THE BIG TREES. . 279 



Nearly nineteen centuries have since passed away, and still 

 they live on. The Egyptian pyramids arc Avearing away, sand 

 by sand ; monuments are crumbling into dust ; the ancient ce- 

 dars of Lebanon are fast passing away ; but the gigantic Sequoia, 

 in unconscious sovereignty, fit type of tlie magic growth of 

 American civilization and power, still lives on ; and luho shall 

 say that it may not continue for thousands of years to wave 

 its branches in ever-living green, and, like the free institutions 

 of our beloved land, wave on to the final day ! 



The trees we visited were in Calaveras County, 190 miles 

 north of San Francisco, where we also found many large trees 

 of the Conifera species. Words would fail to describe the sen- 

 sations in riding through this giant forest, on a road as smooth 

 as a park drive, just as the sun went down on our approach to 

 the grove. As we entered the grove the moon had risen so as 

 to throw a silvery light on the two " big trees," Sequoia, which 

 form a grand gate-way over 300 feet in height, and called the 

 Sentinels. As we passed between them we were filled with 

 amazement, and uncovered our heads in reverence to those 

 glorious monarchs of the forest. Our heart was too full for 

 utterance, but our inmost soul cried out. Speak to us, ye chil- 

 dren of olden time ; Oh, speak ! Tell us in what age you were 

 born ; tell us who inhabited this mighty forest when you first 

 came forth from earth. Tell us what tempests, earthquakes 

 and revolutions you have witnessed in your day and generation ! 

 But the tears in our eyes spoke louder than the noble trees, and 

 so we passed on to the hotel. Soon after our arrival I stepped 

 out into what I supposed was a small garden plot surrounded 

 with trees. Looking up, I could but just see the sky above 

 their tops. It was like looking through nature's telescope 

 reaching from earth to heaven. I called my friends and said, 

 " Do you see that tall tree ? Do you see the star above it ? It 

 is not a yard from the top of the tree to the star ! ' ' But, my 

 friends, these were not the BIG TREES ! 



In the morning, after breakfast, we started on our journey 

 through the grove which is in close proximity, indeed sur- 

 rounding our hotel. Tlie grove is said to extend over fifty 

 acres, but the largest specimens are grouped in a comparatively 

 small space. We have alluded to the " Sentinels," which form 

 a gateway, as it were, to the grove. The largest of these is 315 



