56 "DIVIDES." 



a country which would otherwise be totally impassable. 

 An experienced plainsman however, by following the 

 line of the divide is able to avoid the ravines; and 

 though the route may often be of necessity a very 

 circuitous one, still in the end he can generally succeed 

 in conducting a train of waggons, or pack animals, by 

 this means, from one point to another, without meeting 

 any very serious obstruction. 



The faculty of being able to distinguish the true " di- 

 vide" from false ones: that is to say, from those that 

 lead into a cul de sac, has always been esteemed one 

 of the best tests of a plainsman's abilities; and like 

 the gift of following a blind trail, or any other accom- 

 plishment, the art may be learned or at any rate the 

 instinct be largely developed by experience and a 

 clever guide can generally tell by observing the lie of 

 the country, and especially by noting the direction of 

 the game paths, which of the many headlands he ought 

 to follow. 



Buffalo, and probably most other kinds of heavy 

 game,* generally travel along the divides during their 

 migrations, and so save themselves the labour of 

 repeatedly crossing deep and precipitous ravines; many 

 of whose banks are besides covered with dense thickets 

 of brushwood, a thing always avoided, if possible, by 

 many kinds of plains animals, such as antelopes and 

 other timid creatures, who rely upon their speed and 

 quickness of vision for protection: instinct therefore 

 teaches these animals to shun the neighbourhood of 

 cover, on account of the concealment it affords to 



* The ancient elephant paths in Ceylon and Southern India furnish 

 another excellent example of the same kind: these great natural game 

 paths will remain visible in the jungles for ages after the last elephant 

 has left its trail there. 



