LAKE PATZCUARO. 



119 



distant day, this town will be one of the most favored 



tourist resorts in Mexico. 



The lake of Patzcuaro is noted for 

 its beauty, even though situated in a 

 district where nature has excelled her- 

 self in the production of magnificent 

 scenery. At this high altitude, among 

 the mountains of the ancient Tarascan 

 empire, is found this lovely sheet of 

 water, some twenty miles long by ten 

 ^^^ wide, and interspersed with islands, . 



SCENE IN THE MAKKET. ""^ ^^ > t- 



most of which are inhabited by a hardy race of fishermen. 

 The water of the lake is very clear, and of unknown depth. 

 The sportsman can find here many species of water fowl 

 common to the North, besides many other varieties. 



From the top of a hill, three-quarters of a mile from 

 the town, a magnificent view of the lake was obtained. 

 The hills surrounding the lake were under cultivation, 

 dotted here and there by a little village, of which as many 

 as sixteen could be counted. The lake can be compared 

 with but one locality with which I am acquainted,— that 

 of Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. 



Late in the forenoon I took my gun, and in company 

 with Prof. H. visited the lake to see what it contained in 

 the faunal line. We procured a boat and a pilot, and 

 started to survey the shores. After poling through a small 

 patch of clear water, we struck into a clump of reeds which 

 lined the shore for some distance. In these reeds I shot 

 several specimens of the Bi colored Blackbird. As we 

 emerged from the thickest of the reeds, I noticed a flock of 

 ducks resting quietly upon the water. Motioning to the 

 native to go ahead slowly, I cocked both barrels of my gun 

 and just before the boat emerged from the reeds, let drive 

 both barrels at them. 



