Trout Planting. 



69 



kept close to the base of the mountains so that we could frequently- 

 cross the various streams that flow clear, cold water and in this 

 way avoided the necessity of packing ice. Again we saved eight 

 or ten miles of travel by leaving Lone Pine to the east and 

 traveling what is commonly known as the "Nigger" trail. 



At Independence we unloaded our fish at the courthouse, 

 where Sheriff George Naylor had made excellent arrangements 

 for the keeping of the fish. The sheriff and his deputies com- 

 manded our sincere gratitude for the able and willing assistance 

 furnished our expedition by them. 



We left Independence on the morning of the 25th at 7 130 A. m. 

 for Center Basin, over the Kearsarge Pass, leaving one mule and 

 two cans of fish at Independence. We stopped for a short rest 

 at Flower Lake, well up toward the summit of the pass; con- 

 tinuing we arrived at Vidette Meadows at 6:15 p. m. with no 

 further loss of fish. On the morning of the 26th, at 5 :20 a. m., 

 we loaded the fish upon one of the mules and made our start for 

 Center Basin. In the creek well up toward the basin we made 

 eleven plants all told, as indicated on the map that I am re- 

 turning to you. We used about 400 of the fish in these eleven 

 plantings. Directly the little fellows were liberated they got 

 busy catching the several different flies and bugs that chanced to 

 fall upon the water, thus showing that they were both in good 

 order and spirits, and hungry. They had attempted to eat some 

 of the very few that were dead in the cans. 



After finishing our planting at Center Basin we returned to 

 camp, repacked and started for Independence, arriving there at 

 6:00 p. M. On the morning of the 27th, at 7:00 a. m., we picked 

 up the cans left at Independence and proceeded up Taboose 

 Creek, camping that night near the summit line with a loss of 

 five small fish. On the morning of the 28th, at 5 '.30, we left 

 for Bench Lake and the headwaters of the South Fork of Kings 

 River. In these waters we made eight plantings, five in the river 

 and three in the lakes, as is also indicated on the maps. 



On the morning of the 29th we started for home, arriving at 

 8:00 o'clock p. M., thus ending one of the most successful fish 

 planting expeditions that has ever been attempted in this sec- 

 tion. We feel like assuming a little extra credit to ourselves for 

 the success of our expedition from the fact that the undertaking 

 contemplated necessitated the crossing of three Sierra summits, 

 the traversing portions of Inyo, Tulare, and Fresno counties, 

 and the covering of more than 248 miles, and the keeping and 

 caring for some of the fish for a period of eight days after they 

 were caught and placed in the cans. My loss on the entire trip 

 would not reach fifteen fish out of the 750 or upv/ards. The trip 



