38 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. 
was a beautiful sight to see them all swoop down toge her 
like a sheet of feathers, flutter for an instant over the pod 
and then flit away. At sunset might be seen at a e 
distance a V-shaped figure approaching from the cloud 
this would be a flock of ducks, geese, or teal, coming f 
their evening bath. Unhappy stags and herds of ante 0 
would stealthily approach, and, not liking the look of i 
intruders, make off again. Not so the wolves and coyote 
these fellows seemed to suffer frightfully from thirst, | 
after we had been camped for a few hours they wo 
become so bold, or rather so eager for water, that neit 
the whiz of our bullets about their ears nor the crack of o 
rifles could keep them away from the pool. 
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seen to perfection until the Madre Plateau is reached. Ha 
an hour after sunrise is usually the best time to watch for i 
then the distant mountains become distorted into the mo 
grotesque and fairy forms. Magnified to many times the 
natural size, they appear lifted into the sky, and are thei 
cut up, sometimes horizontally, sometimes vertically, by th 
peculiar magical haze which surrounds everything. 
they look like terraced citadels; sometimes the phantas 
takes a pillared form, and presents to the eye ruined templi 
like those of Greece or Egypt. This is not only the case wit 
torted ; the horses are changed into giraffes, the tents bee om 
elongated into snow-capped peaks, while the tufts of 
forests of gigantic trees ; every little “playa” become 
beautiful lake, from the waters of which are seen reflec 
