25 



diameter, and according to the average taper of the other 

 trees, this venerable giant must have been 450 feet in 

 hciirht when standino^, and forty feet in diameter. A 

 hoUow chamber, or burnt cavity, extends through the 

 trunk 200 feet, hirge enough for a person to ride through 

 on horseback, and whose upper side is wide enough for a 

 carriage to run on. Walking upon the trunk and looking 

 from its uprooted })ase, the mind can scarcely conceive its 

 prodigious dimensions, while on the other hand tower its 

 giant sons and daughters, forming the most impressive 

 scene in the forest. 



But who will believe our report? What traveller did 

 not doul)t their size until, with measure in hand, he had 

 spanned these giants of the forest? Imagine, if you can, 

 a tree whose heio^ht is 100 feet more than that of Bunker 

 Hill Monument, and, even more marvellous if possible, of 

 one whose hei2:ht was more than double that of Bunker 

 Hill Monument, and whose first branch was 200 feet from 

 the ground, and you would have a correct idea of some of 

 the largest of the big trees of Calaveras County. There 

 arc also groves of these trees in other parts of California, 

 where specimens of even larger size, it is said, have been 

 seen. 



And who that has ever stood amidst these miracles of 

 creation can fail to render reverential awe to Him who 

 made and has preserved them to this time ! How appro- 

 priate the sublime words of our own poet, Bryant : — 



" Father, thy hand 

 Hath reared these venerable cohimns ; thou 

 Didst weave this verdant roof. 



"Thou didst look down 

 Upon the nalced earth, and forthwith rose 

 All these fair ranks of trees. They in thy sun 

 liudded, and shook their green leaves in the breeze, 

 And shot toward heaven. 



" The century living crow, 

 Whose birth was in their tops, 

 Grew old and died 

 Among their branches, till at last they stood. 

 As now they st:ind, massy and tall and dark, 

 Fit shrine for humble worshipper to hold 

 Communion with tiis Maker." 



