TRAILS ON HARD GROUND. 259 



follow after. In dry countries more especially there 

 are often regular beaten tracks to be seen for long 

 distances, leading to the springs and drinking pools; 

 these may frequently be seen converging towards 

 the water from several points of the compass. The 

 converging lines of such trails indicate that they lead 

 .towards and not away from water, and are undoubtedly 

 utilized by game to guide them in their search after 

 the precious fluid; the hunter also finds them useful 

 guides to water. In these dry countries the ground 

 is often baked so hard by the scorching suns of the 

 hot season, that it becomes almost as hard as iron, 

 so that it is distinctly dangerous to gallop at speed 

 over it, as it affords no hold for the horse's feet, which 

 slip as if on stone flags. Under these circumstances 

 of course, distinct impressions of the footprints of 

 animals are only seen in soft places. But faint im- 

 pressions of the points of hoofs and abrasions upon 

 the hard earth will frequently be left, w r hich are re- 

 cognisable by slight changes in the shade of colour 

 of the surface. While among short grass, etc., there 

 will be small depressions of and a bending or bruising 

 of the blades by the feet of the passing animals. 



Similar evidences may appear upon rocks and other 

 very hard ground, in the form of mere scrapes and 

 scratches, * which however are still sufficient to furnish 

 a clue to a clever tracksman. On the hard dry 

 ground of Australia for example, the native blacks 

 will unerringly follow the blind trail of lost horses 

 and cattle over ground of this sort, by means of what 

 would be almost invisible traces to uninstructed eyes. 



* See remarks on this in Theodore S. Van Dyke's Still-Hunter, 

 .New York, 1888, pp. 149 151. 



