The Chief Scout Talk

Taranaki Daily News, 5 July 1930, Page 25 (Supplement)

The Chief Scout Talk

PICKING UP TRACKS. (Bv Lt- Gen. Lord Baden-Powell.) A man was once found drowned in a river. It was supposed that he must have fallen in accidentally and that the cuts on his head were caused by stones, etc., in the river. Then someone took a drawing of his boots and after searchimr the river bank came on his tracks, and followed them to a spot where there had evidently been a struggle." The ground was much trampled, bushes were broken down to the water’s edge, and tracks were discovered of the feet of two other men. Though Die mystery was never unravelled, the tracks showed the case to be one. of probable murder, which would not otherwise have been edA scout must learn to recognise the meaning of tracks at a glance—the pace the maker of the tracks was going, and so on. In walking a man puis the whole flat of hi(S foot on the ground, each foot

a little under a yard from the other. When a man is running the toes are more deeply dug into the ground and a little dirt is kicked up—and the feet are more than* a yard apart. Sometimes- men walk backwards in order to deceive anyone who may be tracking. A good .scout can generally tell this at once, for the stride becomes shorter, the toes are more turned in, and the heels are lightly impressed. With animals, if they are moving fast, the toes are more deeply dug into the ground. They also kick, up the dirt

and their paces are longer than wheij going slowly. You ought to be able tell the pace at which a horse has pass-, ed directly you see the tracks. At a walk the horse makes twb pairs of hoof prints —the near (left) hind foot close in front of near forefoot mark, and the off (right) forefoot similarly just behind the print of the off hinAfoot. At a trot the track is similar but the stride is longer. The hind feet are generally longer and narrower in shape than the forefeet. THE AGE OF TRACKS. Tn addition to learning to recognise the pace of tracks, you should be able to know how old they are. This is a most important point,' and requires a very great amount of practice and experience before you can judge it really well. So much depends upon the state of the ground and weather and its effects on the “spoor.” If you follow one track, say, on a dry windy day, over varying ground, you will find that when it is on light sandy /soil it will look old in a very short time, because any damp earth that it may kick up from under the surface will dry very rapidly to the same colour as the surface dust. The sharp edges of the footmark too will soon be rounded), off by the breeze playing over the dry dlist in which they are formed. When it gets into damp ground the same track will look much fresher, because the sun will have only partially dried up the up-turned soil, and the wind will not, therefore, have bevelled off the sharp edges of the impression. Furthermore if it gets into damn clay, under shade of trees, etc. where the sun does not get at it, the same track, which may have looked quite a day old in the snn, will here look quite fresh. Of course a great clue to the age of tracks will often be found in. spots of rain having fallen on them eince they were made (if you know at what time the rain fell). Dust or grass seeds blown into them (if you noticed at what time the wind was blowing), or the crossing of other tracks over the original ones, also provide valuable clues. Look out also for .where the grass had been trodden down, and note the extent to which it has since dried or withered. In following a horse, the length of time since it passed can be judged to some extent by the freshness or otherwise of its droppings, due allowance being made for the effect of the sun, rain, or birds, and so on. Having learnt to distinguish the age and pace of spoor, you must next leain to follow it over all kinds of ground. This is an accomplishment that you can practice all your life, and you will still find yourself learning at the end of it. But you will also find yourself continually improving.