114- FOREST CEEATUKES. 



where slots are found on such a surface you must look 

 elsewhere for facts to betray the truth. 



It may sometimes be of assistance to know if the 

 trace on the ground was made by the right or left hoof. 

 You may in general therefore take it as a rule that 

 the outer half of the cloven hoof is a little longer than 

 the other. 



On mossy ground it is difficult to find any trace at all 

 owing to the elasticity of the verdure, and you may look 

 a long time without being able to find the slightest sign 

 or impression. But if you have at last found the mark 

 of one foot-step and can tell which one it was, you will 

 then know exactly where to look for the next, and 

 this will greatly assist you in finding it. Do not give 

 up the search because of the soft yielding turf : go on, 

 and perhaps you may come to a spot, where a mole 

 has been at work; and the stag, having trod on the 

 thrown-up earth, has left an impression of his hoof as 

 sharply defined as the crest or motto on the seal of a 

 letter. 



And if the elastic moss which covers the ground pre- 

 vents the eye from judging of the elevation or concavity 

 that a slot presents, your touch may tell you. Lay 

 your fingers gently in the slot, and you may perhaps be 

 able to feel what you cannot see. 



The dewy grass at early morning betrays at once that 

 game has crossed it, and hoar frost also marks every 



