Frederick Russell Burnham

“ It seems to me that the ideal training for a soldier in the future will be that which makes every man more or less a scout, taught to use common sense and all five of his other senses, and, above all, to become a good rifle shot, for, all due respect to the artillery, it is the man with rifle who counts in battle. It is surely a mistake to give a man three year' drill and only three months at the rifle butts and then call him a soldier, when he could meet modern conditions far better with three years of rifle and three months' of drill. ”

“ Why, then, should these hardy game animals not thrive and multiply in a country exempt from these perils, with a climate corresponding exactly in range to that of their native land? We ourselves are the only reason why none of this precious game can ever live in our wild plains. So intent are we on destruction that we have become the wonder of the world. ”

“ The day when men are moved in battle like machines seems to have gone by, and instead of producing machines any more we have got to train the individual soldier. One thousand men trained to think for themselves and to shoot straight can whip 10,000 drilled in the old-fashioned way. It is the greatest mistake to think that victory depends on numbers.
This new individuality and mobility will bring back the scout, who had almost died out. Many good scouts are being produced by the war with the Boers, and some excellent scouting is being done by the American army in the Philippines. ”

“ East Africa, broadly viewed, seems designed by nature as a vast game preserve, and should be held largely with this aim in view, for the greater part of the country is of no value for settlement. The English Government, on the strong advice of its local officials, has set aside a domain that shelters everything— the elephant with its valuable ivory, even the lion. Yet these officials, almost to a man, are skilled hunters and fond of sport. ”

“ The natives were astonished: they thought the whole column was on them: men jumped up, and ran hither and thither, rifle in hand. We went on without stopping, and as we passed more and more men came running after us. Some of them were crowding on the rearmost men, so Wilson told off three fellows to "keep those niggers back." They turned, and kept the people in check. At last, nearly at the other end of the vlei, having passed five sets of scherms, we came upon what seemed to be the King's wagons, standing in a kind of enclosure, with a saddled white horse tethered by it. ”

“ So those of us who have lived our allotted span of life look with calmness upon a rather troubled world. We, like the ancient fire worshippers, can draw joy and comfort from the knowledge that the sacred fires in the hearts of the Scouts symbolized by their myriad camps, will follow the setting sun. The Powers of Darkness shall not prevail.
Therefore, we now, in deep appreciation of the life work of this apostle of Happy Youth, lay upon this mountain the weight of his name. ”

“ It seems to me that Baden-Powell is the type of soldier to whom the future belongs -- the man who can do the thing the enemy doesn't expect. If you do what the enemy expects of you, naturally he is prepared for you. ”

“ In the animal world nature seems to work out the essential end by means apparently harsh. If it were not for the natural enemies of the great game herds, they would increase so fast that there would be no food supply, and starvation would be their end. The greater part of the grass-eating animals are not long-lived. With the heat of summer the old must die of thirst and weakness. But as it is now arranged, the lion and leopard and many other enemies kill in one instant, or, at most, in a short, sharp fight, in which the animal can feel no pain. ”

“ They made the mistake, however, of not bringing anybody who understood the camel. We think we are a very progressive people, but, as a matter of fact, when we go abroad we come to the conclusion that the Americans do not know everything. The Australians have made use of the camel a great deal better than we have. The Dutchman can handle an ox better than any American that ever lived. I had to learn that, much against my prejudices, when I arrived in Africa; and there are a good many other things that they can do better than we can. ”

“ Whilst as my chief I naturally stuck up for him, nevertheless, apart from that, I have the highest regard for him to be the true type of soldier of the future, one of those who should and must command armies if victories are to be won. ”

“ The Chief in all his years of war had seen that it was carried on by youth. Nearly all our Rhodesians were very young. One old Matabele warrior, when looking over our dead that fell with Major Allen Wilson on the Shangani, turned to an older chief in amazement and said, "Look, these are only beardless youths, yet they have killed five hundred of our warriors! What will happen to us when the full grown men with beards come over the sea?" ”

“ If those animals could be adopted into our western country, I do not see why the game animals can not be adopted, too, and find the particular food which they are used to, which is more of a desert food. We know that in Africa the wild animals live where the domestic annuals will not live. We know that there are probably thousands of square miles of desert land in our own country, and I believe these animals can be utilized to fill it. We may have some failures or even a good many failures about their introduction. One can not always avoid mistakes. ”

“ The zebra would dot pur plains with color if we gave it the chance, though, from experience, I do not think it a valuable animal either to work or ride, and its hide does not make a leather of any value. Its flesh is good to eat, and it is one of the most beautiful of all the game animals.
These are only a few of the animals and birds that might be introduced into our own vast solitudes, where, for hundreds of miles, can only be seen a lonely raven or solitary coyote. But it can not be, although there should be nothing to prevent it. In Africa the game lives ever in dread of attack. ”

“ The natives inhabiting this part of the country are skilled workmen, and have traded their handiwork with all comers, even as far afield as the Portugese of the West Coast and the Arabs of the East. These natives, being miners and workers of copper and iron, and being permanently located in the ground, would give the very element needed in developing these fields. The country being high is healthy for the white man, and the increasing use of copper bids fair to make it one of the most valuable products a country can have. ”

“ Way back in geological time this implacable desert drove strange monsters far down into the valleys below. You have all seen them in the La Brea pits or as skeletons mounted in our museums. Along the road you traveled today once padded softly in dead of night saber-toothed tigers, long-fanged wolves, and lions of enormous size. Down those winding canyons ponderous mastodons wound their way. High on these crags sat condors and eagles watching for some huge mammal that might be slain, or die of thirst. ”

