Sept., 1919 AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 181 
afford to practise with a rifle, and rarely took any chances with long shots at 
game. The eyes of the Indian for out-of-door objects are proverbially sharp, 
as I had reason to discover at Camp Apache. When out collecting birds my 
footsteps were frequently tagged by one or more lads from the Indian camp 
hard by, and the skill displayed by them in detecting birds in the thick brush 
and among the leafy tree tops put me fairly to shame, and incidentally earned 
their well merited contempt for the white man’s blindness. 
LIFE IN THE OPEN 
Lieut. Wheeler early learned that to do good work the men must be well 
fed and well supphed with bedding, and no one had just cause of complaint in 
these respects. Everybody slept on the ground under the open sky, and, given 
youth and health, no one need desire a more luxurious couch. For several 
years the saddle formed my pillow; but it was by no means so comfortable as 
a small rubber inflatable pillow which I later adopted. True, even in the dry 
climate of the west it sometimes rained, but a large piece of canvas, ten by 
twelve, or thereabouts, furnished an adequate shelter during any ordinary 
downpour, as well as a protection from dust and rain for the roll of bedding 
during the day’s march. To the chief of each party was usually assigned a 
tent, but to no other, save the naturalist, since he was compelled often to work 
on his specimens by eandle light, sometimes even into the wee small hours. 
The length of the day’s march depended upon many circumstances, espe- 
cially the presence of wood, water, and grass, but averaged somewhere be- 
tween twelve and twenty-five miles. We were awakened early, and frequently 
had breakfasted and were in the saddle by six or before. The members of the 
party then scattered, each to his own work, except in an Indian country, while 
the train, headed by the bell mare, which usually was led by the cook, followed 
a designated route till about four or five in the afternoon, when.camp was 
made, always provided water, wood, and grass had been found by that time. 
The first was absolutely necessary, except in dire necessity when a keg or two 
of water, which we usually carried in a desert country, enabled a dry camp 
to be made; the second was important, though we usually had a reserve supply 
of barley for the mules in case of need, and the third very desirable. 
When wood was scarce the cook was wont to look to the other members oi 
the party for assistance, and he rarely looked in vain, for by late afternoon the 
several members, after a light luncheon carried in the pocket, always seemed 
to be in a state closely verging on starvation. By dusk, or a little before, all 
the men were in camp, and dinner was served on a sheet of canvas spread on 
the ground. Later this rather primitive arrangement was replaced by a table 
made of the top of two mess chests which greatly added to our comfort, espe- 
cially in rainy weather. 
The rations supplied by the U. S. commissary were abundant and of suffi- 
cient variety to keep the men in abounding good health. The naturalist, with 
a trusty shotgun always by his side and an abundance of ammunition, was al- 
ways a welcome addition to any party, and in those days, when every moun- 
tain stream was full of hungry trout, and turkeys, geese, grouse, sage-hens, rab- 
bits, and other small game abounded in many localities, to say nothing of deer, 
his contributions to the mess were neither small nor unimportant. 
(To be continued) 
