AY i, 1893. J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



S83 



A FIVE DAYS' HUNT IN MEXICO. 



TiA JUANA is the frontier toym of Old Mexico, at the 

 extreme northwest corner. One passes from the fertile, 

 well-kept ranches of California, with their white houses, 

 green barley fields^ and orchards of iig, apricot and 

 orange, with one step across the line, into the land of 

 dii-i y idleness, adobe huts one story high with rush roof 

 and no windows, fields uncultivated , and the inhabitants 

 slothful and indifferent. The change is extreme. 



V^' e arrived by the little railroad, having left the Hotel 

 del Goronado on Sunday morning at 4 A. M. An engine 

 and one car took our host, E. S. Babcock. the president of 

 fclio Goronado Beach Co.; our guide. Will Denton; A. S. 

 Seeor, of Toledo, a charming camp fellow and good shot, 

 ■ind myself, to the Tia Juana River. Tlie gray mist of a 

 -e.ni -tropical morning was still hanging like a diaphanous 

 ^'-^/d over field and stream, the air was cool, and the 



1 1 1 >re range of the Sierra Madre formed a dusky back- 

 ; . iind to our first view of Mexico. We crossed the river 



I in a narrow foot bridge and found the wagon waiting. 

 Our destination was the Valley of ISTeji (pronounced 

 nS-hee), fifty-seven miles from the line and up 4:,000ft. 



The first ten miles of our route laj^ through the Valley 

 jf the Tia Juana. The Customs ofiicers were asleep, and 

 iCter conscientiously trying in vain to rouse them, we 

 r>Rsrsed on. 'Dobe plain alternated with sage brush cover, 



II id we continued to ascend to the foothills beyond. A 

 r.iin of the night had made the 'dobe so sticky that the 

 ■>s heels of our vehicle looked like an engine's drivers and 

 uogress was slow. The "meadowlaxk's sweet whistle 

 vera the grass" sotmded constantly in our ears, the active 



:;:i:i[ilier and stinirrel ski]:)ped nimbly from our path with 

 ad in aii', and eyed us with suspicion as we creaked 

 lung. The sun began to tip the snow-capped peaks 



I ii-ad, and day broke. Many birds strange to the eye of 

 iie Eastern Sportsman darted up from the road 



r slipped away like smoke into the chappatal. 

 'liese were the road runners, shore larks or 

 niLind swallows, butcher birds, ]\Iexican yel- 

 iw hammers and hawks galore, particularly 

 lie sparrow hawk and Western red-tailed. 

 As we ascended the road became rougher and 

 n many places we had to relieve the mares by 

 walking. At Gonzales we had to descend a 

 teep pitch into a stream, broad but sliallow. 

 'Uis it was necessary to ford. We lightened 

 he load as soon as ^^^e' found ourselves in difli- 

 julties, but the bright shining sand was soft and 

 p-ielding, and after much urging the off horse 

 ay down in' mid stream. Babcock and I hur- 

 'ied to a I'anch, a quarter mile away, and found 

 ;he good-natured proprietor sitting beneath a 

 !;iant live oak lazily smoking a corncob pipe. 

 Jn the way we spnlng a bunch of the bright- ' 

 Jolored cinnamon teal from the tules at the 

 stream side and two of them concluded to go 

 ivitli VIS. By most intelligent gesticulations 

 Babcock held the following sign talk with the 

 ilesican: "We are mired down below. Mr. 

 Benton, with whom you are acquainted, is 

 ituck in the sand, his horse is down, and we 

 vould be greatly obliged if you would bring 

 ;hat raw-boned pony of yours over and pull us 

 )Ut." Gonzales "caught on" at once. At any 

 'ate he brought the little nag down and we un- 

 litched the gray mare and changed harness, 

 md in fifteen minutes we were eating our cold 

 unoh, sandwiches, figs, prunes, raisins and 

 jam, washed down with floronado Avater, di- 

 nted with Some jioisonoiis aguai-diente, which 

 5abcock had thoughtlessly put in the kit. 



With the ardor of a sportsman and dilletante 

 laturalist in a new land, I started off before the 

 )thers along the road or ti'ail which skirted the 

 itream. Kildeer ploA*er ekimroed Up under my 

 'eet, and with plaintive cry dropped lightly 

 i,gain on the sandbar. Tliree more cinnamon 

 ;eal came to bag, and I flushed a nice bevy of 

 [uail, perhaps thirty, and as thej'^ lay in the 

 lage brush started and killed a Iraif dozen, 

 iecor joined me and we began to have some 

 ^ood shooting, when the wagon drove over and 

 la occupants informed us that we had wandered from 

 he trail, and to get in and behave oUf.selves on Sunday. 



