When out in India he used to spend many an early morning in practising, and he gives the result of one of these mornings in his little book on Scouting, which I would have you read in its entirety.
It is a book which has many of the virtues of a novel, and is written in plain English.
The following instance will show you how assiduously B.-P.

practises scouting, and will also give you an idea as to beguiling your next country walk.
_Ground:_ A well-frequented road in an Indian hill-station--dry--gravel, grit, and sand.
_Atmosphere:_ Bright and dry, no wind.
_Time:_ 6 A.M.to 8 A.M.
_Signs: Fresh Wheelmarks._ [Fresh because the tracks were clearly defined with sharp edges in the sand; they overrode all other tracks.] [This must mean a "rickshaw" (hand-carriage) had passed this morning--no other carriages are used at this station.] _Going Forward._ [Because there are tracks of bare feet, some ridden over, others overriding the wheel track, but always keeping along it, _i.e._ two men pulling in front, two pushing behind.] [Had they been independent wayfarers they would have walked on the smooth, beaten part of the road.] _The men were going at a walk._ (Because the impression of the fore part of the foot is no deeper than that of the heel, and the length of pace not long enough for running.) _One man wore shoes_, the remaining three were barefooted.
_One wheel was a little wobbly._ _Deduction_ _The track was that of a rickshaw conveying an invalid in comparatively humble circumstances, for a constitutional._ Because it went at a slow pace, along a circular road which led nowhere in particular (it had passed the cemetery and the only house along that road), at an early hour of the morning, the rickshaw being in a groggy state and the men not uniformly dressed.
NOTE .-- This deduction proved correct.

On returning from my walk I struck the same track (_i.e._ the wobbly wheel and the one shod man) on another road, going ahead of me.

I soon overtook them, and found an old invalid lady being driven in a hired bazaar rickshaw.
While following the tracks of the rickshaw, I noticed fresh tracks of two horses coming towards me, followed by a big dog.
_They had passed since the rickshaw_ (overriding its tracks).
_They were cantering_ (two single hoof-prints, and then two near together).
_A quarter of a mile farther on they were walking_ for a quarter of a mile.

(Hoof-prints in pairs a yard apart.) Here the dog dropped behind, and had to make up lost ground by galloping up to them.