Arizona weekly citizen., 1894-12-29
THE GULF EXCURSION.
A Very Successful Trip on the
 Steamer Mohaye.
Turtles That Weighed Four Hundred Pcunds-A Flock of Geese
 That Hid the Sun.

After two weeks of pleasurable adven- ture which was not marred by single mishap, a party of 10 gentlemen have returned from trip down the Colorado river
 Tbe party, which was made up in this city was under the guidance of Captains Isaac Polhamus and J Mellon. The members of the party were Judge J D Bickneil, pr F T BIcknell, Jas Cuzuer, Rse se Llewellyn. Jr., E Jaczson, T s Van Dyke, D Horriga5, J H Steven son of Chicago, E H Showers of San
 Bernardino, N R Folsom and Fl Spence.
 The object of the party was hunting
 fishing and to travel On portion of the great r1ver which is seldom visited by other than Indians.
 It Was Dsce mber 4th when tie sports
 men left this city and went to Yuma,
 where Captain Polhamus placed his
 steamer Mohave at their disposal.
 The vessel, which was built especially
 for navigation on the river, IS 110 feet long, and while the principal busisess
 IS freight traffic there are ample accom-
 modstiOns for passengers, staterooms having been arranged on the upper or saloon deck.
 The vessel pulled out from the wharf l during the drizzling rain with heavy
 mist Overhanglng the water and Obscur- ! ing the shore from view. The second
 morning out there were bright skies and a magnificent panorama was spread | out Tn view, the coast range cf noun tains, the tops of which were tipped
 with snow, forming picturesque back ground.
 The shore line Is made up of banks of sand and gravel, deoris from the river | bottom and the result of the wash of | floods innumerables, agoous cut into the | banks and these swarm with wild fowl
 ot every description
 | Frequent steps were made and the | voyageTs donned rubber boots and huntiog coats and went ID seardh of | sport. s the first boat entered the ls- goon flock geese that darkened the | sky took wing. There was 10 need of taking aim, all that Nss necessary was | to point aun skyward and fire. 1t
 was slaughter of the birds. In addi- tion to geese there were countless thous- ands of ducks, white pelicans, sand hill | cranes, etc. ln fact, to use the express | iOr of one of the gentlemen, tEe lagoons along the rIver are hunters paradise. | There is every conceivable kind of wild | game, but nothing In the shape of ami
 mals except wild hogs, srd they are cowardly and will not show fight even | when cOrnered. No attention was paid
 to these blythe hunters.
 | In the way of fish, the party found
 great sport in chasing and capturing | turtles. Some of them are large enough
 to harness and drive, and Messers. Folsom and Stevenson we3e chief en-
 gII eers ID the capture of two of the
 largest specIes one weigi 2 400 pounds and the other 200 pounds. Green turtle soup and turtle steaks formed pleasant | addition to the menu during the next | few days.
 | Clans by the barrelful were procured ! from the Iudiaus, and if the epicurean
 tastes of any of the excnrsionists can be relied upon, the Lower Colorado river clam excels it's brothers of other !oca- liIies.
 As the steamer hears the mouth, the
 river widens considerably but the chan 1 nei IS constantly shifting. This is due | to the excessive high tides, or as they
 are called, bores, which reach height | oi 40 feet at some seasons of the year.
 These tides, with the floods or spring freshets, have banked the stream in
 which solid wall of mud and sand, and
 in some places they stand out, where
 cut into by lagoons, like buttes. Eateriug the gulf the steamer rlowed | her way down to within sight of Sail | Rock, hugh white boulder which stands out of the water with an eleva- ton Of about 60 feet, and seen at dis tance of 10 or 12 miles resem bles a full rigged ship nDder sail. It was proposed at first to visit Tiburon island, where ] Robinson and companion of the | Examiner exploring lsuuch were killed i by the natives. Whether tSe Mohave | party feared similar fate or whether | the distance was tco great matters not. | The island was not visited. Alter
 cruising sonth in gulf for about 60 miles the steamer was put about and the | party headed f T home.
 | The return trip, with the exception of
 two days during which it rsiued. splen-
 did weather was enjoyed. A stop was made at Hardy's Colorado, where the
 original mouth of the river was. Here
 more mammoth turtles were captured. The party arrIved at Yuma Saturday. 1 TLos Angeles Herald.