368 -4 JoiDVii Across the Sierras— S. CnJ/fornia. 
Mountains in Utah and Wyoming. We camped this night right 
in the middle of the canyon in very cheei'less surroundings. 
From a jmddle of rain-water we managed to get enough to 
water the horse and make tea, but wood wax unobtainable 
and we had to have I'esource to a small icoal o l s*ove 1o heat 
our watei'. After supper I took niv usiuil sU'oll arounrl, liut 
the only living things seen were a irair of "Ravens {Corni.^ 
corax siiiiia'ii'i) — tit birds for such a dismal countvy. After a 
cold and un('om.''ortablo night, we were very glad to get 
started again and were soon out of the canyon and into a 
more open valley. Trees were absent Ivut we pas-ed one or 
two small lakes on which Ducks Avere feeding. i)i-iiicipally 
Mallard and Pin-tail. One or two Hawks and Falcons were 
also seen, but too far off to identify. About mid-day Ave 
reached the Avestern end of Antelope Valley and halted at a 
ranch for lunch— the first building Ave had seen since leaving 
Fort Tejon. We were able to Iniy from the rancher some 
bread and firewood ; water he gaA^e us. Antelope Valley is 
entirely surrounded by high mountains, those to the north being 
over 12,000 feet and very rugged; it is practically waterless 
as far as surface water is concerned for at least nine months 
in the ye-ar. The ranchers obtained tlieir supply both for 
domestic purposes and stock from Avells. The only tie? com- 
mon to the valley is the Yucca, a dwarf kind of Palm, re- 
sembling a cabbage stalk Avith a tuft of leaves on top. As 
far as I could see it is quite useless for any purpose. The 
valley is about sixty miles long by from twenty to thirty Avide, 
and is crossed at its easteiai end by the C.P.R. on its AA^ay 
from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Being at sucli a great 
elevation it is extremely healtln- and is now all taken up by 
settlers, many of whom go in for fiaiit-farming. Tii the 
early days large herds of Anteloju's, an animal tliat can go a 
fong time Avitliout Avater, roamed all over tiie valley, but they 
haA^e noAV been killcil oil' or else di-ivcu into tlic muuiif aiiis. 
Birds Avere not numerous, liut we saw a good many Larks 
of the three kinds already noted in this paper. We al'^.o .saw 
a pair of Koad Runners and a HaAvk, which 1 believed to 
be a Kestrel {Falco sparvereiis)). Snakes and Lizards Avcre 
numerous, also that curious little animal the Horned Toad. 
We camped this night on the lee side pf a small ranch house, 