Valley succeeded vallej^, some fertile, others arid and 

 )a.re> The ascent was steady, and we could note the 

 jliange in temperature. We passed an Indian ranch eria, 

 i group of adobe huts occupied by the descendants of tlie 

 'amous Digger Indians. They were picturesque but 

 iltby. We iluahed many quail, shot a few for supper, 

 ind, like the excelsior boy, kept getting higher, imtil at 

 "Undown we began to see patches of snow about us. 

 lust before dark we saw three moruitain quail ahead, and 

 iGCured two of these beautiful and toothsome birds, one 

 >£ which, in skin, lies before me. Before it was com- 

 lletely dark we frightened a large flock of pigeons from 

 I live oak close to the trail. Bill called them rock 

 ligeons and said that they had a white ring about the 

 leck — ^they are larger than our j^assenger or wild pigeon. 



Wo were now at the top of our ascent, on a compara- 

 (ively level plateau, and the team bowled along at a lively 

 ;ait in the dai-k. It seemed hke tempting Providence, but 

 ihe sure-footed beasts went over and through the sage 

 arusli, red shank and inanzanita as though itwere a boule- 

 vard lit by electric lights. 



Wrapped in idsters, shivering but happy, we trusted to 

 jur guide, who said he could see the wagon tracks of Dave 

 Adams, who had gone up the day before with tent equip- 

 ige and supplies. We completed our fifty-seven miles by 

 1 o'clock, having been en route since 4 A. 31. We found 

 Jave there, the tents up, and a camja-fire of live oak wood 

 srackling and spluttering. 



It took but a few moments to have some rabbit, quail 

 m l ducks cooked, some coffee made, and after fixing our 

 I jlankets and bedding we tm-ned in. Our bag en route 

 this day consisted of ten quail, five ducks and two i-abbits 

 ' — shot from the wagon. 



' We were awakened at 5 o'clock by the summons to 

 jreakfast. The breaking day was clear and unclouded. 

 It was cold, too — a quick transition from the semi-tropic 

 iO the frigid zone — and I felt this very strongly as I broke 

 tlie ice in the pail to get some water. Breakfast over, 

 Ixibcock started for the upper laguna with Denton, while 

 --L'iir and I walked down through the marsh to the lower 



II . Not -iOyds. from our camp we started a fine flock of 

 L.I uamon teal, and secured f om-, and before the reyerber- 



ations from the hillside had ceased the orchestra of 

 nature was in full play and the air resounded with the 

 melody of a hundred birds. JNear by the English snipe in 

 twos and threes kept zigzagging up from the dry tides 

 and marsh, and their musical scaip! scoip! filled the air. 

 The soft, plaintive cry of the teal and the welcome quack! 

 of the ponderous mallard gave us a thrill of ecstacy. 



A tramp of 100yds. through the mire of these fields dis- 

 sipated all idea of cold and put us in a happy perspiration. 

 A large flock of mallards rise from the marsh below us 

 and, led by a dozen greenhcads, slowly winnow their 

 flight up the field toward us. We crouch in the tules and 

 wait. Nearer they come and are now over as, their chat- 

 ter ceases as we raise our guns. How they climb the air! 

 The sheen of their plumage and the yellow outstretched 

 legs gleam in the sunlight. The old hamrnerless speaks 

 right and left, so does the gun of ray comrade. Three fat 

 bu'ds bulge our game pockets and make us sink deeper 

 into the mud as we • 'slosh" along to our destination. We 

 cross through a filnge of willows into the next and last 

 snipe cover. I have seen snipe fairly abundant in the 

 East, but the sight and sound of the hundreds of birds we 

 flushed from this meadow ' 'rattled" me. 



I had six or eight down before retiieving, and at last I 

 put my g-un at "safe" and refused to shoot until I had 

 bagged my birds. Before we reached the lower end we 

 had run out of shells and had thirty-six birds. Bill was 

 there with the team and our ammunition, and we were 

 there with eight ducks and thirty -six snipe, one hour 

 from the camp. We found that Babcock liad shot half 

 a dozen ducks while Bill was fixing his decoys and blind, 

 and there they lay in the bottom of tlie wagon, among 

 them three flue canvasbacks and a pair of niallards. 



It was but a quarter mile to the upper lagiuia. This 

 lake or pond covers an area of some 30 acres. Patclies of 

 tules or reeds, yellow and dead, were scattered all over 



GROUSE SHOOTINa IN MICHIGAN. 

