Bearings by the shape of Ant-hills.--That most accurate observer, Pierre Huber, writes as follows concerning the nests of the yellow ants, which are abundantly to be found in the Swiss Alps and in some other mountainous countries. It must be recollected, in reading his statement, that the chief occupation of ants is to move their eggs and larvae from one part of the nest to another, to ensure them a warm and equable temperature; therefore, it is reasonable to expect that the nests of ants should be built on a uniform principle as regards their shape and aspect. Huber says "they serve as a compass to mountaineers when they are surrounded by thick mists, or have lost their way during the night; they do so in the following manner:--The ant-hills (of the yellow ants), which are by far more numerous and more high in the mountains than anywhere else, are longer than they are broad, and are of a similar pattern in other respects. Their direction is invariably from east to west. Their highest point and their steepest side are turned towards the point of sunrise in the winter-time (au levant d'hiver), and they descend with a gradual slope in the opposite direction. I have verified these experiences of the shepherds upon thousands of ant-hills, and have found a very small number of exceptions; these occurred only in the case where the ant-hills had been disturbed by men or animals. The ant-hills do not maintain the constancy of their form in the lowlands, where they are more exposed to such accidents."
Ripple-marks on Snow or Sand.--The Siberians travel guided by the ripples in the snow, which run in a pretty fixed direction, owing to the prevalence of a particular wind. The ripples in a desert of sand are equally good as guides; or the wind itself, if it happens to be blowing, especially to a person pushing through a tangled belt of forest. Before leaving a well-known track, and striking out at night into the broad open plain, notice well which way the wind blows as regards the course you are about to pursue.
Flight of Birds.--I have read somewhere that in the old days coasting sailors occasionally took pigeons with them, and when they had lost their bearings they let one fly, which it did at once to the land.
To follow a Track at Night.--Where the track is well marked, showers of sparks, ably struck with a flint and steel, are sufficient to show it, without taking the pains of making a flame.
Smell of an Old Track.--The earth of an old and well-trodden road has a perceptible smell, from the dung and trampling of animals passing over it, especially near to encampments. It is usual at night, when a guide doubts whether or no he is in the track, to take up handfuls of dirt and smell it. It is notorious that cattle can smell out a road.
MARKS FOR THE WAY-SIDE.
Marks on Trees--Cutting Marks.--A very excellent "tree-line" is made by cutting deep notches in a line of trees, starting from some conspicuous object, so that the notches will face the men that are to be guided by it: the trees must be so selected that three, or at least two of them, are in sight at once. The notch or sliced bark of a tree is called a "blaze" in bush language. These blazed trees are of much use as finger-posts on a dark night. They are best made by two persons; one chipping the trees on his right, and the other those on his left. If the axes are quite sharp, they only need to be dropped against the tree in order to make the chip. Doing so, hardly retards a person in his walking. Another way more suitable to some kinds of forests, is to strike the knife into the left side of the tree, to tear down a foot of bark, and to leave the bark hanging, for a double extent of white surface is shown in this way. Also, to break down tops of saplings and leave them hanging: the undersides of the leaves being paler than the upper, and the different lines of the reversed foliage make a broken bush to look unnatural among health trees, and it quickly arrests the attention. If you want a tree to be well-scored or slashed, so as to draw attention to it without fail, fire bullets into it, as into a mark, and let the natives cut them out in their own way, for the sake of the lead. They will effect your purpose admirably, without suspecting it.
Stamping Marks on Trees.--The keepers of some of the communal forests in Switzerland are provided with small axes, having the back of the axe-head worked into a large and sharp die, the impression of the die being some letter or cipher indicating the commune. When these foresters wish to mark a tree, they give it first a slice with the edge of the axe, and then (turning the axe) they deal it a heavy blow with the back of the axe-head. By the first operation they prepare a clean surface for their mark; and, by the second, they stamp their cipher deeply into the wood.
Branding Trees.--Some explorers take branding irons, and use them to mark each of their camping-places with its number. This is especially useful in Australian travel, where the country is monotonous, and there are few natives to tell the names of places.