TRACKERS AND TRACKING 169 



track ; (4) whether made by a solitary beast 

 or by a herd. An experienced tracker takes in 

 all these details at a single glance, and with the 

 one word ' ahoung ' (old) — a word that becomes 

 unpleasantly familiar — passes on without wast- 

 ing a minute. But the average Burman tracker 

 seems to delight in beginning at the wrong 

 end. He will stand over a track and solemnly 

 discuss whether it was made by a bison or a 

 tsaing, the said track being obviously three 

 days old. If it is too old to follow it matters 

 little whether it was made by a bison or tsaing 

 or any other animal ; it is no good to you, and 

 once its date has been ascertained no further 

 time need be wasted in examining it. Then, 

 again, you decide beforehand, perhaps, to follow 

 only the tracks of a solitary bull, and come early 

 on the trail of a herd. Over this your trackers 

 will linger lovingly, hoping to induce you to 

 take it on. If you really mean going after a 

 solitary animal don't waste a moment over 

 the other tracks, even though they be red- 

 hot. You can always return and follow them 

 if you want to. It must be remembered that 

 your Burmans want meat. They don't care 

 a brass farthing about the head, and would 

 really rather you shot a cow than otherwise, 

 the meat being more tender, and the animal 

 itself less likely to charge than a bull. 



Now to revert to the considerations which 



