The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1912-07-26
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Dish and bird life The bird population alone
probably cannot be equaled in any other part of
the world, Tens of millions of feathered fowl
make their home on these lonely specks of land.
repairing thther each year in countless focks
to establish rookeries and to rear their young.
The reefs and waters about the islands fairly
swarm with fish and other forms of life so that
they really form densey populated natural ZOO
logical garden
To the naturalist, the out-of-door enthusiast, the
nature study photographer the man who sim
ply loves outof-the-way places and the unusual
and novel, these islands leave little to be desired
chance to run down along this chain is the
opportunity of a lifetime and bound to result in
a really worth while experience-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
II 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 the islands. made
it possible. by invitation to make the journey to
Laysan Island from Honolulu during the summer
months in one of the eompanys sailing vessels
While the islands of the chain are all different
from each other and all intensely interesting
Layson is in certain sense typical of most of
Athem. 1t is raised coral atoll approximately two
Smiles across that in general form has been COM
pared to broad, shallow platter composed en-
tirely of sand 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
its water contains more salt than does that of the
open sea. This interesting fact tells much of the
geological history of the island and points unrnis-
takabiy 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 very long ago, the waters
have evaporated to extent and left that
which remains more concentrated and salty than
1t when the island was first made. About the
edge of the lagoon the DOGGY earth is covered with
crystals of salt mixed with chips of guano. This
shellike 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 a kind of coarse bunch grass that
grows three four feet high. More than a score
of plants have found a footing there during the
long period that. has elapsed since the dry land
first rose that at the time of its discovery and
indeed, on the occasion of my first visit for a
sand island it was we'll supplied with a low
growth of hardy vines. grass and shrubs, unfor-
tunately the Introduction of rabbits the island
has marked sad change since then.