The Dawson Leuco 



evidently some atten- 

 dant language, more or 

 less smothered by 

 rocks. Will says he ex- 

 pected to find an ome- 

 lette in the nest; but he 

 somehow managed to re- 

 place the egg which he 

 had clutched in his right 

 hand, and to remove the 

 whole mass, eggs and all, 

 to his hat. This he nec- 

 essarily gripped in his 

 teeth, and slid thirty 

 feet, to safety, without 

 more ado. 



To his great delight, 

 and mine, he found the 

 eggs absolutely unin- 

 jured. Two perfect sets 

 of Leucosticte eggs, 

 worth, say, $400, "ex- 

 change," retrieved on the 

 descent of a single line! 

 There was an exploit to 

 be remembered with 

 pride and gratitude! 



Leaving the boys to 

 recover from their exer- 

 tions, I cleared, that 

 same afternoon, for a 

 distant prospect which I 

 had named the Grand 

 Cirque, and where an 

 elaborate system of 



north-facing snowbanks protected by rugged peaks was nursing half a 

 dozen cirque lakes, whose waters eventually found their way into the San 

 Joaquin River. Arrived, toward evening, upon these happy hunting 

 grounds, I first paused to make camp on the upper reaches of the central 

 moraine. I don't mind rocks for bedding — am rather fond of them, in 

 fact — but insist upon an approximate degree of horizontality. The bed I 

 constructed there of schistose slabs, levelled and matched to a nicety, 



168 



8 «*■» '£} 



Taken in Mono County Photo by the Author 



SUNRISE CLIFFS— MAMMOTH CREST 



WHERE TWO SETS OF LEUCOS' EGGS WERE TAKEN WITH ONE CAST OF THE ROPE 



