TRACKERS AND TRACKING 175 



It is, in fact, a migration of a kind. A rest- 

 lessness seems to pervade them, and they do 

 not stop either to feed or to lie up until they 

 have reached the place they have been steadily 

 making for, perhaps twenty miles off. Arrived 

 there they resume their normal habits, wandering 

 about for food, but never going very far unless 

 alarmed, or until a desire for a further change 

 sends them on the trek once more; probably 

 back to their old ground. I hope the reader 

 will forgive me if I have been somewhat long- 

 winded on this subject; but it is so much more 

 satisfactory to have a reason for following a 

 trail, or for leaving it alone, than doing so simply 

 because it happens to be new or old, with no 

 fixed idea as to the chances of success or the 

 reverse. A good beast is worth a good tramp, 

 and it is infinitely more satisfactory to follow 

 the comparatively old trail of a really good bull 

 than the fresh one of a smaller animal, always 

 provided there is good prospect of coming up 

 with the former by the evening. 



With regard to the consideration of whether 

 the track is that of a bison or tsaing, here again 

 experience is the only guide. An old bull bison 

 makes a track that can be mistaken for nothing 

 else; but the trail of a young bull bison and 

 that of an old bull tsaing is often so alike as to 

 deceive even experienced trackers. The ground 

 over which the tracks lead will generally help the 



