had elapsed since the tiger journeyed that way, and the professional was a better man than the amateur. Baden-Powell has all the qualifications that go to make a good scout.
This gallant attack completely "funked" the Boers, and at two o'clock in the morning, long after the little force had returned triumphantly to the town, they began another fusillade, firing furiously at nothing for a whole hour. Fight after fight ensued. Whenever the enemy occupied a position likely to inconvenience the town, Baden-Powell took arms against them, and drove them out.
Which it gave me such a poor opinion of the whole Boy Scout movement that I've treated it thenceforth as dirt beneath my feet. There was a time when I thought pretty tolerably of Baden-Powell. But when it comes to fat-heads "
Colonel Baden-Powell is a soldier of a type which is exceedingly popular with the British public. A skilled hunter and an expert at many games, there was always something of the sportsman in his keen appreciation of war.
When P. Cronje appeared before Mafeking, Baden-Powell had a force of less than 1,200 men, none of whom were regular soldiers and less than half of whom were efficiently armed, with which to sustain the siege of an open town by 7,000 Boers.
Word Of The Day