396 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. [Vov. XXXII. 
scattered over it which add much to its beauty. The country 
about Sitka shows a good deal of variety of surface and eleva- 
tion, and the flora for so northerly a region is decidedly rich. 
A good road following the harbor for some distance, and several 
trails, make it easy to get about in the neighborhood of the town 
itself. The favorite walk is along the beautiful Indian river, 
which is crossed by a suspension bridge, and along which are 
most attractive paths through the forest. 
The predominant tree of the Alaska forest is the tide-land 
spruce (Picea sitchensis), which forms extensive forests every- 
where along the coast south of Sitka. About Sitka the tree 
reaches a large size, some trunks measured being upwards of 
twenty-five feet in circumference at about five feet above the 
ground, and these trees were at least 150 feet high. Like the 
California redwood, the tree is very tenacious of life and sprouts 
freely from the stump, as well as springing up quickly from 
seed, so that when this forest is cut over there soon grows up 
a dense thicket of young trees. Many trees have the base of 
the trunk much swollen, and sometimes with a space between 
the roots, so that the tree is raised, as it were, on stilt-like 
props. The origin of these peculiar structures is found in the 
frequent sprouting of the seeds on old stumps or prostrate 
trunks. These resist decay for many years, and trees of very 
considerable size are often met with, perched astride of the 
old fallen trunks, and sending down large roots which finally 
reach the earth. When the old trunk at last decays, the young 
tree is left supported by a hollow arch of roots, which often 
never becomes entirely filled up by subsequent growth. 
In the more remote regions two species of cedar (Thuja 
plicata and Chamecyparis nutkensis) are found, but about 
Sitka most of the cedar has been cut, as it is in great demand 
for making the big dug-out canoes, as well as for other pur- 
poses. The northern hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) is common 
about Sitka, and reaches a large size, although hardly equal ‘in 
size to the spruce. It closely resembles the eastern hemlock, 
especially when young. 
Owing to the excessive moisture, the ground in the forest, 
as well as every stump and fallen tree, is covered with a thick 
