The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-09 00:00:00

LONDON, URSD2FCI ;!.,,VENING, APRIL 9, 1857,

REAT WESTERN RAILWAY.-LOANS
en DE riENTURES.—The Directors are prepared to receive
Tenders for Loans of Money, to pay off existing Debenttres, on the
follMving terms, viz. :—At 51. per cent , for a period of three years;
41. 15s. per cent. for five years ; or 4/. los. per cent , for seven years.
.Appllcations to bc.made to the undersigned.
A. SAUNDERS, Secretary.
CHAR.
Paddingtongton Station, 3d April, 185

-A N K OF DEPOSIT,
No. 3, PALL-MALL EAST, LONDON.
Established A.D. 1844.
Parties desirous of I&WESTING MONEY are requested to
(xqmioe the plan of the Bank of Deposit.
Prospectuses and Forms for Opening Accounts sent free on appli-
cation. '

PETER MORRISON, Managing Director.

BANK OF LONDON,
Threadneedle-street. and 450, West Strand.

CIRCULAR NOTE.; and LETTERS of CREDIT, free of expense,
are issued by this Bank, payable t y its Correspondents in all the
principal Cities and Towns on the Continent of Europe, in the British
Colonle3 and Dependencies, and in Foreign Parts.

DEPOSIT ACCOUNTS.--The Bank of England having raised the
discount rate to .£6% per cent , this Bank now allows £5 percent.
interest on sums dep islted with three days' notice of withdrawal.
CURRENT ACCOUNTS are received with allowance of interest
to customers, and every description of legitimate banking business
undertaken.

By order.
MATTHEW MARSHALL. Jan., Maiager.
BENJAMIN SCOTT, Secretary.
Threadreedle•street, April 6, 185".

OFFICE OF THE GAS LISFIT AND COKE Co.,
HORSEFEItEY-ROAD, WESTMINSTER, 6th April, 1857.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, That a HALF-
YE A RLY GENER t COURT of the proprietors of this
Company will be held on FRIDAY, the Ist day of Alay next, at 11
o'clock in the forenoon, at the Company's Gas Works, Horseferry.
road, Westminster. ,

By order. C. BURLS, Secretary.
N.B. The chair will be taken at 12 o'clock precisely.

LONDON, HARWICH, and CONTINENTAL
FITE MA—R.A.V.ILEW COMPANY
LONDON to ROTTERDAM in TWELVE HOURS byre NEW
ROUTE to the Continent, forming the connecting link between the
Dutch Rhenish and the Eastern. Counties Railways.
The Steamers of this Company will commence running between
HARWICH • and ROTTERDAM, with passengers and goods, on
SATUE9AY, April 25.
For further particulars as to freight, &c., apply at the Company's
offices, 44, Moorgate-street (E.C.) ; of Oliver John Williams, Esq.,
Harwich; and of H. P. Maples, shipping agent to the Company, 4,
Arthur-street East (E.C.)

THE NIGHTINGALE FUND. —lt is intended
to close this Fund during the first week in May, and to lay a
detailed Report of proceedings before the Pubile, when the Trustees
appointed by Miss Nightingale will receive the amount subscribed as
a record of " National Gratitude" and to enable her to establish an
Institution for the Training, Sustenance, and Protection of Nurses
and hospital Attendants.

It Is, therefore, respectfully requested that all outstanding sub.
scriptions be forwarded to the Honorary Secretaries; and that local
Secretaries will be pleased to make up their accounts in order that
they may be properly acknowledged and recorded.

• SIDNEY HERBERT, ) Honorary
S. C. HALL, Secretaries.
°Moe of the Nightingale Fund, 5, Parliament-street,

Westminster.

,4g ALT and Co.'s EAST INDIA PALE an d
1.3 BURTON ALES. EnEwEsy—BUItTON-ON-TRENT.

