The morning call., 1893-02-12


even though you were posted on the scarcity
OF wild ducks in the tule lands.
From the t0pmast hung six great gray
geese, while from the Shrouds dangled
maladrs and blue-beaks and teals and csD-
yasbacks in profuson enough TO hide the
rigging aud delight the average amateur
huntsman-yes; eight OF them. And when
the slip was made late at night and the
ducks were shared and shared alike, each
man found over O round dozen OF canvas
back, teal and mallard as his share. not TO
mention the half-dOzrn blue-bills thrown in
by way O good measure.
But the ducks were not the best part of
that trip. 1t was the getting Of them.
Eight men, who could lily enough spare the
time from their w0rkaday world, polished
up their shutgunS one day last week and
appointed committee Of one TO charter
suitable boat and purchase enough raw ma
terial to make fried eggs, hapjaeks, beef
steak and onious and e0rned-beef hash for
five days.
The Committee did even better than its in
structions. 1t secured the services of a
Viking cook and threw in box Of apples
and an occasional cheese sandwich on the
side
And when the guns were polished suffi-
GENTLY the eight nimr0ds HE'D themselves
down TO the waters edge and slowed them
selves and :heir blankets and their double-B
cartridges and their oilskins and rubber
boots iulo the hold of the Bonita, chartered
for the occasion.
II was dark by the time the Bonita cast
of her m0orings from the Washington
street pier, and steamed out into the bay.
Wind and tide favored. and while the ex-
pectant huuters sumbered In the force
castle and dreamed of dead ducks and
flying feathers, The Bonita was blowing
her way due east.
BY dawn Jerseys Landing was reached.
Here Jones shot sandhEll crane. while
Doc and Gorham tried to induce the propri-
etor OF the dilapdated tavern 10 say there
was good shooting up among the tules OF
tie San joaquin River And when the pro-
prietor had compromised with the truth
enough to say that There ought to be"
double reef was taken in the mainsail and
the Bonita proceeded to fight her way
against the rain and the head winds into
the very heart of the tule lands
Before noon Pipers Slough had been
passed and the labyrinths of the lesser
sloughs penetrated Where the tues grew
the thickest there the anchor was cast.
Nelse, the Viking cook, mate and crew, had
been at the masthead for nearly an hour.
AT last he spied q place where there was
water as well as tules, for the captain had
said the night before that what we wanted
was plenty Of water inland. And the cap
tain was the oracle Of this cruise. Not
Captain Andersen the skipper, but CAPTAIN
YOnberg, the jolly. rotund owner OF Plate
and n ffteeD-dollar gun, the rac0nteur, ex-
sea captain and best hunter in the party.
And what the captain said was law.
Fifteen minutes slater the skiffs were
manned, and eight men ana one dog in four
small boats were pushing inland through
sea of tules.
Have you ever been in tule land? 1t is
dTeaTy, desolate spot at this season II the
year. There Is only muddy water and tules
to be seen as far as the eye can reach. For
miles and miles the entire land is sub
merged. Occasionally an old barn or decay
Ing Clubhouse breaks the monotony of the
background, but these occur so seldom they
are scarcely noticeable IN that vast sea of
tules.
When the Bonita cast anchor the tules
formed a solid. almost impregnable bank
about the merged lands for a depth OF per-
haps quarter Of mile in some places
perhaps more IN others. When You have
pushed the skiff in through the tall tules
till you are tired and well nigh discouraged.
to say nothing OF being cut and scratched
about the hands and face with the rough
ends of the big reeds, you come In the full
ness OF time to the levee.
And you come also to a landing place that
is uncertain at best and often unsafe. You
push the skitf over the mud as far as pos
sible, and then try TO step out. You are
lucky If you don't step over your boot-tops
and you are mostly unlucky.
But wet legs do not dampen the ardor of
such intrepid sp0rtsmen as the eight men
had conquered all difficulties and were
scattered along the narrow margin OF great
inland sea, the uncertain depths of which
Regain was the first to test when he stepped
down and down TO the armpits and would
probably be going down yet had it not been
for the friendly offices OF Jones, bis sklff-
mate.
1t was still raining and the ducks were
flying not in great darkening 1ocks. but In
occasional dozens and half dozens. The
signs were encouraging, thought the nlm-
rods, so the decoys were set out and im-
promptu covers made of the dead tules.
Then there came long wait. 1t was so
still and silent on that wild, deserted, sub
merged moor that Nelse. cooking the flap
jacks in the galley, swore afterward that he
could hear the silence, and Skipper Ander-
sen, mendlng the "'yib" and the mainsail.
said, at dinner time. 1T was so still as never
before"
Then all at once there was bang. The
captains S15 gun had exploded and NAL
lard dropped into the water. PLATE brought
1t ashore. Presently there were more bangs,
but not as many feathers fell as shot.
Everybody shot duck that day, one or
two shot three or four. but late in the after
noon. when the hunters returned to the
sl0op. a determination came with them that
the ducks were a little too shy In this par
ticnlar part OF tule land.
That night IL rained some more. and when
the last fapjack had gone the way OF all
good hapjacks there was card party
aboard the Bonita. Ii was two-bit freeze
out and coffee beans were anted In place OF
chips. Such heavy gaming made the hunt
ers sleep soundly, and the bowling wind
outside and the patter OF the rain on the
fo'castle hatch made warm blankets APP
precated and water-tight huh boon to
be thankful for.
In the morning there was gale, and the
boom 'yibed" frequently, as the Viking
skipper put It. while the Bonita forged
ahead to fresh buntng-gr0unds. By noon
the anchor was cast among more tules
These tuies are as high as a mans head. and
80 deep below water that the longest oar
will not fetch sounding.
And the second days hunting In the tule