THE MARCH TO THE RENDEZVOUS iii 



covered hill on the right, and those farms and 

 coverts on the left." How to deal with them ? 



The right is easy, the ground is sound and open 

 (though sufficiently rough and heather-covered to 

 be excellent for teaching a young horse to keep his 

 eyes open if he were trotted over it), and it is only 

 necessary to send a file or two straight to the hill. 



The left is different, fences, cultivation, and woods. 

 Men, no matter whether on foot or mounted, cannot 

 go on all day during a march negotiating fences or 

 bursting through woods. We look at the ground. 

 There is a bridle road through that wood which 

 must surely lead to the nearest farm ? — We look at 

 the map — yes, it does, and then swings round and 

 runs fairly parallel to our road till it turns back into 

 it through the last wood, etc., etc. Now, it is also 

 easy to give our left files their directions. 



That they all, non-commissioned officers and 

 men, have been through " Squadron or Company 

 Training " (we will hope under a common-sensed 

 Officer), and know how to approach the various things 

 which may conceal an enemy, so as not to give them- 

 selves away, goes without saying. 



The heath ends, and the road runs through a 

 defile formed by two low bare hills. 



Suppose we halt our advanced guard, for some 

 reason, just as it is entering the defile. Now we 

 can see whether the men have been taught merely 

 from the book, or whether its teaching has been 

 supplemented with observation and common-sense. 

 If the former only, they will stand still where they 



