GIGANTIO TREES OF CALIFORNIA. 115 
rode on horseback in the interior of this tree for a 
distance of 200 feet, without any inconvenience. My 
companions and myself have frequently entered this 
tunnel, and progressed some 60 paces, but have been 
arrested before reaching the end by means of wood 
which had fallen from the ceiling. Near these over- 
thrown giants others still are standing not inferior to 
them in size, and of which the height astonishes the 
beholder.” 
In reading of a tree 450 feet high, and 30 feet in 
diameter, we are struck with large figures, but we 
must have some familiar object with which to com- 
pare it before we can fully realize the magnitude of 
such an object. If the tree above described was 
placed in the chasm of the Niagara river at the 
Suspension Bridge, it would stand 200 feet above 
the top of the bridge. By the side of Trinity Steeple 
in Broadway, New York, it would overtop it by 160 
feet. It would be 230 feet higher than Bunker Hill 
Monument, and 270 feet above the Washington Monu- 
ment in Baltimore. If cut up for fuel, it would make 
at least 2500 cords, or as much as would be yielded 
by 60 acres of good woodland. If sawed into inch 
boards, it would yield about 2,500,000 feet, and fur- 
nish sufficient 3-inch plank for 25 miles of Plank- 
road. ‘This is quite enough for the product of one 
little seed less in size than a grain of wheat. 
By counting the annual rings, it appears that some 
of the oldest specimens have attained the age of 3000 
years. If this computation be correct, and there is 
probably no good reason to doubt it, they must cer- 
