1 7 o HUNTING TRIPS 



miles without halting; but these had prob- 

 ably been very little molested, and there 

 was a chance that they would not go far 

 without stopping. After getting through the 

 first grove, the huddled herd had straight- 

 ened itself out into single file, and trotted 

 off in a nearly straight line. A mile or two 

 of ground having been passed over in this 

 /ray, the animals had slackened their pace 

 into a walk, evidently making up their 

 minds that they were out of danger. Soon 

 afterwards they had begun to go slower, 

 and to scatter out on each side, browsing 

 or grazing. 



It was not difficult work to follow up the 

 band at first. While trotting, their sharp 

 hoofs came down with sufficient force to 

 leave very distinct footprints, and, more- 

 over, the trail was the more readily made 

 out as all the animals trod nearly in each 

 other's steps. But when the band spread 

 out the tracking was much harder, as each 

 single one, walking slowly along, merely 

 made here and there a slight scrape in the 



