HUNTING FOR ANIMALS OF PAST AGES 21 



collar. I stripped and did dry cleaning before 

 going down to the river for my pick. My left 

 thumb was swollen to twice its usual size, and 

 there was a noticeable bump on my forehead. 

 But I was a fossil hunter. 



While shaking out the gravel I was attracted 

 by a piece of the rock that had broken from the 

 canon wall and given me the tumble. I picked 

 up the small, brittle fragment. It was a fos- 

 sil. Most fossils are brittle, and during the 

 weeks of cliff climbing that followed I saw many 

 fossils projecting from the walls but did not use 

 them for steep rock climbing. 



After using my pick for about two hours the 

 broken rock proved to be a nest of fossils. This 

 was in easily worked volcanic ashen material, 

 and in my excitement I forgot lunch and all about 

 going to the top, and not until near sundown did 

 I notice the time. It was after dark when I 

 reached camp carrying one of the fossils. This 

 so interested the scientist that the following 

 morning he went out with me. When we ar- 

 rived at the fossil nest in the canon wall he 

 promptly sent me to camp for two men. Then 

 under his supervision we dug out the entire pile 

 of fossils. 



That evening, with everyone seated around the 

 camp-fire, he arose to announce my find, as was 

 his way with each new discovery. The men 



