188 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA 



In the first place we might notice that no species 

 of coniferous tree in the range keeps its individuals 

 so well together as Sequoia ; a mile is perhaps the 

 greatest distance of any straggler from the main 

 body, and all of those stragglers that have come 

 under my observation are young, instead of old mon 

 umental trees, relics of a more extended growth. 



Again, Sequoia trunks frequently endure for cen 

 turies after they fall. I have a specimen block, cut 

 from a fallen trunk, which is hardly distinguishable 

 from specimens cut from living trees, although the 

 old trunk-fragment from which it was derived has 

 lain in the damp forest more than 380 years, prob 

 ably thrice as long. The time measure in the case 

 is simply this : when the ponderous trunk to which 

 the old vestige belonged fell, it sunk itself into the 

 ground, thus making a long, straight ditch, and in 

 the middle of this ditch a Silver Fir is growing that 

 is now four feet in diameter and 380 years old, as 

 determined by cutting it half through and count 

 ing the lings, thus demonstrating that the remnant 

 of the trunk that made the ditch has lain on the 

 ground more than 380 years. For it is evident that 

 to find the whole time, we must add to the 380 

 years the time that the vanished portion of the 

 trunk lay in the ditch before being burned out of ' 

 the way, plus the time that passed before the seed 

 from which the monumental fir sprang fell into the 

 prepared soil and took root. Now, because Sequoia 

 trunks are never wholly consumed in one forest fire, 

 and those fires recur only at considerable intervals, 

 and because Sequoia ditches after being cleared 

 are often left implanted for centuries, it becomes 