STORES :-
3. • LONDON.. • . ..
LIVERPOO I, y-street.
MA NUFIES TETI .. •• ••
SIIEFFIF LI) ........
BIRMINGHAM. .
BRISTOL.. ...
DUBLIN ll, Temple-lane.
EDINBURGH • • .... Porthopctouri Warehouse.
GLASGOW St. Vincent-place.
These. Ales. in Casks of Eighteen Gallons and upwards, and In
Bottle, obtained from all respectable Bottlers.

GREAT HANDEL FESTIVAL AT THE
CRYSTAL PALACE. Under the especial
patronage of Her Majesty the QUEEN and H.R.H. PRINCE
ALBERT. Notice is given, that applications for tickets for
places, reserved andnumbered as stated, ale one guinea each
for each performance, or at two guineas and a half for ono
place for the series of three performances, can now be re-
ceived, and the places secured in 'numerical 'order, at the
Crystal Palace, or by letter addressed to the Secretary there ;
at the Temporary Offices of the Company, 79, Lombard-
street ; and at the Central Ticket Office, No, 2, Exeter-hall.
The seats which are at present disposable consist of four
blocks of 500 places, each in the most eligible position in the
xentre of the ,zreat Transept, the front row being about 40
feet, and the back 140 feet from the conductor's seat. These
2,000 seats are all equally good, and no one place has any ad-
vantage over any other. Parties applying at present can
secure their seats being within these four blocks, but until
the arrangements are more perfectly matured it is impossible
definitely to particularise position. In allotting seats to
those who shall have applied before the 20th of April, pre-
ference must be given to those who take sets of seats for the
three performances. N.B.—No application can be attended to
unless accompanied by, a remittance for the price of the paces
applied for. It is requested that Post-office orders be made
payable to George Grove, at the General Post-office, and that
cheques be made payable to the Company, and crossed Union
Bank of London. Subscribers for annual season tickets for
the Crystal Palace aro respectfully informed that such tickets
will not be available for these performances.

The THREE PERFORMANCES are now definitively fixed
to take place as follows, viz.-r-MONDA.Y, June 15, " MES-
SIAH; " WEDNESDAY, June 17, " JUDAS MACCA-
E/EUS ; " and FRIDAY, June 10, " ISRAEL IN EGYPT."
At those. performances the orchestra will consist of nearly
2,500 performers, viz.-2,000 chorus; and 300 stringed and a
due proportion of wind instruments. The entire musical
arrangements are undertaken by the Sacred Harmonic Society,
Exeter Hall. Conductor, Mr. Costa. •
By Order. GEORGE GROVE, Secretary.
Crystal Palace, March 21, 1857.

NAval and Moicary intiingevee.