“ The man with a natural and wholesome love for sport and all forms of sturdy life is confronted by the ruthless pot hunters, who gather the eggs and feathers of every bird that flies, and trap, poison and kill every animal within reach for the immediate gain. To this class must be added a small number of simply destructive men who kill and kill and let the game rot where it falls; men who use a stick of dynamite to get a mess of trout, killing one hundred and catching, maybe, three or four. All these men naturally hate game laws. ”

“ I dread to see savages become expert with the rifle while the average white boy does not know one end of a gun from the other. To shoot, properly with a rifle one must be trained to it from his youth up.
The scout nowadays must have many of the faculties that Daniel Boone had and a good military training in addition. Modern guns and modern ranges have changed the whole scope of his work. One reason why the trained scout will be in greater demand in the future is that nights are going to count for as much as, and perhaps more than, days in the warfare of the future. ”

“ And as the country comes under the active sway of the white man, and the raidings of one tribe by another are rigorously put down, it will be found to produce a still greater variety of products. Its cotton may be as famed as that of Egypt, its coffee of like quality to that of Blantyre, and its fibres and rubber equal to any grown. There is here a great field for the patient and energetic colonist for years to come—to control and direct the different tribes of natives, and to organize and develop its permanent industries. ”

“ It takes a very good, quick horse to pick up a zebra. Of course a good horse will pick Him up all right, right in his native habitat. I ran down some zebra on the first expedition I made into Rhodesia. A couple of well- known hunters in Rhodesia and myself ran down some zebra and captured them with our saddle horses, but they were excellent horses, brought up from Cape Town.
The experience I have had in the Southwest makes me believe there is nothing in the climate of the Southwest to prohibit the introduction of practically all the game animals that were mentioned tioned by Captain Duquesne. ”

“ We retreated in close order into the bush on the opposite side of the vlei—the other side from the scherms. We went slowly on account of the disabled men and horses.
There was a lull, and Wilson rode up to me and asked if I thought I could rush through to the main column. A scout on a good horse might succeed, of course, where the patrol as a whole would not stand a chance. It was a forlorn hope, but I thought it was only a question of here or there, and I said I'd try, asking for a man to be sent with me. ”

“ I have had a long conversation with F. R. Burnham, the famous American scout, now employed with Lord Robert's army, who gave me his impressions of Colonel Baden-Powell, formed from personal contact on active service. Of the gallant defender of Mafeking, he said: - "Returning with others from the Matabele war, aboard ship we happened one day to discuss coming men. Naturally Baden-Powell's name was mentioned. I said that he was the ideal of what the British officer should be. He fought with his brains as well as with his hands, whereby good work was accomplished and waste of men saved ”

“ When it was eaten level with the ground, for fear it might, with its great recuperative powers, renew itself, we have put that curse of God, the sheep, to tear it up by the roots and gnaw to death every little shrub left by the cattle. ”

“ Mr. BROUSSARD. They thrive ?
Major BURNHAM. Oh, yes ; they thrive the same as chickens.
Mr. BROUSSARD. What about the reindeer ?
Major BURNHAM. The reindeer that were introduced into Alaska are all right. Mr. Jackson brought in the first herd. They had a good many difficulties and a good many things to learn about them. ”

“ The copper mines of Montana and Arizona have proven of more value than the gold mines, regardless of the fact that the copper had to be hauled two thousand miles by rail to the seaboard, and the coal and coke to smelt it hauled hundreds of miles to the mines. So far as natural difficulties are concerned, this northern field can be fed from the coal deposits of the valley of the Zambezi, and the product shipped to the East Coast at a less expense than the product of Montana and Arizona can be laid on the dock at New York. ”

“ Far back in the pages of recorded history we find that, when the nations of mankind wish to confer a special tribute which they desire to last through the ages, they dedicate to their deities and heroes one of the dominating mountains of the world and so, in this instance, following the custom of our race through a thousand generations, your committee with great care has selected this particular peak because it is as characteristic and outstanding among mountains as our Chief is among men. ”

“ We splashed through, and the first thing we scouts knew on the other side was that we were riding into the middle of a lot of Matabele among some scherms, or temporary shelters. There were men, and some women and children. The men were armed. We put a bold face on it, and gave out the usual announcement that we did not want to kill anybody, but must have the King.
The natives seemed surprised and undecided; presently, as Major Wilson and the rest of the patrol joined us, one of them volunteered to come along with us and guide us to the King. He was only just ahead, the man said. ”

“ There is in Africa a wonderfully varied range of interesting animals. Most of the desirable ones could easily be introduced into our own Southwest. They would multiply where our own domestic animals can not live. Vast tracts of our lonely deserts could be teeming with life interesting, beautiful, harmless, very useful for food and leather, displacing not a head of our cattle or other domestic stock, offering a grand hunting ground, a true pleasure land to all lovers of animal life.
Throughout all the foothill region and far south into Mexico, the bushbuck would thrive. ”

“ We brought the camel over here, but we did not bring the men that could teach us how to use it. When you put camels in charge of a man who does not understand them, I am free to confess that you are doing about as sensible a thing as if you should take a man from a pile of brick and mortar and send him out west to catch a broncho and ask him to kindly go opt and ride it. ”

“ Continuing north until crossing the streams flowing into the Kafukwe the country becomes more rugged, though still easy of access. The Mashukalumba occupy this country in part, and there is a sprinkling of a class of nomadic bushmen called the Monquoas. They live mostly on honey, roots, fruit, and game, using poisoned arrows both for game-hunting and warfare. This part of the country is one of the finest game countries in Africa. ”