THE ORECtON naturalist. 



43 



Feathers Worth More Than 

 Gold. 



Some feathers that are extremely 

 fashiona1)le bring more tliaii their 

 weight in gold. The hunting of birds 

 on which these feathers are found is a 

 moreprofitablebusiness moreover than 

 gold .seeking. It is only natural to 

 compare the two, because both gold 

 and birds are found in the same sec- 

 tion — Lower California. 



The Egret feathers sell from $32 to 

 $35 an ounce at wholesale; of course 

 they bring at least double that when 

 retailed over the counters of New 

 York's most popular shop. They are 

 not sold by the ounce there, though — 

 they go by the piece. 



While there are probably hundreds 

 of men who make a business of killing 

 birds for their feathers, the. best known 

 of the feather hunters in the West is 

 Hamlin Smith, the white chief of the 

 Cocopah Indians. Their reservation 

 includes most of the land on Madeline 

 Bay. In the marshes of this broad 

 sheet of water are found the Egret, 

 Heron and Crane in numbers. 



Even the Heron feathers come high. 

 They bring at wholesale from |8 to |io 

 an ounce. One Heron, Mr. Smith 

 says, will yield often feathers worth 

 $150. If Herons are more plentiful 

 than Egret, they are more profitable 

 hunting, because there is only a small 

 tuft of covering on the Egret that is 

 marketable. — Morning Oregonian. 



One laundress in Dawson City, 

 Alaska, gets an average of three dol- 

 lars in gold dust everyj day from the 

 water used in washing clothes worn 

 by mineis. 



Only nine miles from Flagstaff, 

 over the best natural road in Arizona, 

 all the way up a beautiful valle}', are 

 the ancient ruins of the Cliff Dwellers, 

 who, some centuries ago, made their 

 abode on the .sides of the cliffs of the 

 can5'on, the walls of which are from 

 2,000 to 3,000 feet high. While sight- 

 seers and relic-hunters have to some 

 extent despoiled the.se ruins, they are 

 yet of great interest, and all visitors 

 go to the cliffs, as do the home people 

 when pleasuring. The caves that 

 were once the abode of men were no 

 doubt at one time volcanic bubbles, re- 

 quiring but little work to cut from one 

 to the other, thus honeycombing the 

 entire cliff that was once covered with 

 dwellings. 



Not as many Denny or Ring-necked 

 Pheasants are being shipped to Port- 

 land as usual this .season, yet man3' 

 thousands will be sent to maiket dur- 

 ing the month than can lawfully 

 be .sold. The method of packing is to 

 put as many Pheasants into a grain 

 .sack as can be crowded in, sevi' up 

 and deliver to express. The birds are 

 drawn before shipment, usuall}' in the 

 fillet, seldom carefully, and when 

 dumped on the sidewalk — not usually 

 clean — before the markets, preliminary 

 to being hung up by the neck until 

 sold or, perhaps, sent to cold .storage 

 they are truly a sight to behold. 



During all this Klondike excitement, 

 while pearls are being found in pro- 

 fusion in Arkansas and phosphorescent 

 pebbles in California, Oregon mines 

 each month continue to dtimp loads of 

 gold into circulation without any fu.ss 

 whatever. 