The head-quarters, staff, and A and B troops of the
3d Dragoon Guards loft Chatham yesterday under the
command of Col. J. Dyson, Capt. H. Marsh, and four
subalterns, for Canterbury, where they will join the re-
maining troops of the regiment, recently arrived from
Dublin.
The Scorpion, 6, surveying,vessel, Commander J. Par-
sons, arrived at Chatham from the West IndiA on Wed-
nesday night, having been towed up from the Noro by
the African steamer. The Scorpion, on arriving in the
Medway, was inspected by Captain Lord Frederick H.
Kerr, of the Waterloo, 120, who mustered the craw for
the purpose of exercisingthem in various manoeuvres, all
of which were performed in a satisfactory manner. As
soon as her stores have been removed jet() the dockyard
she w:11 he stripped and paid off into ordinary.
One of the Australian line of emigrant vessels, the Ad-
miral, now lying at Deptford, is ordered down to Wool-
wich te-day to ship Ordnance stores, and also to embark
Captain A. J. Clerke, Lieutenant E. D. Malcolm, Lieu-
tenant G. D. Pritchard, and the 23d Company of the
Royal Engineers for China. Tile Admiral has been
especially selected for this purpose by reason of her spa-
cious accommodation and healthily arranged decks (7i
feet in height), essentially requisite in the present emer-
gency, when the transports will be retained in the ser-
vice as local quarters for the troops on arrival at their
destination. On account of the lofty build of the middle
deck, it has been found necessary to erect a range of
extra beams, in order to sling the h6mocks in an avail-
able position.
The steamship Lebanon arrived at Woolwich yesterday
morning to embark four .companies of artillery, and a
provision of war stores for Canada and Halifax. In con-
sequence of the paucity of hands reserved in the Mili-
tary Store Departments of Wool vich Arsenal, according
to the limited arrangements provided by the estimates
granted for the ensuing:yetke the work of chipping
`l tl preg4saingieloisrjr.e.,tnotwithsfaek4joso
the most active tx.eitions oven beyond office hours. Toe'
Violet freightship, having shipped a portion only of her
heavy cargo for China, about 800 tons, was yesterday
morning haulsd off the pier to give place to the more
urgent nett ssity of lading the Lebanon and the despatch
of the Engineers.
Captain Leopold GrimstOn Paget, with the officers and
gunners composing the R field battery of instruction, re-
cently formed at Aldershot, arrived last night at head,
quarters, WoolWich, and joined their battalion to be
prepared for foreign service. The horses were disposed
of among the troops and batteries serving under Colonel
Warde at Aldershot.
Yesterday morning a party of 20 junior officers of,the
Royal Artillery assembled in the mortar-ground at
Woolwich, and performed a two-hours' course of 8, 10,
and 13-inch mortar practice, firing over-a range of 600
yards. The point to which the fire was directed was a
flagstaff planted on the frequented part of the common.
To obviate the possibility of accidents from the near ap-
proach of the spectators, a range party of gunners was
in attendance. Immediately preceding each discharge I
of the heavy ordnance the precautionary signal was given
by a party of drummers on duty for that purpose on the I
spot.

•
The Hastings, 60, screw blockelaip, Waffeommissioned
yesterday at Portsmouth by Captain H. B. Mends, late
of the Royal Albert, for Coastguard serviced with a com-
plement of 350 men.
The Assistance, iron steam troopship, got up her
steam yesterday in the ...team-basin at Portsmouth, to
try her engines, before being reported ready for commis-
sion.

The Erebus, 14, floating battery, was taken out of the
steam-basin at Portsmouth yesterday.
The Drake screw gunboat., Lieut.-Com. Arthur, was
taken into dock yesterday at Portsmouth to have a false
keel fitted.

Captain Powell is appointed Fla,- Captain to Rear-
Admiral the Hon. Sir F. W. Grey,Te.C.B.., for the Cape
and Coast of Africa command.
Some important experiments with signal lights for
ships in distress were exhibited at Portsmouth on Mon-
day and Tuesday nights, by order of the Lords of the
Admiralty. They are patent detonating and luminous
signal=, the invention of Messrs. Langford and Wilder,
of Birmingham. They differ from those in use in the
fleet in the brilliancy of their light and the rxpense of
manufacture. The composition in the patent is inclosed
in metal tubes, whereas the common light is inclosed. in
paper tubes. On Monday night the steam gun-boat
Stork, tender to the Exotllent, went to Spithead about
9 o'clock to test the new invention, under the superin-
tendence of Capt. the Hon. F. T. Pelham, C. 8., of the
Blenheim ; Capt. G. H. Seymour, C. 8., of the Victory;
Commander Mackenzie, and First Lieut. 'Lethbridge,. of
the Excellent ; and Mr. Richard Nichols, of Birtnizig-
ham, on behal of the patentees. The light showed itsalf
so brilliant and diffused at the distance of five or six
miles from the point of observation that it presented the
illusion of a ship on fire. Another trial took place on
the glacis of Soutbsea Castle on Tuesday night, w;ten
the ;great light burnt equally effectively, but the metal
tubing drops as the flame burns, and being in a mol yen
state presents a " difficulty," as it is liable to burn the
deck of a ship or be b;oWn into thainfiammahle
and thus uatE-9 as much distres3 as it is intended to .0
taint succour. This, however, the experimentalists
state can he prevented. Singular evidence of the nue-
lesmess ot the common signal light—the blue-light served
out to the Preventive Service men for night alarms—
was exhibited on the latter occasion. Captain Pel.
ham bade the Coast-guardsman on duty at the South-
sea Castle Station strike his light, to show the dif-
ference between its power and those under exhibition,
when the man made several attempts to comply with the
order without success. The light would not display
itself, the percussion was damaged, or the composition
damp, or some such cause rendered the alarm beacon
totally worthless. Further experiments with the patent
lights. to burn respectively 2f, 5, 15, and 30 minutes, are
ordered by the authorities for further testing the efficacy
of the invention-.