 Equal Fifth Prize, Forest and Stream Amateur Photography Comjietition. 

 Photo by Mr. .J. C. Thompson, Bay City, Jlichigan. 



snipe. But it was another case of ' 'L'honme propose mats 

 Dieu dispose" and the thousands of snipe reported from the 

 upper valley dwindled to a paltry 50 or so, and after two 

 hours' heavy tramping we had secured but 26 and a few 

 ducks, and determined to try the birds agam at the lower 

 laguna. I took my stand and Bill kept the birds of the 

 neighboring ponds and marshes moving, and I made some 

 remarkable kills, and became quite satisfied w^ith myself. 

 Tliis day I shot my wife's little featherweight gun, 5ilbs., 

 with a light load, 2|drs. E, C. and loz. No. 8 shot. I 

 had not intended shooting ducks at all this day. But the 

 gun was a little witch, and under these adverse circum- 

 stances, as regards light gun, light loads and small shot, I 

 curled them up at ridiculous distances. At one time I 

 had 8 doAvn, stone dead, floating on the muddy waters. 



About 3 o'clock P. M. , when we were about to go up 

 into the quail cover, the wagon came down and picked 

 us up. Our bag consisted at the time of twenty-six Eng- 

 lish snipe and forty -six ducks. The others had met with 

 bad luck and hair- breadth 'scapes in rocky canons during 

 the morning. They had secured thirty quail and pro- 

 posed to go a half mile below for more. We joined them, 

 and on our return to camp our bag aggregated seventy- 

 eight quail, forty-six ducks, twenty-six snipe and five 

 rabbits. 



The following morning at 5 we broke camp and left 

 Neji for Cariso, a valley twenty miles below, and on our 

 homeward track. We were now to bend our energies to 

 quail and quail only. The ride down was broken by a 

 stop now and then when we came across a covey, and 

 when we arrived at Cariso at 4 P. M. we found our lungs 

 full of mountain ozone and our bag full of quail— thirty- 

 six quail and six rabbits. We had driven all day through 

 the region of the deer and the coyote, but saw none. We 

 did see the grand mountains towering above us, the sap- 

 phire sky, the eternal rocks, weather worn and of fan- 

 tastic shape. We put up at a Mexican's named 

 Duarte, and added ourselves to his already 

 numerous family. His dwelling was an oblong- 

 adobe casa, one story high — daughters, dogs 

 and dirt on all sides. 



We were given a large, square room or hole — 

 dark as Erebus, not a window, only the riokety 

 door. A step over the threshold put one from 

 sunshine and gladness into a dungeon of dark- 

 ness and gopher holes. The floor was what 

 munificent nature had provided. A roixgh ob- 

 long table and two banca or benches were 

 brought in, to enable us to sit at the table. The 

 light was furnished by two candles and a 

 lantern. The old woman and man had been 

 made happy and good-natured by Dave, who 

 had gone down ahead of us, and with malice 

 prepense, had plied them with mescal, the fire- 

 water of the land. In their way they did what 

 they could to make us comfortable. Clotilda 

 was the Senorita of the family, and not a bad 

 looking product of the soil. A rather luxuriant 

 moustache did not detract from her masculine 

 beauty. She seemed to have a soft spot in her 

 heart for blonde and handsome Bill. 



That night we unrolled our blankets and 

 spread them on the adobe floor. My pillow was 

 too low, so I got some tent pegs from the wagon 

 and built up a foundation for my coats. I was 

 sorry afterwards, for the gophers and rats 

 played tag among them all night. 



Up at daybreak and into the c{uail country 

 and shooting at 6. Dave drove us. and we had 

 the Mexican's youngest son on a horse to ride 

 about and locate cjuail. The shooting of quail 

 here is quite different from our pursuit of Bob 

 White at home. Here one starts a covey, in 

 size anywhere from thirty to five hundred or 

 more. After firing once or twice the birds lie 

 well and are walked up. The dog stays at heel, 

 and is only used for retrieving. The valley 

 quail is a beautiful species and can discount 

 Bob White in rapidity of flight and quickness 

 in twisting. 



the surface. The water was nowhere over eighteen 

 inches deep, and the open spaces were dotted with ducks. 

