Page:Pictures of life in Mexico Vol 1.djvu/194

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 Mexican rivers and lakes.—The salt marshes.—Wild ducks.—Formidable shooting-machines.—A sporting party.—A biped dog.—Señor Stiazza and his gun Bolo.—A half-caste bravo.—Ragged comrades.—Sunlight on the lake.—The game started.—Wild ducks slaughtered.—Zambo lost in the mud.—Rescue.—A sporting supper and encampment.—Pleasant anticipations.—An attack.—Flight of the bravo.—The party robbed of their spoil.

rivers of Mexico are, for the most part, mean, shallow, and unnavigable. In the arid regions they frequently dry up altogether, until they are again recruited by the copious falls of the rainy season; while even the principal streams are often muddy, narrow, and fit for sailing-purposes only near their mouths, where they deepen and widen preparatory to entering seas and lakes. Those lakes, however, are noble additions to the scenery; and in