The extensive improvements which are being carried
out at Chatham dockyard; and which are progressing
rapidly, will have the effect of making that establishment
one of the most commodious in the kingdom. In addi-
tion to the re-construction and extension of No. 2 slip,
which has been lengthened 160 feet, making its total
length 360 feet ; No. 7, granite slip, on which the large
frigate Mersey is being built, has also been lengthened
60 feet. The whole of these works, together with the
erection of a large police-station, will involve an outlay
of 59,0001. The galvanised corrugated iron roof over No.
7 slip, erected by Messrs. Grissell, has also to be length.
ened upwards of 60 feet, ht an expense of nearly 3,0001.
Several hundred convicts are also employed in the ex-
tension and improvement of the dockyard, the estimated
sum for convict labour alone for the current year being
'160,000/.
The gunboat Algerine, in Woolwich dockyard, com-
pletely fitted out for, the China expedition, is now ready
for gea, and will proceed to Greenhithe to-day to 'oe
swung for adjustment.
The following appointments were made at the Admi-
ralty yesterday afternoon : •

Lieutenant;—Walter H. Grubbe, to the Cormorant ;
A. M. Norman, to the Cordelia.
Master--Thomas C. Tilley to the Cordelia.
Clerk—W. H. Haswell to the Hosting.
Assistant-Surgeon—R. M'Donald to the Industry.
Assistant. Paymasters—John B. Swan to the Castor ;
Wm. T. Dixon, to ditto; Charles Fielon, to the Blen-
heim ; Charles Shapcote, to the Ajax.
Naval Instructor—Charles Archdeacon to the Cum-
berland.

Chaplains—Rev. W. Holman to the Hastings ; Rev.
John Oliver to the Cumberland.

SERIOUS ACCIDENT TO HER MAJESTY'S
TROOP-SHIP TRANSIT.

PORTSMOUTH, APRIL 8.
The Transit, troop•ship, Commander E. Cham-
bers, which left this port yesterday afternoon for
Hong Kong, with about 800 officers and men of the
59th and 90th Regiments, most unexpectedly re-
turned this morning with signals of distress flying,
almost to the effect that she was in a sinking state.
She left Spithead at about 4 o'clock yesterday, and
encountered a dense fog as she, approached the
Needles, scarcely half of Ler own length beim:, dis-
cernible ahead. The lead seems to have been kept
going, and 10 fathoms were sounded, when the fog
cleared off, and. a ship, was found to be on the
Transit's starboard bow. The latter stood on a

little further, when seven fathoms were sounded,
and another vessel was sighted, and, in order not
to give her a foul berth, the Transit still went on,
and at length anchored in five fathoms—the officers
of the ship congratulating themselves on having
so good a position. It was near Hurst Castle, on
the Lymington shore. Some coast-guard officers
and pilots went off to her to ascertain her name,
and told the commander that she was in a capital
position. All then went on well, and thearoops
turned in and made themselves comfortable. At
daylight, however, this morning, it was discovered
that the ship was making water fast, and that there
was already 5 feet of water in her hold. The anchor
was weighed, and on its being sighted it was found
to come up with half the stock gone, thus making
it apparent that, on the young flood setting in, the
ship had been driven on her anchor, and had a hole
knocked in her bottom. The water by this time
had rapidly gained, nine feet being reported. The
donkey engine was set to work, and manned by the
troops and the crew. The commander then put
the ship about, and brought her back to Spithead.
In coming up, his signals being seen, the officers of
the steam factory went out in a steam tug, and she
was ordered into harbour. On coming in she was
placed alor,gside the Bellerophon hulk, and the
troops disembarked. Five engines are to work ali
night in pumping her, so as to keep her afloat till
to-morrow, when she ill be docked, artisans being
employed all night on the Furious to get that ves-
sel out of dock.

