Collecting Cotton
Translation details
Model:mistral-large-2512.Translated text
Section titled “Translated text”Prepare pieces of cotton or yarn each 1 feet (30 cm) long. The type may be the cheapest, as long as the color is not bright (khaki is best).
Use these pieces to mark a path as an instructor through pastures, forests, rocky areas, or generally less frequented places. Avoid cultivated fields unless they are your property or you have permission from the owners. Do not simply throw the cotton on the ground; instead, attach it to trees, fences, bushes, and low-hanging branches, spaced 20 paces apart.
Then, send out 1 or 2 patrols to collect all the pieces of cotton and reach the end of the marked path as quickly as possible. When a scout participating in the game spots a piece of yarn, they announce it by calling out their patrol’s name so that both patrols can more easily orient themselves in the search. Apart from the instance of finding a trail, no other shouts are allowed. Each patrol gathers the found yarn into the hands of their patrol leader, and the leader whose patrol has collected the greater number of cotton pieces by the end of the game wins.
This game gives the instructor an opportunity to identify the most skilled trackers. If the trails are skillfully laid out, the scouts of the winning patrol deserve an additional mark for their cleverness. This method of tracking has the advantage over tracking irons in that it teaches scouts to pay close attention not only to the ground but to all directions.
Source scan: Polona / National Library, marked “Public Domain”. View scan — image 28.
Metadata
Section titled “Metadata”- Type: game
- Traits: Not stated in the source
- Source: Herman A. Mojmir, Ćwiczenia i zabawy skautowe (1912)
- Printed pages: 16–17
- Digital edition: Digital edition · Source record
- Open the edition at the relevant page: p. 16
- Read the source text: ciz-024