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with shields upon their arms. Great blue herons were 

 flying about everywhere, and sometimes they would allow 

 us to ride close to them as they stood among the rushes. 

 After the sun had sunk below the near-by crest, a troop of 

 white pelicans — hundreds of them — soared past us in the glow 

 that came over the hill-top. Despite their size and weight 

 they flew with all the grace and ease of gulls, and far more 

 majestically. 



About the time that the nighthawks began to fly, we made 

 camp. While our simple supper was cooking, I walked 

 through the brush to the brink of the river. Strange cackles, 

 whistles, and splashings came from the half-submerged islands 

 and the tules. Coots were playing together in the twilight, 

 and herons, plovers, and unfamiliar songbirds were making 

 the semitropical night resound. The birds were succeeded 

 by still more unfamiliar frogs, which croaked and whistled 

 until after dark. All night we were hot, and mosquitos made 

 us more or less restless. 



Next morning we passed for several hours alternately 

 through jungle-like, river-bottom vegetation, and over bare, 

 stony ridges. Wherever the ground was moist there was a 

 riot of flowers. Bordering some of the sloughs were rows 

 of the little, pink-blossomed Sessuvium sessile, a plant related 

 to the sea purslane of our eastern salt marshes. 



About nine o'clock we crossed the low mountain-pass, 

 leading our steeds by the bridles, and came presently to the 

 habitation of Papa Laguna, who was standing under the porch 

 of his hut doing nothing, as usual. One hand was stretched 

 to the rafters overhead in order to support comfortably his 

 powerful, barrel-chested body. His sons and grandsons, in 

 cow-punchers' garb, were leading horses hither and thither, 

 or standing around waiting for breakfast. One of them was 

 amusing himself by throwing bits of caked earth at a cat. This 

 animal, with some pigeons, chickens, and nine or ten curs of 

 all sizes, was eating under one of the shelters, and in the 

 midst of them a rather fine-looking Indian girl was mixing 

 dough. A number of children, mostly slightly cross-eyed, 

 were also toddling about, while several girls of ten years or 



