A MEXICAN LAND OF CANAAN 



319 



"The engineer says that coming up last 

 night his cap blew off and went out the 

 cab window. He wants to run slow go- 

 ing back to see if he can find it." 



"Fair enough!" growled the official. 

 "The only quick thing in these parts is 

 the Mexican jumping bean." 



thk fisherman's "promised ska" 



Ask any United States Navy officer 

 who has "done a hitch" in Guaymas wa- 

 ters what the fishing there is like ! "When 

 they're biting good, you've got to hide 

 behind a rock to bait your hook !" I once 

 heard a sailor declare. Trolling for toro, 

 red snapper, skipjacks, Spanish mackerel, 

 yellowtail, cabrillo, and other sea fish is 

 a favorite sport. 



Once the fish-run came so fast and 

 thick, crowding the sea so closely about 

 our boat (we threw sardines overboard 

 as bait), that we took in all except 15 

 feet of our lines, and actually caught the 

 particular fish we wished out of the 

 mixed school that leaped after us ! 



"Not you, but you !" my excited com- 

 panion would shout, jerking his spoon 

 from before an undesirable fish and toss- 

 ing it in front of a choicer species. Then 

 an eight-foot shark, darting suddenly up, 

 grabbed the leaping skipjack I was play- 

 ing, and took my fish, line and all, and 

 much perfectly good American skin from 

 a raw and smarting palm. 



There are more fish and more kinds of 

 fish in the Gulf of California, it is said, 

 than in any other known body of water. 

 A cannery built here could provide food 

 for thousands. Just now the surplus 

 tons of fish serve principally to support 

 countless pelicans, cormorants, and other 

 fishing birds that swarm on the rocky 

 shores and islands of the Gulf. 



WHKRFv WILD FOWL ARK A PEST 



Comparatively few fish are captured 

 by the Mexicans, who employ no modern 

 means. The natives are without nets 

 and trawls ; they usually "still-fish" at a 

 depth of 100 feet or more for the giant 

 jewfish and tortuava. Each boatman car- 

 ries a short, stout club, and when he 

 finally gets his fish to the surface and 

 alongside his boat he kills it by pounding 

 it on the head; then he dra^s it aboard. 



The rice planters in the Yaqui Valley 



will gladly buy you a supply of ammuni- 

 tion and lend you a shotgun if you will 

 spend your next vacation down there. 

 At irrigation time, particularly, the wild 

 fowl become a pest, for this West Coast 

 lies on one of their great migration 

 routes. From a blind beside a rice field 

 I once got 22 redheads in less than an 

 hour, working a 16-gauge shotgun as the 

 evening flight came in. There are geese, 

 too, and brant and curlew and many va- 

 rieties of shore birds. 



Here also the California or "valley" 

 quail is amazingly abundant, especially 

 about the wheat and tomato fields. 

 Around unusually good feeding grounds 

 you will find these birds not in coveys, 

 but in armies, frequently 500 or 1,000 of 

 them feeding together in one field. They 

 are numerous in the mesquite covered 

 hills also, and a covey may often be lo- 

 cated by watching for the hawks that 

 circle above the thicket where the birds 

 are hiding. 



Among the rolling foothills, where they 

 feed on acorns, myriads of "white wing" 

 or Sonora pigeons make their home. At 

 nightfall these birds flock down to the 

 water holes or irrigation ditches by the 

 thousands. 



Here is an American happy hunting 

 ground for those who love the rod and 

 gun. Some day, when its charms are 

 better known, Guaymas must become a 

 popular winter resort of soft breezes, 

 blue seas, and ideal January outdoor 

 days. 



WILD ANIMALS ABOUND 



At Agua Fria Ranch, in Sonora. the 

 Americans keep a professional lion- 

 hunter, with a pack of trained dogs. 

 Unless their prowling raids were con- 

 tinuously resisted, the wild beasts would 

 soon overrun the ranch. Last year this 

 hunter killed over 50 animals, including 

 lions, tigers, and wildcats. Once lie went 

 into a deep cave after a wounded tiger, 

 carrying his pistol in one hand, his torch 

 in the other. 



The ranchers complain that it is almost 

 impossible to raise colts, especially in the 

 hill countries, for lions have been known 

 to leap a 12-foot corral to get at them. 



The "burra" or black deer, and also 

 the white tail, are very common. Ante- 