 I could recognize, as they sat lightly on the water, the 

 noble maUard and canvasback, the latter exclusive and 

 alone, the former mingling with the beautifully painted 

 shoveler and the graceful pintail and widgeon, 



Secor and I waded out and took positions about gun 

 shot apart in two bunches of tules. The first roar of the 

 gun started the groups in aerial evolution ; some of our 

 dead birds are set wp for decoys, and the ducks whirl over 

 us twice or three times, and then set their wings and faU 

 like shooting stars toward our blinds. 



By 1 o'clock the ducks had ceased flying, or gone off, 

 and we gave them up, cached our birds in the sage brush, 

 and started back to the snipe cover. We found the birds 

 plenty, but not so much so as during the morning. They 

 w-ere wilder and when flushed would often go up to the 

 sloping side hills in groups of from three to six and drop 

 down in the dry groimd among the vivid gi'een redshank. 

 We went up and killed a number of birds. It reminded 

 me much of shooting fall woodcock in cedar cover in the 

 East. Later in the afternoon we returned to the laguna 

 and shot a few more ducks imtil Dave came down to pick 

 us up. On our return to camp, we found Babcock before 

 us with a flne pile of ducks, including mallards, canvas- 

 backs, gadwall or gray ducks, widgeon, shovelers, tufted, 

 ruddy, cinnamon, green and blue-winged teal. The total 

 bag for the day amounted to 140 ducks, 110 English or 

 jacksnipe and G rabbits — total head of game 356. The 

 ducks feed on a delicate water cress and also on a succu- 

 lent root called celery, and for gastronomic purposes ai-e 

 unsurpassed. 



That night a storm arose, a mighty storm of rain, hail, 

 snow and wind. We were aroused at midnight by the 

 conflict of the elements and the swaying of the tent, 

 which threatened the next moment to enfold us in an icy 

 shroud. What should we do? During this wild raging of 

 the elements we tenderf eet were paralyzed, but the clarion 

 voice of our imperturbable host rang out from beneath 

 his blankets and gave us the countersign, "Call Bill." 

 Secor and I scrabbled for the tent flaps and called BiU, 

 who triced up our shaky ridge-pole and made all secure. 



The next morniug Babcock and Secor decided to go for 

 quail, and BiU and I thought we woiild make a record on 



We shot all day long with a short interval for 

 luncheon, and moved probably fifteen or twenty 

 coveys. Almost all shots are open ones. The 

 sage cover is only iBin. high, and it is only when the 

 birds get into the manzanita and red shank or among the 

 rocks on a mountain side that one is obliged to take snap 

 shots. 



When we turned our horses' heads toward the ranch 

 that evening, the wagon was full of game. Our bag con- 

 sisted of 304 quail and 33 rabbits. Bill had to sit up until 

 nearly midnight "drawing" them. This cleaning is alwa'ys 

 done here immediately on the retui-n from a day's hunt. 

 The birds, be they ducks, quail or snipe, are then tied to- 

 gether in bunches and groups and strung on a rope during 

 the night and put betv/een blankets at daybreak. In this 

 way an even temperature is maintained during the 

 twenty -four hours. 



On Friday we started for Tia Juana and home. We 

 found but few quail en route. In fact we did not hunt 

 them, for we wished to catch the little engine and car at 

 1 o'clock, but we failed. We reached the hotel at 3:30 P. 

 M., haWng driven the whole distance. We secured thirty- 

 four quad and six rabbits on the way. Total head of 

 game for the hunt, 847. iNCOa. 



Club Election. 



Belleville, April S9. — The annual meeting of our For- 

 est and Stream Club, which was held on Thursday night, 

 was well attended. The officers elected were: President, 

 H. Corby, M. P.; First Vice-President, W. H. Biggar, M, 

 P. P.: Second Vice-President, Jas. H. Mills; Secretary, 

 Jas. D. Clarke.; Treasurer, Chas. Sulman; Directors. W. 

 Clarke, Chairman; R. S. Bell, H. K. Smith^ Jas. D. Clarke, 

 W. Ormond, John Haslett and Chas. Hudson; Auditors, 

 J. E. Walmsley and J. S. Bonar. 



A resolution was passed declaring against any change in 

 the close season for deer, which will be forwarded to W, 

 H. Biggar, M. P. P. , with the request that he act accord- 

 ingly in the Legislature, and also ask Messrs. Wood and 

 Hudson to take a similar course. 



The club then adjourned. The work of the organiza- 

 tion has been well attended to during the past year; the 

 membership is large — about 150 — and will be added to 

 considerably; the financial condition is sound, and the 

 prize list will be more liberal than ever before for trap- 

 shooting, rifle-shooting and angling. The wild geese have 

 left us for their breeding grounds. PORT Tack. 



