A WATER HOLE 



in November and later) there is from 

 two to ten feet of water in the lake, but 

 the bottom is so covered with matted 

 weeds and so spotted with potholes 

 filled with quicksand that we very near- 

 ly lost a venturesome member of the 

 party who went out into the deepest 

 part after a wounded duck. There he 

 managed to get thoroughly tangled up 

 in a bed of the weeds, and but for his 

 own coolness, added to the fact that 

 most of the party were in camp near 

 by, he would surely have met a horri- 

 ble fate. 



And this brings me to one of the 

 most enjoyable parts of the entire trip 

 — my duck hunting. When we arrived 

 at this little lake, early in November or 

 late in October, I no longer remember 

 exactly which, we found the lake liter- 

 ally covered with ducks. It was quite 

 late when we arrived and, as we had 

 made a long "mush" that day, we were 

 a pretty tired lot of men, and I for one 

 spent but little time after the ducks, 

 getting a couple out of the first flight 



and not attempting to still-hunt any of 

 the several rafts that were floating fur- 

 ther down the lake. I judged later, 

 from observations made here and fur- 

 ther up on a fork of the Amargosa 

 River, that this pond lies directly in the 

 line of the inland migration of most of 

 the webfeet, though I saw no shore- 

 birds here except the ever-present kil- 

 deers, probably resident. Much shoot- 

 ing on the Pacific side of California has" 

 driven, year by year, more and more of 

 our migrant game birds to seek inland 

 trails through the deeps of air where 

 they can be more safe by day, when 

 most of them are resting, at least. 

 Here they will be secure from all or- 

 ganized murderers in the form of gun 

 clubs and kindred organizations for 

 some time to come, while what few 

 their constant hunters, the Pahutes, kill 

 with their crude firearms will not ma- 

 terially affect the yearly increase. It is 

 250 miles from Los Angeles to this lake 

 and at least 150 to the nearest railroad, 

 so the immediate erection of the "Sar- 



492 



