The Trout of the Great Forest 125 



is forced to keep out of California, retiring to his fastnesses 

 in the northern mountains, from which he occasionally ven- 

 tures forth to ravage less favored lands. 



All these gods of wind had a firm hold on the fancy of 

 the angler of old and they have meaning to the angler of 

 to-day, and by the angler I mean the fly fisherman, the 

 imaginative, impractical dreamer (for the day at least) who 

 haunts the streams, brooks and lakes of all fair countries. 



The slopes of this deep canon seem especially designed 

 for a midday angling siesta, but in lieu of this I climbed 

 the grade among gigantic redwoods, where I could see fifty 

 trees from thirty to sixty feet in circumference, and from 

 two to three hundred and fifty feet in height. Atlas-like, 

 they seemed to support the sky, stupendous creations, monu- 

 ments to the duration of time and the passing ages. 



It is a sacrilege to talk of economics in such a connection, 

 but after lying down and looking up at one of these trees 

 one can realize the meaning of the statement that it is 300 

 feet high and represents 200,000 feet of timber. Men knew 

 this, as some piratical land grabber, the last of his race, let 

 us hope, was ready to reduce these trees to timber, when 

 they were rescued, and now nearly all the big trees belong 

 to the government or state. But the largest of all these big 

 tree groves, and the one with most picturesque associa- 

 tions, that of Calaveras, is still the property of the lumber- 

 man. It is a gratification to know that to an angler, a very 

 good one, too, either at sea or ashore, Gifford Pinchot, chief 

 forester, Americans are indebted to a large measure for the 

 preservation of our forests all over the land. 



There is a mysterious silence in the grove save for the 

 bluejays, which appear indigenous ; yet at times a sweet gen- 

 tle sound is heard, the cadence of upper currents playing in 

 the summits of the great trees. So closely are they packed, 

 so perfect the coverings, that when it rains, an hour often 

 elapses before one perceives it beneath them. The ground 

 beneath them is soft and of sweet-scented things; great 



