258 SYLVAN WINTER. 



petrified, but was just in its original state, as if 

 the tree were alive. The ground around the 

 trunk glistened with deposits of crystalline silica ; 

 and chips of petrified charcoal, so crisp as to break 

 in pieces with the slightest amount of pressure, 

 were lying scattered about, showing that heat had 

 in some way been brought to bear upon the wood 

 before petrifaction set in. Some terrible convulsion 

 of Nature, possibly a volcanic eruption, must sud- 

 denly have overturned these once monarchs of the 

 forest, and have buried them out of sight ; and as 

 there is an extinct volcano in the vicinity, namely 

 Mount St. Helena (which rises to a height of 3700 

 feet above the sea-level), it does not seem impro- 

 bable that such was the case, and that Mount St, 

 Helena had something to do with it. Though this 

 splendid forest of petrified trees had, when we 

 visited the collection, only been excavated and 

 outlined to the extent of thirty acres, it is probable 

 that it extends over a much larger area, as fresh 

 specimens were then being continually unearthed. 

 Many of those which had been simply outlined lay 

 covered with gravel and brushwood, about three 

 feet or so in depth. All the trees, as I have 



