RELATION OF LAKES TO CLIMATIC CONDITIONS. 79 



by any other lake of the Arid region. Tlie unusually elear air of Utah, 

 especially after the winter rains, renders distant mountains remarkably 

 sharp and distinct, particularly when the sun is low in the sky and a 

 strong- sidelight brings the sharp serrate crests into bold relief and reveals 

 a richness of sculpturing that Avas before unseen. At such time the colors 

 on the broad deserts, and amid the purple hills and mountains, are more 

 wonderful than artists have ever painted, and exceed anything of the 

 kind witnessed by the dweller of regions where the atmosphere is moist 

 and Ihe native tints of the rock concealed b}'- vegetation. The hills 

 of New England when arrayed in all the gorgeous panoply of autumnal 

 foliage are not more striking than the desert ranges of Utah when 

 aljlaze with the reflected glories of the sunset sky. The rich, native 

 colors of the naked rocks are then kindled into glowing fires, and each 

 canon and rocky gorge is filled with liquid purple, beside which even the 

 Imperial dyes would be dull and lusterless. At such times the glories of 

 the hills are mirrored in the dense water of the lake ; their duplicate 

 forms appearing in sharp relief on the paler tints of the reflected sky. 

 As the sun sinks behind the far-off mountains, range after range fades 

 through innumerable shades of purple and violet until onl}- their highest 

 battlements catch the fading glory. The lingering twilight brings softer 

 and more mysterious beauties. Ranges and peaks that were concealed by 

 the glare of the noon-day sun, start into life. Forms tliat Avere before 

 unnoticed, people the distant plain, like a shadowy encampment. At last 

 each remote mountain crest appears as a delicate silhouette, in which all 

 details are lost, drawn in the softest of violet tints on the fading yellow 

 of the sky. 



To one Avho only beholds the desert land bordering Great Salt lake in 

 the full glare of the unclouded summer sun, Avhen the peculiar desert 

 haze shrouds the landscape and the strange mirage distorts the outline of 

 tlie hills, the scenery will no doubt be uninteresting and perhaps even 

 repellent. But let him wait until the cool l)reath from the mountains 

 steals out on the plain and the light ])econn!s less intense, and a transfor- 

 mation will be witnessed that Avill fill his heart Avith Avonder. 



The saline and alkaline shores of Great Salt lake are either naked 

 mud plains, frequently Avhite Avith drifting salts, or scantily clothed a\ itli 

 desert sln-ubs. The absence of conspicuous flowers is frequently relieved 

 l)y broad areas covered Avitli a peculiar jilant. knoAvn as Salicornia, Avhich 

 flourishes by tlie side of this Dead Sea of tlie AVest, Avhere all other vege- 

 tation perishes. The SaVicoD^'Ki gi-ows in fleshy sleius. without leaves. 



