A GIANT TREE, 343 



approach one of the giants of the vegetable kingdom. 

 At the time of the clearing of the aboriginal forest 

 two great trees were spared. One of these had been 

 blown down some years before my visit, and but one 

 now remained. It was easily recognized from a 

 distance, as it presented a great dome of verdure that 

 rose high above the other trees of the forest. The 

 greater part of the way was perfectly easy. A broad 

 track, smooth enough to be passable in a carriage, 

 has been cleared for a distance of many miles over 

 the forest-covered hills. 



Following this amid delightful scenery, we reached 

 a point scarcely two hundred yards distant from the 

 great tree. I had already learned that even two 

 hundred yards in a Brazilian forest are not very easily 

 accomplished, but I was assured that a path had been 

 cut a year or two before which allowed easy access to 

 the foot of the tree. We found the path, but it was 

 soon apparent that it had been neglected during the 

 past season, and in this country a few months suffice 

 to produce a tangle of vegetation not easily traversed. 



When at length we effected our object, we found 

 ourselves at the base of a cylindrical column or tower, 

 with very smooth and uniform surface, tapering very 

 slightly up to the lowest branch, which was about 

 eighty feet over our heads. We measured the girth, 

 and found it just twenty-nine feet at five feet from 

 the ground. It is needless to say that I could form 

 no conjecture as to the species, or even the family, 

 to which this giant belongs, as I was quite unable to 

 make out the character of the foliage. While near 

 to it we could form no guess as to the height ; but 



