^be IRcian of tbe Hmmortals 207 



groves, on a plateau about five thousand feet above 

 sea-level. The needles or leaves are smaller than 

 those of the sempervirens, and are more rigid ; the 

 catkins are also small. Growing at so great a height 

 snow-storms are no stranger to it, and the stiff, 

 bristle-like form of the needles is best fitted to 

 encounter the driving snows. The gigantea often 

 attains a height of four hundred feet with a di- 

 ameter of thirty. Sequoia-wood is strong and dura- 

 ble, of a rich color, especially the heart-wood or 

 middle of the trunk ; it is capable of receiving a 

 rich, glossy polish, and thus is a favorite for cabinet 

 work. One of these trees, called by the Indians 

 " The Mother of the Forest," measured ninety feet 

 in girth and was three hundred and twenty-one feet 

 high. The bark was stripped off for a space of one 

 hundred and sixteen feet to be shown at an exhibi- 

 tion, and thus this stateliest tree of the American 

 forests died. The growth of the redwoods is rapid 

 for about twenty years ; after that growth is more 

 and more slow, and in age the increase is very tardy. 

 Age also robs sequoias of their grace and l)eauty ; 

 the lower branches fall away, and the foliage becomes 

 dryer and more sparse. The life of a redwood tree 

 is estimated at about three thousand years, if left 

 unharmed by men and forest fires. 



These redwoods have rivals. Cowthorpe, in 



