200 THE GAME OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA. 



country. Others have spent long periods in places and yet have hardly picked up a 

 dozen words of the language and know nothing about the inhabitants. The reason of 

 this is not that they are incapable, but that such things have not interested them. 

 Many of these men are wonderfully observant of anything which is of interest to 

 them. Some will be able to tell you after a few minutes in a bar exactly what 

 bottles and drinks were exposed ; others can remember the exact pattern and colour 

 of any necktie they may happen to have seen. 



After several years spent in the wilds, constantly training myself to observe 

 details of country and various other signs which go to make up the science of bush- 

 craft, I returned to England imagining that I was more observant of detail than my 

 fellows, owing to this training. I soon found, however, that I was quite mistaken. 

 I perhaps observed more general details than the average, but the average person 

 had specialised in one or more subjects just as I had specialised in bushcraft, and 

 in their subjects I had not the technical knowledge to compete with them. For there 

 is nothing more difficult than to observe well several perfectly strange or unfamiliar 

 objects and remember their details. So some people can come out of a church 

 with a mental picture of the exact shapes, materials, and constructions of perhaps 

 a dozen different hats, because it is a subject they have studied ; and in like manner 

 an architect can in a few moments commit to memory the plan and relative positions 

 of doors^ windows, and a multitude of other details connected with his building craft. 



Practically everyone has the gift of observation in some special line, and so 

 almost anyone could turn this talent to account in learning to observe country 

 were he so minded. 



The reason why the observation of country is found so difficult at first is 

 that all the objects seen are strange and unfamiliar and difficult or impossible to 

 commit to memory. When, however, you learn that one kind of tree is called 

 a mkuyu and another a mbuyu, and when you get to know what they look like 

 at a distance, you have laid the foundations for recognising them as landmarks. 

 You will next notice that all mkuyus are not alike, and then any of very quaint 

 shapes will begin to impress themselves on your mind. 



Although an eye for country is to a great extent more or less of a gift, anyone 

 who cares to take the trouble can learn a great deal — at any rate enough to take 

 them about most parts of East Africa. It is much more interesting to strike your 

 own line than to trust implicitly to native guides, and also it gives you a sense of 

 freedom impossible to realise when dependent on natives. 



There are two little pieces of advice that I should like to suggest to the beginner 

 if he finds himself alone or lost in a difficult country. 



