88 INDIAN ATTACKS ON OVERLAND WAGGON-TRAINS. 



train. There is comparatively little risk, and plunder is ample. 

 For days he will watch the slow-moving line, until he knows 

 exactly the number, etc., of men that defend it. If a direct 

 attack involves too much risk, the next concern is to get 

 possession of the horses and mules. He will follow the 

 train, even for weeks, unseen and unsuspected, until, lulled 

 into false security, the guardians become careless, and like 

 a thunderbolt from a clear sky, the Indians rush into the 

 herd with whoops and yells, scare it into a stampede, and 

 in a moment all disappear together. " * 



Now as regards this fatal negligence and want of 

 caution, we shall perhaps be pardoned for remarking, 

 before proceeding further, that we have frequently 

 observed and noted the vast difference that exists 

 between the educated and the uneducated man, in this 

 respect. To our own mind there is nothing which 

 more clearly marks the different cast of thought, 

 which distinguishes persons of the lower class from 

 those above them, than this matter of systematic 

 vigilance and caution. The commpn man may be 

 induced to exercise vigilance for the day, but so far 

 as our experience goes it is often almost impossible 

 to get persons of the lower class to adopt any kind 

 of systematic precautionary measures. Let any large 

 employer of labour or director of works, or officers 

 serving in H.M's forces by land or sea, think of this 

 for a moment; and we venture to believe that few of 

 them will be disposed to dispute the truth of this 

 assertion. The immense difficulty of getting men of 

 this class to observe the most ordinary precautions, 

 even when working in the most risky and dangerous 

 employments, is everywhere well known; and though 



* The Hunting Grounds of the Great West, by Colonel Richard 

 J. Dodge, U.S.A., 1877. 



