120 ANIMAL ARTISANS 



following instance of its manifestation in an Australian 

 aboriginal occurred a few years ago in Yorkshire. A 

 gentleman who was interested in ethnology, and had 

 been for some time resident in Australia, when return- 

 ing to England with his family brought also an 

 aboriginal girl as a domestic servant. They stayed 



at a house at B in the East Riding, and after 



a few weeks moved on to another house at C , 



some fourteen miles away as the crow flies. The 

 journey was made in a closed carriage, and the road 

 was circuitous. A few days later the girl disappeared, 



and news arrived that she had come back to B . 



She had not returned by the road, and did not explain 

 how she found her way, merely stating that she 

 wanted to return there and had come ; but such an 

 unusual-looking woman had naturally attracted some 

 attention on the way, and inquiries elsewhere proved 

 that she had come straight across country from one 

 house to the other. There are no large natural 

 obstacles between the two houses, but the country 

 is rather flat and intersected by large ditches, too deep 

 to ford and too wide for most horses to jump. The 

 girl could not cross these except at certain points, 

 but apparently did not lose her way in spite of these 

 diversions. 



A correspondent familiar with the Central American 

 forests states that the Indians there rely on experience 

 to find their path. Mr. Selous, on the other hand, 

 declares that "there is one faculty which the Bush- 

 men possess in a remarkable degree, which enables 

 them to find their way, by day or night, through 

 level, pathless forests, where there are no landmarks 



