74 CAMP FIRE REMINISCENCES 
Shooting was now brisk; in every direction a 
constant fusillade was being kept up. Owing to 
my ignorance of the geography of the place and 
of the channels, it had taken me a long time to 
reach this point, so a lot of good shooting had 
been missed. Now, however, the birds were com- 
ing well, and it was delightful. They all came from 
the west, keeping close to the tules. There were 
two men in blinds further out than mine and it 
was interesting to see a flock of birds coming up 
and dropping toll to the other guns. They would 
then swing out for a little distance and come in to 
the reeds again. As there was no wind and little 
current, dead ducks did not float away, so I let them 
lie until lunch time. After this, I waded out and 
picked up thirty-seven mallards, shovelers, red- 
heads, and a few teal. 
During the noon hour, everything was quiet, but 
there was a regular flight of pintails during the 
early afternoon. Later, the usual mixture of sorts 
came in, so that when I bore up for home shortly 
after the sun dipped behind the mountains, I had 
eighty-two ducks on board, and picked up several 
of the wounded while crossing the bay. When the 
channel was reached, the boat required my undi- 
vided attention, so the gun was put aside. Coming 
out in the morning was like sailing with a breeze 
on the quarter and everything set, compared with 
pulling up the channel against the stream, and it 
was long after dark before the house was reached. 
Y. did not arrive until later, when he discharged 
over one hundred ducks. He had seen a number 
