THE VAST. 



amounts to ninety-two feet; it is two hundred 

 feet to the first limb on the middle tree. The 

 "Pioneer's Cabin"' next arrests our attention, ris- 

 ing to the height of one hundred and fifty feet, 

 (the top having been broken off,) and thirty- three 

 feet in diameter. Continuing our walk, we came 

 to a forlorn-looking individual, having many 

 rents in the bark, and, withal, the most shabby- 

 looking in the forest. This is the "Old Bachelor •" 

 it is about three hundred feet high, and sixty feet 

 in circumference, The next tree is the "Mother of 

 the Forest," presently to be mentioned as having 

 been stripped of its bark by speculators in 1854. 

 We are now amidst the "Family Group," and 

 standing near the uprooted base of the "Father of 

 the Forest." This scene is grand and beautiful 

 beyond description. The venerable "Father" has 

 long since bowed his head in the dust; yet how 

 stupendous even in his ruins I He measures one 

 hundred and twelve feet in circumference at the 

 base, and can be traced three hundred feet, where 

 the trunk was broken by falling against another 

 tree. A hollow chamber, or burnt cavity, extends 

 through the trunk two hundred feet, large enough 

 for a person to ride through. Near its base is a 

 spring of water. Walking upon the trunk, and 

 looking from its uprooted base, the mind can 

 scarcely conceive its prodigious dimensions, while 

 on either hand tower his giant sons and daugh- 

 ters. Passing onward, we meet with the "Hus- 

 band and Wife," leaning affectionately towards 

 one another; they are each sixty feet in circum- 

 ference, and two hundred and fifty feet in height. 

 "Hercules," one of the most gigantic specimens in 

 the forest, stands leaning in our path. This tree, 

 like many others, has been burnt at the base ; it is 

 three hundred and twenty-five feet high and ninety- 

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