

*' . ~*%MV'ji%'i« !■■■ 



An- 



•' , ,} ">. .. ' 



SO WE LOADED THE CART WITH GEESE AND WALKED HOME." 



At the earliest streak of dawn they began 

 their flight and for about 4 hours the fun 

 was fast and furious. By 10 a.m., only a 

 few scattering flocks were seen and the 

 warm spring sun was making us very 

 sleepy; so we loaded the cart with geese 

 and walked home. Jock's boy returned for 

 •the rest of them, next day, and the goose 

 hunt of my life was a memory. 



Slaughter? That's right, Coquina; but 



this was before the day of game laws, game 

 wardens, Recreation Magazines or ad- 

 vanced sentiment in favor of game protec- 

 tion. It was in the buffalo days. It was 

 when everyone thought the game would 

 endure forever, against all comers, and no 

 one thought of saving any for seed. 



The geese were dressed and smoked and 

 the half breeds ate the last mother's son of 

 them. 



ELKLAND. 



IV. 



FLIES AND WEATHER. 



ERNEST SETON THOMPSON. 



Before coming here I heard a vulgar per- 

 son intimating, in a slangy way, that the 

 little creatures known as flies did not ex- 

 ist in this region. To-day, especially, I 



pies, picked off my face and neck while 

 sketching. 



Each is provided with a steel pointed 

 drill, a suction pump, a bag 'of lunar caus- 



have been revelling in disproofs of the as- 

 sertion. It was over 85 degrees in the 

 shade; there was no breeze and the num- 

 ber of different kinds of flies at large was 

 painfully extensive. Here are a few sam- 



tic, a hungry belly and a song like that of a 

 saw mill — at least all but second and 

 seventh. They do not sing, for they have 

 no wings and do not seem to need them. 

 They belong to the interesting group 



4S6 



