Mexico Missouri message., 1912-07-18

ash and bird life. The sea bird population alone
probably cannot be equaled in any other part of
the world. Tens of millions Of feathered fowl
make their home these lonely specks of land,
repairing thither each year in countless focks
to establish rookeries and to their young.
The reefs and waters about the Islands fairly
swarm with fish and other forms Of life, so that
they really form a densely populated natural ZOO
logical garden.
To the naturalist, the out-of-door enthusiast, the
nature study photographer the man who sim
ply loves out-of-theway places and the unusual
and novel, these islands leave little to be desired.
chance to down along this chain is the
opportunity of a lifetime and bound TO result in
a really worth while experence-One that will
live fresh in the memory long after the details
Of other trips and experiences have been mingled
with the commonplace of life.
Unfortunately, at present, visiting the islands
in the reservation Is not the simple matter that
It should be- nor that it is hoped it may be made
in time. In former years the operations Of a
guano company, then engaged in exploiting the
guano bird lime deposits on the islands, made
It possible, by invitation, TO make the journey to
Laysan Island from Honolulu during the summer
months in of the company's sailing vessels
While the islands of the chain all different
from each other and all intensely interesting,
Iayson is in a certain sense typical of most OF
them It is raised coral atol approximately two
miles that in general form has been COM
pared to broad, shallow platter composed
tirey OF sand or raised coral reef not more than
40 feet about the at the highest point on the
sand rim which completely surrounds the salt
water lagoon that occupies the central part OF the
island. This lagoon Is of special interest, since
It's water contains more salt than does that OF the
open This interesting fact tells much OF the
geological history of the island and points unmis-
takaby to the origin OF the land 1t shows It to
be a circular coral atoll that at the time OF its
elevation above the carried the water of the
lagoon up to its present level Since that time,
and it must have been fery long ago the waters
have evaporated to extent and left that
which remains more concentrated and salty than
II when the island first made About the
edge Of the lagoon the boggy earth is covered with
crystals of salt mixed with chips of guano This
shell-like substance sparkles in the sun and sug
gests band of silver at the waters edge About
this barren ring is a narrow band covered with
low creeping vines. Back Of this again Is growth
of juncas which is backed up in turn by ring
OF low bushes. The prevailing plant of the island
however, is Kind of coarse bunch grass that
grows three or four feet high. More than a score
of plants have found footing there during the
long period that has elapsed since the dry land
FIRST rose, that at the time of its discovery and
indeed, the occasion Of my first visit for
sand island it was well supplied with low
growth Of hardy vines, grass and shrubs. Unfor
tunately the introduction OF rabbits the island
has marked a sad change since then