Dr. B. Seemann on the Mammoth-tree of Upper California, 1 73 



danger in which the trees were placed was viewed with equal 

 apprehension, inducing a correspondent of the * Gardeners' 

 Chronicle ' to suggest that a petition of the scientific men might 

 be sent to the American Government, praying for the protection 

 of this eighth wonder of the world. Fortunately the authorities 

 were fully alive to their duty, by prohibiting the removal of any 

 tree under any circumstances whatever, and thus, by throwing 

 the sanctity of the law around the hallowed grove, preserved to 

 North America an object quite equal in grandeur to the famed 

 Falls of Niagara, the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, or the 

 Natural Bridge of Virginia. 



The number of large specimens still standing in the Mam- 

 moth-tree Grove amounts to ninety-two, nearly all of which have 

 received from the people some appropriate and romantic name. 

 A few of the most prominent it may not be uninteresting to 

 describe. After leaving the hotel, and proceeding into the forest 

 by the upper trail, we are at once struck with the magnitude of 

 the trees, and passing several immense specimens, we reach the 

 " Miner's Cabin,^^ measuring 80 feet in circumference, and at- 

 taining 300 feet in height. The "cabin,^' or burnt cavity, 

 measures 17 feet across its entrance, and extends upwards of 

 40 feet. Continuing our ramble, admiring the luxuriant growth 

 of underwood, consisting of firs, cedars, dog-wood, and hazel, 

 we come to the " Three Graces.^' These splendid trees appear 

 to grow, and perhaps do grow, from one root, and form the most 

 beautiful group in the forest, towering side by side to the height 

 of 290 feet, tapering symmetrically from their base upwards ; 

 their united circumference amounts to 92 feet ; it is 200 feet to 

 the first limb on the middle tree. The " Pioneer's Cabin " next 

 arrests our attention, rising to the height of 150 feet (the top 

 having been broken ofi"), and 33 feet in diameter. Continuing 

 our walk, we come to a forlorn-looking individual, having many 

 rents in the bark, and withal the most shabby-looking in the 

 forest: this is the "Old Bachelor/' it is about 300 feet high 

 and 60 feet in circumference. The next tree is the " Mother of 

 the Forest," already mentioned as having been stripped of its 

 bark by speculators in 1854. We are now amidst the " Family 

 Group," and standing near the uprooted base of the "Father 

 of the Forest." This scene is grand and beautiful beyond de- 

 scription. The venerable "Father" has long since bowed his 

 head in the dust ; yet how stupendous even in his ruins ! He 

 measures 112 feet in circumference at the base, and can be 

 traced 300 feet, where the trunk was broken by falling against 

 another tree. A hollow chamber or burnt cavity extends through 

 the trunk 200 feet, large enough for a person to ride through. 

 Near its base is a spring of water. Walking upon the trunk. 



