ACTUAL FIRING OF THE TRACES. 437 



take up loosely a bundle of dry grass, holding it by tbe upper and 

 smaller end, and when it has been fully lighted at the lower end, to 

 trail it along over the grass to be burnt, the wrist being twisted about 

 in opposite directions. This motion of the wrist is necessary not only 

 to keep the bundle of grass in constant active combustion, but also 

 to drop at short intervals, in the midst of the grass to be consumed, 

 blazing fragments of the burning bundle, without which a continuous 

 line of fire could not be established and the trace thereby rapidly 

 and easily cleared. The burning bundle of grass will, for the sake 

 of convenience, be called a fire-brand or torch. 



In firing a trace for the first time, at whatever other point also 

 the grass may have to be lit, a fire-brand must always be drawn 

 along the cushion of dry grass formed on the edge of the grass to be 

 burnt. When a sufficient length of this cushion has been lighted, 

 the fire must of course be allowed to spread away over the trace, 

 but should be put out on the outside before it can get across the 

 check line into the area to be protected. It should be beaten out 

 or brushed back with thick bunches of leaves or stout leafy twigs, 

 which bunches may aptly, for shortness, be termed brooms. The 

 best brooms are made by tying together 5-10 leaves of the date 

 palm ; these are often still serviceable after a long day's work. Fail- 

 ing date palms, the smaller branches of any broad-leaved forest tree 

 with numerous agglomerated to ugh leaves possessing strong petioles 

 may be used ; the leaves should be fully mature, and if they are 

 caducous, their shedding time should be still remote, otherwise they 

 will shrivel up or disarticulate and fall off after very little use. Such 

 brooms do not, however, in the most favourable circumstances, last 

 long and have to be renewed several times during a single firing- 

 operation, thus necessitating the detailing of several men exclusively 

 for the cutting and constant supply of the requisite quantity of 

 broom material. 



A few brief remarks are necessary regarding the use of the fire- 

 tracer's broom. As a rule, no attempt should be made to beat out 

 or brush back the fire until it has begun to creep outwards away 

 from the cushion of dry grass, most of which has by such time been, 

 consumed or has at least ceased to flare up. To attack it earlier 

 would mean totally unnecessary exposure of the broom-men to fa- 

 tigue, intense discomfort and even suffering, without in any way 

 accelerating the work, for the fire would be burning too fiercely 

 in the cushion of dry grass for much impression to be made on it 

 by the efforts of the men. In beating out the advancing fire, the 

 broom should be brought down with a sort of oblique sweeping 



