66 CAMP FIRE REMINISCENCES 
Lake it scatters through a number of overflows 
into shallow bays, the shores of- which are grown 
with tules and grasses. Here ducks breed in 
thousands, and here in the autumn not only ducks 
but swans, pelicans, geese, and multitudes of waders 
are to be seen every day. As the place was com- 
paratively inaccessible, the shooting was for many 
years in the hands of a few professionals. There 
being no accommodation for the amateur sports- 
men, few went. Those who did go, were obliged 
to bring their tents, and the question, ‘‘ What shall 
we do with our game?’’ was hard to answer satis- 
factorily. When our time came, however, very 
comfortable if primitive quarters could be ob- 
tained, and there were women constantly employed 
during the season plucking the birds and packing 
them in cases for daily shipment to the sports- 
man’s friends, or to hospitals and other such in- 
stitutions, should the bags be large. 
Our idea in coming on the 29th of September was 
that we might secure accommodation and have a 
little time to look around before the opening day— 
October Ist. The house at which we stayed was 
built on the bank of the river. It was exceedingly 
plain in its style, having upstairs, an undivided 
space in which there were numbers of beds. This 
loft could be reached by a staircase in the house, 
or by a more interesting route outside, which led 
up a ladder to the roof of a wash-house, and from 
there by another ladder to a door cut in the gable. 
In front of the house the river was about sixty 
yards wide, and from the door one could have shot 
