I30 THE ADVENTURES OF A NATURE GUIDE 



ning strokes. It is generally believed that the 

 explosion is due to the superheated steam in the 

 tree trunk. But in most cases the injuries are 

 slight and the tree lives on. 



I doubt if more than one per cent of the lightning- 

 struck trees are set on fire. Of course it is the dead 

 tree that is most inflammable, but many times 

 lightning fires the trash accumulated against the 

 base of a green tree. Lightning struck a green 

 spruce on a slope visible from my camp. In a few 

 minutes a column of smoke enveloped the tree. 

 Then rain poured down. Half an hour later I 

 found that a square yard of trash and spruce 

 needles at the foot of the tree had been fired before 

 the rain drowned the fire. 



One evening in the Mesa Verde National Park 

 lightning struck a dead pine on a canon rim op- 

 posite where I was camping. There was no sign 

 of fire at the time. A steady rainfall continued for 

 three or four hours after the stroke, but about mid- 

 night the tree-top burned off and fell with a crash. 

 I leaped up to see sparks and chunks of fire bound- 

 ing down the side of the canon, while the tall snag 

 held up a flaming torch. May it not be that light- 

 ning, by starting a woods fire, brought Fire to our 

 primitive ancestors, if not to all tribes, at least to 

 many of them? 



The ancients are said to have had many excel- 

 lent legends concerning lightning. One of the 

 most appealing and poetic that I have heard says 



