DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 



247 



Utah, and Fort Douglas. Parleys Canyon is the second one south 

 of the fort and the next one south of Emigration Canyon. 



The canyon is narrow and somewhat winding and in its lower part 

 is rather rugged and rocky. The red sandstone and quartzite which 

 form so conspicuous a feature of the Wasatch Eange show on the 

 left, but in a short distance they are cut through by the canyon, and 

 then they make the great mountain slope on the right. The rock 

 is resistant to weathering and stands out in great cliffs and ribs of 

 red that cross the slope nearly at right angles. Farther up, the 



by the embankment of the Southern 

 Pacific Co. and is continuously sup- 

 plied with fresh water by Bear River. 

 Ice can form on the stronger brine 

 only in zero weather, but this arm 

 is frozen from side to side every 

 winter, and sleighs have been driven 

 across it. 



" The only climatic element with 

 which the lake oscillations have been 

 connected by direct observation is pre- 

 cipitation — the lake rises or sinks as 

 the fall of rain and snow is great or 

 small — but it is easy to understand 

 that the balance between supply and 

 loss of water may also be disturbed 

 by any change of climate which affects 

 the rate of evaporation. As every 

 laundress well knows, evaporation is 

 favored by heat, by dryness of the air, 

 and by strength of wind and is re- 

 tarded by cold, by moisture in the air, 

 and by calm. So there are at least 

 four ways in which changes of climate 

 may cause the lake to expand or con- 

 tract. * * * 



" The only permanent animal inhab- 

 itant of Great Salt Lake is a tiny 

 ' brine shrimp,' a third of an inch in 

 length. A more conspicuous tempo- 

 rary resident is a minute fly, which 

 passes its larval stage in the water 

 and when its transformation takes 

 place leaves behind it the discarded 

 skin. The.9e flies are so numerous in 

 their season that even the passing tour- 

 ist should feel grateful that they do 

 not bite. Their brown exuviae darken 

 the water edge and often sully broad 

 belts of the lake surface. More deco- 

 rative denizens are gulls and pelicans, 

 which find safe nesting ground on some 



of the smaller islands. There are no 

 shoal-water plants, and the salt spray 

 of the beach is fatal to all land vege- 

 tation along the shores. 



" When the lake is low its salt is 

 segregated and deposited in shallow 

 lagoons at its margin, to be redis- 

 solved when the water rises. Each 

 autumn, as the water cools, deposits of 

 hydra ted sodium sulphate (Glauber's 

 salt) coat piles and other fixed objects 

 near the water surface, and the de- 

 posits increase as the temperature 

 falls. * * * Calcium carbonate — 

 the mineral constituting limestone, 

 travertine, and chalk — is continuously 

 and permanently separated from the 

 water, which is unable to retain that 

 whicli is brought to it by the rivers. 

 Along the shores it forms minute balls, 

 which together constitute sand, a sand 

 quite distinct from the siliceous sand 

 of ordinary beaches. 



" Man makes little use of the lake. 

 On its shores there are neither fisher- 

 ies nor ports, and commerce finds it 

 an impediment rather than an aid. 

 Its deposits of Glauber's salts, which 

 it offers for the gathering, are neg- 

 lected because the world's demand is 

 small and is cheaply met in other ways. 

 Its common salt is harvested with 

 great economy of effort, for impurities 

 are easily excluded, and the work of 

 evaporation is performed by the sun. 

 The present annual output of 40,000 

 tons must be multiplied fivefold be- 

 fore it can commence to weaken the 

 brine. For the rest, man is content to 

 resort to its shore for bathing and to 

 realize a new sensation as he floats 

 upon its surface." 



