place where the
earth is soft, and make a careful examination, embracing the entire
area where it is likely to run.

Indians who find themselves pursued and wish to escape, scatter as much
as possible, with an understanding that they are to meet again at some
point in advance, so that, if the pursuing party follows any one of the
tracks, it will invariably lead to the place of rendezvous. If, for
example, the trail points in the direction of a mountain pass, or
toward any other place which affords the only passage through a
particular section of country, it would not be worth while to spend
much time in hunting it, as it would probably be regained at the pass.

[Illustration: HORSE-TRACKS AT ORDINARY SPEED.]

As it is important in trailing Indians to know at what gaits they are
traveling, and as the appearance of the tracks of horses are not
familiar to all, I have in the following cut represented the prints
made by the hoofs at the ordinary speed of the walk, trot, and gallop,
so that persons, in following the trail of Indians, may form an idea as
to the probability of overtaking them, and regulate their movements
accordingly.

In traversing a district of unknown country where there are no
prominent landmarks, and with the view of returning to the point of
departure, a pocket compass should always be carried, and attached by a
string to a button-hole of the coat, to prevent its being lost or
mislaid; and on starting out, as well as frequently during the trip, to
take the bearing, and examine the appearance of the country when facing
toward the starting-point, as a landscape presents a very different
aspect when viewing it from opposite directions. There are few white
men who can retrace their steps for any great distance unless they take
the above precautions in passing over an unknown country for the first
time; but with the Indians it is different; the sense of locality seems
to be innate with them, and they do not require the aid of the magnetic
needle to guide them.

Upon a certain occasion, when I had made a long march over an
unexplored section, and was returning upon an entirely different route
without either road or trail, a Delaware, by the name of "Black
Beaver," who was in my party, on arriving at a particular point,
suddenly halted, and, turning to me, asked if I recognized the country
before us. Seeing no familiar objects, I replied in the negative. He
put the same question to the other white men of