THE GIANT TREES OF CALIFORNIA.

In various parts of the world where the primeval forest
still prevails, we coma across gigantic trees from time to
time, and we desire to put on record some of these nota-
bilities. Mention was made-a year or two ago of a gigan-
tic totara tree, 37 feet in circumference,which bad been
discovered in the Canterbury settlement; in cutting a
bridle track to Akaroa ; and a vessel recently brought
home souse splendid pine spars from New Zealand, 100
feet long -
In Tasmania there is a mammoth eucalyptus, or gum
tree, standing at the foot of Mount Werington, near
Hobarton. It is 84 feet circumference at the base, giving
a diameter of about 28 feet. A fire has burned a room
in it 10 feet by 9, and about 12 feet high, in which 15
people might easily sit down. Its height has been esti-
mated at- 330 feet ; but a hUrricane recently broke
off a large portion of the top branches. In shape the tree
is very Else the Eddystone Lighthouse—large at the base
and gradually tapering upwards to the first brantb, which
is supposed to be 200 feet from the ground. The Wlo-
ilia' Government parted with proprietorship ofit to the
present owner, Mr. G. Huil,'J.P., of Tolosa, by a grant
deed in 1820 for 2,560 acres of land, for his services as
an officer in the Peninsular war, It is estimated that
this tree, if-cut down and sawn into planks, would rea-
lise, at 15s. 100 feet, 325/.
But these are pigmies compared to the forest monarchs
which grow on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada, in Cali-
fornia, about 5,000 feet above the level of the sea, These
California monsters are of the same genus, though, per-
haps, not of the exact species, of the ancient cedars of
Lebanon. The California grove is in about the same lati-
tude, the same altitude (4,500 feet) above the sea, and has
-th& same climate as those mighty forests of the mountains
of Lebanon froth which King Hiram supplied the timber
fur building Solomon's Temple. Of those Lebanon forests
only some half dozen gnarled and -shattered relics now
re,nain, near the summit of :that lofty „range ; while in
California we have a grove of the most magnificent spe-
-sinless& Onlipil..witti Notesnon and -David. There they
have stood; and bare continueatogreew kingdoms,
empires' and dynasties have risen and disappeared ; and
there they stand, the living patriarchs of 3,000 years
To these venerable grants; upon a basis of 73 years, the
discovery of America was but an affair of yesterday, and
the birth of our Saviour an incident' of some 40 years 1;
ago! -

Drs, Kellogg and Behr, of San Francifr4ea, have named
it the Washington cypress (taxodium giganteum.) This
world-renowned monarch of the American forest is evi-
dently of cypress lineage, a species of taxodium of Don.
In its early growth it has the foliage of the camuson red
wood, or tztodium sempervirens; but asit advances in age
the foliage is metatnorplitmed into triangular scale-like
leaves, attached by a broad base, with an imbricated
arrangement, similar to many species of the cypress and-
juniper.
This towering world-renowned monarch of the Ame-
rican forest attains to the height of 322 fest, and up-
wards of 29 feet in diameter, perfectly-symmetrical in all
its prpportions. By botanists plants were frequently
named after great men. We had Waterloo roads, Wa-
terloo bridges, Wellington barracks, and Wellington
boots, still no plant was celled after the Duke. It was
about the time that the Duke was taken from us, and
the whole country was lamenting his loss, that. Mr. Lohb
discovered this gigantic tree, and sent a specimen of it
to Professor Lindley, who found it to be a new genus,
and who;prefacing the expression with some very grandi-
loquent largua.ge, said, " Let It be called Trellingtonia
gigantea." _

