264 INDICATIONS FROM DESERTED CAMPS. 



fear that must be a class of knowledge that can only 

 be acquired by long practice in the field, and in the 

 art of following and reading trails. A good deal can 

 however be gathered about human wanderers when 

 their camping places are met with. How many fires 

 had they allowing about six men to a small fire? 

 Then again, where they have lain down to sleep the 

 mark of the body often remains clearly visible on the 

 ground ; where two persons have slept near each other, 

 the standing grass that grew up between them is fre- 

 quently plainly visible. Then again among Indians 

 and other savages each tribe has its own peculiar methods 

 of camping, so that an expert plainsman can tell at a 

 glance to what tribe the people belonged that had en- 

 camped there. 



Too much care cannot be taken in scanning the sur- 

 face of the country in front, as the hunter proceeds, 

 to see if any game is in sight. We feel quite satis- 

 fied that for this purpose there is nothing like good 

 binoculars, such as we have already ventured to recom- 

 mend in preference to glasses of higher power. 



It is the greatest mistake to hurry over the ground 

 without sufficient caution ; want of care in this respect 

 often results not only in losing the chance of getting 

 shots at valuable animals, but also in causing game 

 which has been lying down in some quiet corner, 

 unobserved, to jump up and scamper off, communicat- 

 ing the alarm to all other animals that may happen 

 to witness its flight. Wild animals of all kinds are 

 extremely observant of the conduct and movements 

 of others; even such creatures as birds, or any kind 

 of small game exhibiting signs of alarm, quickly spreads 

 an alert among all the larger animals inhabiting a 



