XI 



HISTORIC TREES 



"Wise with the lore of centuries, what tales, if there were 

 tongues in trees, that giant oak could tell." 



IN the little village of Santa Maria del Tule, 

 Oaxaca, Mexico, stands an aged and decrepit 

 cypress tree. It occupies a place of honour in the 

 central square and is carefully fenced against van- 

 dalism. The people of the village and surrounding 

 country hold it in the greatest awe and veneration. 

 They claim that it is the oldest living thing in all 

 the world and scientists qualified to judge are in- 

 clined to agree. 



There are so many trees on this round earth of 

 ours and their records are so obscure and conflict- 

 ing that the task of picking out the very oldest is 

 more than Herculean. The more conservative ex- 

 perts are content to say that this cypress at Oaxaca 

 is exceedingly ripe in years and certainly in the 

 very front rank of candidates for the first honour. 

 Others are quite convinced that no other living tree 

 can present greater evidences of antiquity. The 



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