skipper who could tell where he was by the taste of the earth the lead brought up, and the joke the sailors played on him. The people who know things can do more than that. They can tell how old Great Salt Lake is by tasting the water. One of them, who was hired by the United States says that Great Salt Lake is at least 23,000 years old. He says this because it would take the streams from the mountains that long to carry enough salt to the lake to make it as salty as it now is. He says, too, that there are four hun­dred million tons of salt in the waters of Great Salt Lake. Every three and a half years the sun draws up from the lake as much water as is now in it. But the streams flow­ing into the lake keep it pretty well filled just the same. The water of the lake is so heavy that one cannot sink in it. It is very nice to float in if you keep your head out of 14 water and your feet in. There are no fish in Great Salt Lake. A shrimp rarely exceeding in length one-third of an inch lives there. He has a name longer than that-Artemia gra­cilis. Millions of his sisters and cousins and his aunts live very well in Great Salt Lake. Certain young flies live in the lake before they get their wings. Their family name is Ephydra gracilis. Sea-gulls make their home along the shore, enjoying the "salt sea air," and a diet of fresh water fish brought by the Bear River to the lake where the salt water kills, pickles and floats them about until the sea-gulls' meal time.* Thou­sands of pelicans have their homes on the islands of Great Salt Lake.f IV. The Great Salt Lake Cut-Off F IFTY years ago or more, some very brave and able men said they would build a railroad across the country. * Seagulls. See note pages 28 and 29. t Antelope Island. See note page 29. 15