232 Life of a Fossil Hunter 



over a higher rise into another, a little larger, carved 

 out of the mountain side and entirely denuded of 

 soil. These two amphitheaters proved to be the 

 richest fossil beds I ever discovered in the Permian 

 of Texas. I quote the following entry from my 

 notebook regarding this discovery : " After finding 

 the perfect skull discovered by Galyean, we at once 

 got into the richest ground I have ever seen in these 

 beds. I got a perfect skull, and Galyean another. 

 We have worked too low, it seems. This rich bone 

 bed is on top of the beds I have been working, at 

 the heads of the ravines that cut into the face of the 

 mountains. The concretions in which the bones are 

 preserved are in red clay, and are of greenish and 

 other colors." 



In my excitement over this rich find, I forgot my 

 disgust with Galyean for leading me on a wild-goose 

 chase, forgot how tired I was, forgot my dinner, 

 forgot everything, and set to work at once collecting 

 skulls and bones. I remember that I filled my col- 

 lecting bag with seventy-five pounds of skulls, from 

 less than an inch to over eight inches in length, and 

 all new to me and to science. This load I started to 

 carry down the steep trail to camp, a mile away. 

 The good-natured Galyean, when he saw me totter- 

 ing under the load, offered to relieve me of my 

 burden, but I answered with such vehemence that 

 no one should touch it, that I would break my back 



