AGES OF TREES. 251 



year's growth, then this tree is two thousand 

 years old at the very least. Report goes that a 

 tree has been found in the Mariposa Grove with 

 six thousand rings in it. If such is the case, 

 though I rather doubt it, can this tree be six 

 thousand years old ? ' At this point Mr. Mar- 

 shall refers to the remarks just quoted by Sir 

 Joseph Hooker. "We can personally vouch for 

 the accuracy of Mr. Marshall's statement as to 

 the tree he and his friend examined, for he is 

 a 'note-taker' of unusual excellence; and the 

 slight doubt he expresses as to the two thou- 

 sand rings representing two thousand years, 

 can be at once disposed of; so that we have 

 evidence, from very recent observation, of the 

 Wellingtonia living to the age of two thousand 

 years. There is a little more of deduction in the 

 statements of Mr. Muir, and it is only the natural 

 wonder that the mere affirmation occasions that 

 prevents us from realizing fully the possibility 

 of an apparently incredible period of tree-life. 



