AN INDIAN BOY SCOUT

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1037, 30 July 1930, Page 14

AN INDIAN BOY SCOUT

In a village of the Kangra Valley, in the Southern Himalayas, in India, lives a lone Scout, who, until two years ago had never seen another Boy Scout. Yet he lived up to his Scout laws, rendering service to all in his native village, with the result that the people looked up to him and copied his good work. This Indian ho y, whose name is Raghbir, heard, in 1928, that a Scout jamboree was to be held in that faroff England where he longed to go. He determined to tramp the 95 miles to Simla, where there were Scout headquarters, apply for permission to attend the Jamboree, and, if acceptel, tramp back again to his vil'age to say good-bye to his people, and then return to Simla to join the contingent before it left. Raghbir had never been to Simla, but he was well educated, having passed his matriculation in that year, and he knew enough of the n/iture ‘of the hill country to attempt the journey alone. To reach headquarters he had four days at his disposal. By the first night he was some thousand feet up the mountains, and slept soundly, all a’one, under a huge banyan tree, while wild beasts roared in the distance. The following day he was 15,000 ft above sea-level, on a path that no man had trodden. On the third day he reached Simla, was readily accepted, and immediately started back to his village. One night when he was high up in the snow-covered mountains, and it was almost pitch dark, a leopard appeared on the path, only about five yards in front of him. lie was frightened, but showed no fear. Instead, he rapped the stony ground sharply two or three times with his staff, and the leopard changed its mind and slowly £'unk into the bushes. The next day, Raghbir was far away from these snowy mountains, tramping along under the burning glare of the Indian sun. His throat was parched, for he had found no water from midday till after seven in the evening, but still his grit bore him on. for, before him, he had a vision of white tents, green grass, and above all of friends whom he had never seen, but who shared the same ideals as his own. Toward eight o’clock, a slight shower fell, and ho managed to catch some water on big leaves. When he reached home his people were surprised and hardly believed that he had been to Sim’a. Soon he bade them goodbye, and once more set off on a 95-mile tramp; his determination had won him through. At the Jamboree his story inspired Scouts from the remotest parts of the globe to carry on, for they realised that nothing can b© done without some effort. (This story is true. The boy’s name is Raghbir Singh; he lives in Jiana, Kangra Valley, Southern Himalayas. Perhaps it will inspire Auckland Scouts, and increase the Scout population, so that when our chief comes next year we will have something to show him, for are we not, too, in a remote part of the globe?) Star Shower (Kathleen Johnston, Ranger, Kakamai Company).