TRACKING GAME 231 



it will iiave to be the guide who does the 

 talking ; if asked leading questions, he answers 

 what he thinks will please you, or lies till he is 

 certain what you want, and between one and the 

 other you \vill learn little of what you wish to 

 know. 



I like the savage, and if sometimes angry with 

 him, the anger passes quickly ; for you should 

 hear his laugh when telling other boys about 

 your temper, when all will laugh, and soon forget, 

 for they are just children, though sometimes very 

 trying. 



Even if you like and trust your gun-boy, carry 

 your own weapon. This gun may have two 

 barrels, or a magazine and one : that you decide 

 yourself. After using every kind of gun and rifle, 

 from a muzzle-loading smooth bore through a 

 chain of Sniders, Martinis, eight and twelve bores, 

 old-fashioned Express rifles, to the latest cordite 

 Magnums., I prefer a small-bored magazine rifle 

 for all-round shooting, and my double live-hundred 

 cordite when expecting trouble. 



The tracking of game is carried out by observ- 

 ing the track, droppings of animals, and signs 

 on grass, shrub, and tree, of pressure from their 

 bodies, or marks of reeding. 



The tracks illustrated in these pages have 

 been made from actual spoor, over the course of 

 many years' hunting. They show the tracks of 

 animals when standing or walking on soft ground. 

 To spoor well, it is nccessaiy to have hunted 

 much, and these tra ings can crJy give a general 

 idea. The track itself is very rarely as complete 



