THE FOBESTS 155 



cessary. To save myself by flight was impossible, so with 

 out hesitation I stepped back about five paces, cocked my 

 gun, drew one of the pistols out of my belt, and holding 

 it in my left hand and the gun in my right, snowed myself 

 determined to fight for my life. As much as possible I 

 endeavored to preserve my coolness, and thus we stood 

 looking at one another without making any movement or 

 uttering a word for perhaps ten minutes, when one at last, 

 who seemed to be the leader, gave a sign that they wished 

 for some tobacco ; this I signified that they should have 

 if they fetched a quantity of cones. They went off im 

 mediately in search of them, and 110 sooner were they all 

 out of sight than I picked up my three cones and some 

 twigs of the trees and made the quickest possible retreat, 

 hurrying back to the camp, which I reached before dusk. 

 ... I now write lying on the grass with my gun cocked 

 beside me, and penning these lines by the light of my 

 Columbian candle, namely, an ignited piece of rosin- wood. 



This grand pine discovered under such exciting 

 circumstances Douglas named in honor of his friend 

 Dr. Lambert of London. 



The trunk is a smooth, round, delicately tapered 

 shaft, mostly without limbs, and colored rich pur 

 plish-brown, usually enlivened with tufts of yellow 

 lichen. At the top of this magnificent bole, long, 

 curving branches sweep gracefully outward and 

 downward, sometimes forming a palm-like crown, 

 but far more nobly impressive than any palm crown 

 I ever beheld. The needles are about three inches 

 long, finely tempered and arranged in rather close 

 tassels at the ends of slender branchlets that clothe 

 the long, outsweeping limbs. How well they sing 

 in the wind, and how strikingly harmonious an effect 



