94 GOING OUT ALONE. 



should go out alone, is because any ordinary mishap 

 such as a sprained ankle or other casualty, which 

 might prevent his making his way back to camp, would 

 in that case become a most serious matter. 



Thus Colonel Dodge, in entering his protest against 

 this dangerous practice mentions, for the benefit of 

 young sportsmen, an instance within his knowledge 

 where a man went out hunting alone in the Black 

 Hills, and fell into a chasm breaking his leg, and so 

 perished miserably by starvation. Some three weeks 

 elapsed before his remains were at length discovered 

 by his friends. * 



"I have known," says the Colonel, "very many instances of 

 accidents, not very serious in themselves, but which would 

 probably have been fatal had the individuals been alone when 

 they happened. I speak from ample experience. Do not go 

 hunting (on the plains) alone, "f 



A trustworthy native attendant who knows the lo- 

 cality well is moreover at all times an invaluable adjunct 

 to the European out in the wilds in quest of sport. 

 In America, there are many white men who, bred 

 and born in the solitudes of the forest or upon the 

 plains, have become so accomplished in the art of 

 finding their way, that they are almost as good as any 

 Indian but if the services of a faithful and reliable 

 Indian hunter can be procured the European tourist 

 who contemplates a forest trip will do well to secure 

 him. In Hindustan European sportsmen almost always 

 act upon this policy, and secure the services of one 

 or more local " shikaris, " or native hunters, whose 



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

 Dodge, 1877, p. in. 

 t Ibid., p. 112. 



