CREATURES OF THE WILD 199 



prowess far in rear. Nor is this logically to be 

 wondered at, for the nomad primitive Indian 

 is born and brought up to bush travel ; it is to 

 him second nature, while to our more gently 

 cultured race it often carries the experience of an 

 unexpected robust education. 



Creatures of the wild, and akin to animals in 

 their adaptability to their surroundings, Indians 

 have from their beginning been a race of able 

 hunters and wanderers ; lithe of sinew, sound of 

 lung — enduring, and, most highly developed 

 characteristic of all, endowed with peculiar, 

 unerring, intuitive scent for trail or direction. 



One could not wish for better henchmen on the 

 trail, but, at the same time, it is difficult to enlist 

 their service, particularly if the journey proposed 

 is to be a long one. There are two prominent 

 reasons why the red man, on most occasions, 

 hesitates to accompany a white stranger on a 

 long trail. Firstly, it is seldom the red man's 

 custom to leave his lodge of women and children 

 for any lengthy period, for they are largely 

 dependent on him for food and management of 

 camp life ; while, at the same time, the man's 

 presence is to his women-folk a safeguard against 

 danger of any kind. Secondly, they are dubious 

 that the white man may possess strange ideas 

 in his pursuit of his objective, and that he may 

 not foresee the dangers and hardships ahead as 

 clearly as they do in their fuller experience ; 

 which prompts the fear that the white man 

 might lead them into a tight corner and needless 

 dangers, against which they, when by themselves, 

 would accurately forecast and avoid. All of 



