are antelope, but they look like pigs or calves; see if 

 you can make out what they are." At first they 

 appeared as a number of dark and inanimate objects, 

 but as they began to move, they flashed their white flags 

 toward the sun, which plainly revealed their identity as 

 antelope. They were a long distance away, but we 

 managed to count eleven in this bunch. 



Our next move was to find the lake which Dr. 

 Field knew was somewhere in the vicinity. This was 

 rather a difficult undertaking, as there was nothing 

 to indicate its location, the lake being nothing more 

 than a depression with no outlet, and the country 

 appeared the same for miles around. Taking into 

 consideration the slope towards Poker Jim Eidge, we 

 concluded the lake must lie in a certain direction, which 

 we proposed to follow. This was a fortunate con- 

 clusion, because in a few minutes we walked directly 

 to the lake. At one time this had been quite a l)ody 

 of watei", but at that time it was very low. As this 

 lake is without a name, I suggested that we call it 

 Field Lake, but the doctor, casting a thoughtful glance 

 over this lonely solution of alkali, positively declined 

 the honor. 



As it was early in the day, we had hoped to find a 

 numl]er of antelope at this water-hole, but after a care- 

 ful inspection, only one could he found, a fine large buck. 

 Having covered considerable territory, and feeling 

 satisfied that there was no more antelope in that sec- 

 tion, we returned to the ranch, flushing a number of 

 sage grouse on the way, and finding the remains of 

 several nests in which the eggs had been crushed before 

 hatching — doubtless hy the sheep. 



This country is of no value for agricultural pur- 

 poses, and not much good for stock grazing, as it is 

 nothing more or less than a bed of loose lava rock 

 covered with sage brush. It is grazed over principally 

 by sheep, but the numerous carcasses of this animal 

 that were very much in evidence proves that the scanty 

 pasturage will not support them in any great numbers. 



After leaving Messner's Ranch we had proceeded 



68 



