THE FORESTS OF THE YOSEMITE PARK 125 



inch. Beyond this the count was stopped by 

 dry rot and scars of old wounds. The largest I 

 examined was thirty-three feet in girth, or nearly 

 ten in diameter ; and though I failed to get any- 

 thing like a complete count, I learned enough 

 from this and many other specimens to convince 

 me that most of the trees eight to ten feet thick 

 standing on pavements are more than twenty cen- 

 turies of age rather than less. Barring accidents, 

 for all I can see, they would live forever. When 

 killed, they waste out of existence about as slowly 

 as granite. Even when overthrown by ava- 

 lanches, after standing so long, they refuse to lie 

 at rest, leaning stubbornly on their big elbows as 

 if anxious to rise, and while a single root holds 

 to the rock putting forth fresh leaves with a grim 

 never-say-die and never-lie-down expression. 



As the juniper is the most stubborn and un- 

 shakable of trees, the mountain hemlock (Tsuga 

 Mertensiana) is the most graceful and pliant and 

 sensitive, responding to the slightest touches of 

 the wind. Until it reaches a height of fifty or 

 sixty feet it is sumptuously clothed down to the 

 ground with drooping branches, which are di- 

 vided into countless delicate waving sprays, 

 grouped and arranged in most indescribably 

 beautiful ways, and profusely sprinkled with 

 handsome brown cones. The flowers also are 

 peculiarly beautiful and effective : the pistillate 

 very dark rich purple ; the staminate blue of so 



