The French cavalry lay great stress on these pointing exercises; they do not expect to turn out many real swordsmen in a squadron, but they want every man to be able to ride his horse at an enemy, and run him through. (E AND F) MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO In addition to the four headings mentioned above, there is the preparation requisite to meet the hundred-and-one eventualities of detached work and miscellaneous duties. Whilst it is quite impossible to foresee or delimitate these, there are a number of exercises and sports which tend to make a young man (and keep an old man) not only supple in his body and sound in wind and limb, but also alert in mind: to put it shortly, they make him more “handy,” more able when left to himself or with a few others to carry out his duty; they give him more confidence in himself; they make the town-bred man approximate more to the pioneer. The ordinary lad of eighteen brought up in a town knows nothing of the country in which his soldiering and scouting will be done, and is not able to do a great many things which a country-bred lad has learnt as a matter of course. On the other hand, the town-bred lad is undoubtedly quicker at picking up and assimilating knowledge. Both have their good qualities, and both can be made into excellent cavalry soldiers by training in the particular points in which they are by breeding deficient.[105] Let us now glance at the sports which tend to make men handy and useful. Every cavalryman should learn to swim, since, unless he can do so, he may either not attempt to cross a swollen river, or he may get drowned in doing so. Not only this, but he should be able to make his horse cross a deep and rapid river whether he can swim or not himself. Some of us still remember the disaster to a cavalry regiment when crossing a river on the frontier. Many sports and exercises--to be able to swim, to row a boat, and so on--are not essentials in the training of a cavalryman, but they are very desirable; and when an opportunity of practising them occurs, every commanding officer should make his men take advantage of it. Again, in the _Manual of Military Engineering_ there is a great deal which may be said to be more suited to pioneers, and a knowledge of which cannot be expected from every cavalry soldier. Knotting and lashing, construction of rafts, scientific demolitions of railways and telegraph lines come under this heading. A certain number of men in each squadron are detailed to act as pioneers, but since in most cavalry operations there is a very good chance of these not being available at the critical moment, it is well that every man should be brought up to a good standard of knowledge in all forms of pioneering, rough field fortifications, and in tapping a wire, blowing up a culvert, etc., etc.