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Nov., 1919 wads to determine the most effective load and the one making the least noise. Both the twenty-two auxiliary, and later the thirty-two and the cane gun, proved great successes, and in time practically all the collectors known to me were supplied with one or both, most of which were made in Washington.

As has been stated, the main purpose of the Wheeler Survey was the mapping of the country traversed, whfie geology and natural history were but secondary objects. Thus most of the time our collecting had to be done while on the march, and the specimens cared for at night. Not rarely, in order to be sure and save rare birds I dismounted and used the saddle on my mule as a dissecting table, and I can assure my readers that the process is an interesting one and likely to tax all his skfil and patience, especially when flies are numerous and the mule restive.

The route followed by our parties often carried us through territory unfruitful for the naturalist, although inviting collecting grounds might be visible in the adjacent mountains, which the exigencies of the topographical work forbade us to enter. While the chiefs of the parties furnished the scientific staff all the opportunities for their investigations possible consistent with the successful prosecution of the topographical work, even so, the results of our work were comparatively small, considering the time spent in the field. Much of the time Indians had to be reckoned with, even when not openly hostile, and the scientific assistants were directed always to carry the revolver or carbine formally issued to them. These proved a nuisance, and I am happy to say were never actually needed. Indeed they proved worse than useless, since revolvers in unaccustomed hands resulted in the death of one member of the Survey and the disabling of another.

The length of our field seasons varied much, depending largely on the time of the passage of the appropriation bills, say from June till November, or even December. Field work completed, there followed the office work in Washington where reports of progress and final reports were completed. Much to my regret my own reports on the birds were limited strictly to the results obtained by myself and the other members of the Expedition, which of course materially limited their scope.

Recalling my several years experience as a collecting naturalist in the far west, it seems strange how small was the number of mammals collected compared with that of birds. While it was true that I was much more interested in birds than in mammals, I was fully alive to the importance of securing all the mammals possible, and never allowed an opportunity to collect them, especially the smaller species, to pass unimproved.

The fact is that the earlier naturalists knew practically nothing about trapping, even if the speed with which they usually traversed the country had not precluded the systematic use of traps. Mammals of the size of rabbits and squirrels were easily obtained, and I collected many, as did my predecessors. But the presence of the smaller rodents, especially mice and other nocturnal species, was only dimly suspected, and these were obtained for the most part only when chance threw them in the way of the collector. Moreover, even as