... The grass where the tents had been was fairly green and not so sickly-looking as it would have been had bedding, etc., lain upon it long, therefore they could have stayed but a day or two.
This observation could have been verified by an examination of the hole made by the kettle prop, but it was not necessary.
... I arrived at the spot at about eleven o’clock, approaching by the road they had taken, and, as I had not met them it was evident they had left between nine and eleven o’clock.
... The bent stick lying apart from the remainder of the arrangement indicated that the company was on foot, for the stick would have been straight if the families had possessed a van.
... The piece of heather told me there were several children—the canister lid being used only to prevent it being overlooked.
... The long and short pieces of wood indicated men and women.
... The fact that two families had been there was ascertained upon searching for the holes made by the tent rods.
This description of pateran is modern, and may be considered as more or less a family matter, the materials composing it, and the manner of using them, being to a great extent the result of a private arrangement and might not be correctly interpreted by members of another tribe.
The true patrin or pateran usually consists of leaves or grass thrown down in a certain manner by the wayside to guide gypsies in following the main party, which may have gone forward several days. As the arrangement differs with different families, and a variation in the arrangement may affect its signification, a non-gypsy is not likely to gain much information should he chance to discover a pateran. In event of it being necessary to cross a city or town, modifications of the patrin are used, so that notwithstanding the turns taken in passing from one side of the place to the other, the straggler is enabled to find the exact route taken and follow unerringly. If several families from different localities were to pass through a city at about the same time, using the same roadways for a part or the whole of the way, a gypsy could tell how many families had passed through a certain street and the direction they took, and would identify his own family sign.