QUAIL SHOOTING IN CALIFORNIA. 



39 



him. Tlie rise and fall of the market was as much an 

 object to him as the rise and fall of the birds. On my 

 endeavouring to explain, he said, " Wa-al, I guess quails 

 makes considerable good hash, and I reckon the more 

 you shoot the more dollars Til make -/' with which sage 

 remark he rolled himself up in his blanket, snd was soon 

 in the land of dreams. 



Next morning very early my companion awakened me. 

 A plunge in the fresh running stream; a flannel shirt, 

 cord breeches, knee boots, and wideawake hat completed 

 our toilette ; and gun in hand we sallied forth to deal 

 destruction among the unsuspecting quail. We directed 

 our steps along a cattle trail, bordered on either side 

 by scrub, with occasional clear spaces, and we could hear 

 the birds hailing the early morn in the patches of brush 

 as we went along. We were nearing a small brook, 

 with a hedge on the near side, beyond which was a clear 

 open space about the eighth of an acre. Our Yankee 

 ranchman was leading the way, as he was going to show 

 us " a holler where he guessed the fe-owls were as 

 thick as peas in a pod." All of a sudden he stopped 

 and crouched down, at the same time holding up his 

 hand to enjoin silence; we crouched too. "Hold the 

 dogs," he whispered. He then crawled like a cat 

 till he reached the hedge, peered through it for an in- 

 stant, and slowly pitched forward his musketoon, a 

 double, about 7-bore, built, he informed me, at " Besting," 

 which cost goodness knows how many dollars, and could 

 kill at something over 300 yards. I cocked both my 

 barrels, and was almost putting in a bullet for the 

 express benefit of the expected deer, in case my friend 

 missed his shot. Bang went his blunderbuss, and up 

 got — a lovely bevy of quail! His quick eye had de- 



