FOREWORD 
How Scouting Began 
“How did Scouting come to be used by girls?” That 
is what I have been asked . Well , it was this way. In 
the beginning I had used Scouting — that is, Woodcraft, 
handiness, and cheery helpfulness — as a means for 
training young soldiers when they first joined the army, 
to help them become handy, capable men and able to 
hold their own with anyone instead of being mere 
drilled machines . 
You have read about the wars m your country against 
the Red Indians, of the gallantry of your soldiers against 
the cunning of the Red Man, and what is more, of the 
pluck of your women on those dangerous frontiers 
Well, we have had much the same sort of thing in 
South Africa. Over and over again I have seen there 
the wonderful bravery and resourcefulness of the 
zvomen when the tribes of Zulu or Matabels have been 
out on the war path against the white settlers. 
I n the Boer war a number of women volunteered to 
help my forces as nurses or otherwise ; they were full 
of pluck and energy, but unfortunately they had never 
been trained to do anything, and so with all the good - 
will in the world they zvere of no use. I could not help 
feeling how splendid it would be if one could only 
train them in peace time in the same way one trained 
the young soldiers — that is, through Scoutcraft. 
I afterwards took to training boys in that way, but 
I had not been long at it before the girls came along, 
and offered to do the very thing I had hoped for, they 
wanted to take up Scouting also. 
They did not merely zvant to be the imitators of the 
boys; they wanted a line of their own. 
So I gave them a smart blue uniform and the names 
of “Guides” and my sister wrote an outline of the 
scheme. The name Guide appealed to the British girls 
because the pick of our frontier force in India is the 
Corps of Guides. The term cavalry or infantry hardly 
describes it since it is composed of all-round handy men 
