*1 
when I tried to cross, the snow broke with me 
and I started gracefully down the slide. It was 
very steep, and for about ioo yards I dug des¬ 
perately at the ice and snow with my stick and 
finally stopped myself. I could look down and 
see loose boulders lying at the bottom of the 
slide, and was very much afraid that if I slid 
down I would be killed on the rocks at the bot¬ 
tom. I therefore tried to work my way to the 
rocks at the side of the slide. When I had 
made ten or fifteen feet of progress I started 
sliding again, and this time it was impossible 
for me to stop. I dug my best with my stick 
and with my heels, but in spite of it all kept 
going with greater speed. All this time I was 
getting more and more scared, and when I 
turned over in the air a couple of times and 
lost my stick, I felt that my sheep-hunting days 
Both Cutler and I were glad to leave Noaxe 
Lake, as it was a raw, desolate camp where 
the wind blew continually with the force 
of a blizzard, and whenever we took our meals, 
no matter how close we huddled to the camp¬ 
fire, the food was always cold before we could 
get it into our mouths. Every meal degenerated 
into a race to see who could first crowd his food 
into his stomach and get back to the stove in 
the tent. 
Grant White did not intend to leave without 
another effort, and it was arranged that he and 
I should go up along Shallops and try for an¬ 
other ram, while the pack train was to leave 
about noon to recross the pass. We started next 
morning in a howling blizzard and worked up 
Shallops. The sleet cut our faces and the wind 
was so strong we could hardly stand. Mus- 
1 he pass is about 8,ooo feet in altitude and 
by the time we had got down to 6,500 feet we 
were well in the timber, and it was surprising 
to find how much the temperature had moder¬ 
ated. As we had no thermometer with us, it 
was impossible to tell how cold it was at any 
time during the trip, but in that dry climate we 
did not feel the cold very much, except when 
exposed to the wind on the mountain tops. 
Russell Mott. 
[to be continued.] 
California Licenses. 
San Francisco, Cal., June 4. — Editor Forest 
and Stream: blunting licenses will expire on 
June 30 and the new ones for 1910-1911 are now 
being prepared by the State Fish and Game Com- 
DUCKS ON AN IRRIGATED FIELD IN IMPERIAL VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 
Courtesy of Allen Kelly. 
were over. About that time I ran into a snow 
bank about the size of a piano box and I plowed 
right through it, but it stopped me and I got up 
practically unhurt, though bruised and shaken. 
Pat on coming down said: “I made hole with 
my foot. I guess you missed it.” I thought so, 
too. We climbed back for the sheep only to 
find they were gone. Anyway, it was nearly 
dark and I was spent. Pat admitted that one 
toe was frozen solid, and it was time to get 
back to camp. On arriving there I was relieved 
to find that Grant White had determined to 
break camp and recross the pass in the morn¬ 
ing. The conditions were dangerous, for in the 
newly fallen snow it was impossible to tell where 
you were going to put your foot, and whether 
you were going to step on a rock, on ice or into 
a hole. Probably with sharp-spiked shoes it 
would not have been so bad, but in the present 
condition of my footwear the hunting was rather 
precarious. Also I had one fine head, which was 
more than I had any right to expect, and under 
the circumstances I was willing to resign my¬ 
self to doing without a second ram. 
taches and eyebrows froze into solid lumps, no 
matter how fast we broke the icicles away. After 
two hours of this, without seeing a sign of 
sheep, Grant decided that we might as well give 
it up, and we turned down into the flat three 
miles from Noaxe Lake. There we watched the 
camp with the glasses until we were sure they 
had found the horses and were breaking camp, 
for it would have been no joke to have crossed 
the pass ahead of the pack train and then not 
have it come up and be left to spend a night in 
the snow without food. After a desperately cold 
wait we finally saw the pack train start and we 
thereupon, turned and crossed the pass. 
1 he snow had drifted into the pass until it was 
a couple of feet deep and was getting worse all 
the time. We pushed on slowly, breaking the 
trail as we went, and when we reached the top, 
saw the pack train a mile or so below us just 
starting up the pass. Grant felt sure the horses 
would go through anything to get back to the 
ranch or nearer to it, and we therefore did not 
wait for the train, but descended into the shelter 
of the pine woods. 
mission and will be ready for distribution within 
a short time. Everyone who hunts wild birds 
or animals not predatory creatures in this State 
must first procure a license, the fee being $1 
for residents of the State, $10 for residents of 
other States but citizens of the United States, 
and $25 for foreigners. These licenses are to 
be carried while the possessor is hunting and 
are not transferrable. Among the list of preda¬ 
tory animals for the hunting of which no license 
is necessary are to be found the following: 
California lions, coyotes, wildcats, mountain cats, 
wolves, bears, skunk, mink, weasel, badgers, 
raccoon and gophers. Neither jackrabbits nor 
cottontails are classed as predatory animals, and 
to hunt these a license is necessary. 
In the list of unprotected birds, the hunting of 
which does not require a license, there is men¬ 
tioned the California linnet, bluejay, butcher 
bird, duck hawk, sharp-shinned hawk, English 
house sparrow and great-horned owl. All aquatic 
fowl are on the protected list. Meadow larks, 
robins and other birds may be killed by owners 
where crops are being destroyed. A. P. B. 
