SEQUOIA AND ITS HISTORY. 211 



play a conspicuous part in the future, or that they 

 would have done*so, even if the Indian's fires and the 

 white man's axe had spared them. The redwood of 

 the coast {Sequoia sempervirens) had the stronger hold 

 upon existence, forming as it did large forests through- 

 out a narrow belt about three hundred miles in length, 

 and being so tenacious of life that every large stump 

 sprouts into a copse. But it does not pass the bay 

 of Monterey, nor cross the line of Oregon, although 

 so grandly developed not far below it. The more re- 

 markable Sequoia gigantea of the Sierra exists in num- 

 bers so limited that the separate groves may be reck- 

 oned upon the fingers, and the trees of most of them 

 have been counted, except near their southern limit, 

 where they are said to be more copious. A species 

 limited in individuals holds its existence by a precari- 

 ous tenure ; and this has a foothold only in a few shel- 

 tered spots, of a happy mean in temperature, and 

 locally favored with moisture in summer. Even there, 

 for some reason or other, the pines with which they 

 are associated (Pinus Lambertiana and P. ponderosa), 

 the firs (Abies grandis and A. aniabilis), and even the 

 incense-cedar (Libocedrus decurrens), possess a great 

 advantage, and, though they strive in vain to emulate 

 their size, wholly overpower the Sequoias in numbers. 

 "To him that hath shall be given." The force of 

 numbers eventually wins. At least in the commonly- 

 visited groves Sequoia gigantea is invested in its last 

 stronghold, can neither advance into more exposed 

 tositions above, nor fall back into drier and barer 

 ground below, nor hold its own in the long-run where 

 it is, under present conditions ; and a little further 



