THE INDIAN SENSE OF DIRECTION. IOI 



no windings or turnings of the road rendered neces- 

 sary by natural obstacles puzzle him; his knowledge 

 of direction is as true as the attraction of the magnetic 

 needle to the pole. 



Nothing excites the unfeigned astonishment of the 

 white man, first brought into contact with the red, 

 more than this Indian faculty of never losing his sense 

 of direction and finding his way from place to place, 

 through the trackless wilds of nature. There are some 

 few white men who acquire it, more or less, or perhaps 

 some very few who even naturally possess it, but the 

 gift is a rare one. A notable instance of a white 

 man developing this inestimable gift of locality was 

 observed in the late Confederate General Stonewall 

 Jackson, whose conspicuous gallantry and military 

 talents excited the admiration of the world during the 

 war of Secession. He was not a " born soldier" how- 

 ever, for he was educated as a West Point Officer, 

 though he had retired subsequently from military life, 

 and had for some time before the war followed the 

 homely calling of a schoolmaster and preacher. 



And speaking of military genius if there is such 

 a thing as a born soldier, which may well be doubted 

 it is certainly to be found among the red men. The 

 tactical skill, and high military talent for desultory 

 warfare exhibited by the Indians, we venture to think, 

 must be conceded by their bitterest enemies ; and prob- 

 ably by none is this more frankly admitted than by 

 United States army officers who have passed their 

 lives upon the frontier. 



Most of these gentlemen are themselves men of 

 considerable attainments, in a military point of view, 

 and well qualified to speak with authority on this 



