THE WHITE PELICAN 



377 



The lake is thirty miles long, and ten miles wide, oppo- 

 site onr lodging-. When we reached its shoi-es, a stoi-m which 

 had forced our one hundred and twenty-five foot steamer on 

 Lake Tahoe to abandon i)art of liei' trip, was still I'aging. 

 Long, curling, crested waves came rolling in, to break on the 

 beach in a manner creditable to the sea shore. We looked at 

 the troul)led waters, at the roughly made, flat-bottomed 

 punts, tlie only available boats, and at 7\nahao, the assumed 

 island home of the Pelicans, seven miles from our shore — 

 and decided to wait. 



\■^J^ln,^ i'tlit;;iKS, Aiiahao Islaml 



The Indians assured us that if we did succeed in reach- 

 ing the island we would certainly be killed by rattlesnakes, 

 and the long anticipated meeting with Pelicans seemed 

 somehow to ]oi-? much of its charm. Incidentally it nuiy be 

 remarked that in the end we found abundant ground for the 

 Indians' statement. But the next day, the wind had gone, 

 the lake smiled in the sunlight, our ap])rehension decreased, 

 our desires increased, and early the following morning, pro- 

 visioned for a stay if need be, we embarked in three boats 

 and, after nearly three hours rowing, reached the island. It 



