242 BESIDE THE GREAT SALT LAKE. 



I made my request to go into the pasture to 

 look at the birds. 



" Why, certainly," she said, with a courtesy 

 that I have found everywhere in Utah, though 

 with a slow surprise growing in her face. " Come 

 right in." 



I closed and fastened the gate, and started on 

 past her. Three feet beyond the doorsteps I was 

 brought to a standstill : the ground as far as I 

 could see was water- soaked ; it was like a satu- 

 rated sponge. Utah is dominated by Irrigation ; 

 she is a slave to her water supply. One going 

 there from the land of rains has much to learn 

 of the possibilities and the inconveniences of 

 water. I was always stumbling upon it in new 

 combinations and unaccustomed places, and I 

 never could get used to its vagaries. Books 

 written in the interest of the Territory indulge 

 in rhapsodies over the fact that every man is his 

 own rain-maker ; and I admit that the arrange- 

 ment has its advantages to the cultivator. But 

 judging from the standpoint of an outsider, I 

 should say that man is not an improvement upon 

 the original providence which distributes the staff 

 of life to plants elsewhere, spreading the vital 

 fluid over the whole land, so evenly that every 

 grass blade gets its due share ; and as all parts 

 are wet at once, so all are dry at the same time, 

 and the surplus, if there be any, runs in well- 



