ADDITIONAL REMARKS ON THE SEQUOIA GIGANTEA. 



appeared to me one of the greatest wonders of the forest, and compared with which 

 man is but an imperceptible pigmy, has been hollowed, by means of fire, throvighout 

 a considerable portion of its length, so as to form an immense wooden tube of a sin- 

 gle piece. Its size may be imagined when it is known that one of my companions, 

 two years ago, rode on horseback in the interior of this tree for a distance of 200 

 feet, without any inconvenience. My companions and myself have frequently en- 

 tered this tunnel and progressed some sixty paces, but have been arrested before 

 reaching the end by masses of wood which had fallen from the ceiling. Near these 

 overthrown o-iants others still are standing, not inferior to them in size, and of whieh 

 the height astonishes the beholder. I can mention three particularly, which, en- 

 tirely isolated, grow near each other so systematically as to appear to have been 

 planted purposely to produce the effect. A fourth is remarkable in having, between 

 50 and 100 feet from the ground, its trunk divided into three enormous branches of 

 the same size and nearly parallel, extending to a distance of more than 300 feet. 

 Others are distinguished by the straightness of their trunk, comparatively as delicate 

 and erect as that of a Pine-tree, and which are not less than 350 feet in height. At 

 some distance may be seen a species of knoll rising from the surface of the ground, 

 and which is merely a half developed knot, the last remains of one of these mon- 

 sters, which have fallen centuries ago and are now buried under the soil. 



" I am informed by Mr. Lapham, that the wood of one of these trees is remarkable 

 for its very slow decomposition. When freshly cut the fibre is white ; but it soon 

 becomes reddish, and by long exposure to the air acquires a color nearly as dark as 

 Mahogany. Its consistence is rather feeble, nearly resembling the Pine or Cedar, 

 but the bark covering it differs materially from the latter. It is excessively thick 

 near the foot of the tree, sensibly elastic on pressure, and is readily divided into a 

 mass of fibres closely resembling those constituting the husk of the cocoa-nut, but 

 much finer. About this portion of the trunk it is split in every direction by deep 

 cracks, but at the elevation of 100 or ISO feet, it is almost smooth and not more than 

 two inches in thickness. At this point the bark is removed from the living tree for 

 exportation. (How can such a sacralege be tolerated !) A hotel has been built along 

 side of the " Great tree," the bark of which was exhibited last year at San Francisco, 

 and, on its overturned trunk a sort of ladies' pavilion has been erected, which serves 

 as an elegant promenade. In order to fell it the trunk was bored, by means of a 

 very long and powerful auger, with many holes very near to each other and arranged 

 circularly; but even when almost detached from its bases its immense mass resisted 

 all efforts to overthrow it. Four days subsequently it was blown down by the wind. 

 It shook the earth when it fell, and made for itself a deep furrow in the ground in 

 which it lies, at this moment, half buried." 



It is useless to extend our quotations ; they would teach us nothing new ; we shall 

 merely observe that the remarks of the American Dr. contain useful observations on 

 the nature of the soil in which the Sequoia grows. This soil is siliceous and 

 swampy, and, as the tree apparently grows nowhere else, these two peculiarities 

 become very characteristic, and should be remembered by persons who may uu 