The wood of these trees is as light and buoyant as
cork, .and has the colour of cedar, but without its
odour. The colour of the bark is a rich cinnamon
brown, shreddy fibroue, 1 to 11 feet in, thickness, not
unlike that of some of the varieties of the Scotch pine ;
but their colour is varied by a, ,sprinkling of rich-
golden-coloured lichen, which grows naturally on the
trunk, and, what is remarkable, the same species of
lichen is comnion on the trunks of pines in Swit•
zerland. The heart wood is coppery rel and lustrous ;
grain straight and easy splitting ; lasting, but soft.
About two or three years ago a Mr. Lobe was sent
out by Mr. Veiteb, of Exeter and Liendon—one of the
most enterprising nurserymen in the worl&—for the pur-
pose of exploring the vegetable treasures of North Arne-
ric:s. Mr. Lobe proceeded to the highest range of
mountains in California, in which the name of Sierra
Nevada, or " snowy mountains," has been given, and
when he had attained a height of 3,000 or 4;000 feet, ho
found himself in a forest of beautiful firs ; lie slid
ascended, and when he attained the height of 5,000 feet,
there suddenly burst upon his sight the most magnificent
trees ever beheld by man. He was complete ly• lost in
admiration of their magnificence and wonder at their
stupendous size; he was even more astonished than
Bruce when he first saw the sand-pillars moving in the.
desert. These trees were of enormous magnitude, many
Of them towered up towards the skies some 300 or 400
feet high ; some of them were 30 feet in diameter, and
from their trunks planks, might be cut of such a large
size that one of theta would floor a good-aizlci assembly
room •
These trees have all been named by some appropriate
and romantic name, a few of which it may not be unin-
teresting to describe.
The " Miner's Cabin" Is 80- ft. in circumference, and
nearly 300 ft. high ; it is open in front about 17 ft. The
".Three Sisters.' are a gronp-erittentlY, grown from the
same root, about 300 ft. high and 92 in circumference.
Tiaey are perfect and the most beautiful ones in the whole
group. The "Pioneer's Cabin" is 150 ft. high ; where
the top is broken off it has a small opening through it.
The " Old 'Bachelor" is quite a forlorn-looking gentle-
man, having many rents in his back, and the roughest-
looking bark in the whole group, and is 300 ft. high,
and 60 ft. in circumference. The "husband and
Wife" are about 250 ft. high, and each 60 ft. in circum-
ference. They seem very affectionate, leaning towards
each other at the top. The "Family Group" consists
of 26 trees, the father, mother, and 24 chil lien. The
father, from appearance, was blown down many years
ago. This tree measures 110 feet in circumference, and
tile supposed height while standing was 450 feet ; the
remaining length, where it was broken off by failing
against another tree, is 300 feet. It is hollow the entire
length, and large enyugh to ride into on horseback.
Nearly half the trunk is embedded in the ground, and
measures 22 feet in diameter above the surface. The
" Hermit" stands by itself, and is 320 feet high, and 75
feet in circumference,' exceedingly straight and symme-
trical. The " Pennsylvania," so called by two young
ladies of Philadelphia, is 24 feet in diameter, and 315 feet
high. The "North Carolina" is 21 feet across the base
and 310 feet high. The " Green Mountain State" is 22
feet in diameter and 350 feet high. The " Mother and
Son" are together 93 feet in circumference ; the Mother
is 325 feet high, and the Son 300 feet. Toe "Siamese
Twins and their Guardian." The Twins have one trunk,
but their bodies are separate at a height of 40 feet. They
are 300 feet high. The " Guardian" stands by their side.
and is 80 feet in circumference and 325 feet high. The
" Old, Maid" stands single in her grief ; her head, unlike
any other trunk in the grove, is entirely bare, and slightly
bowing. Her height is 360 feet and the circumference 60
feet. The " Adie and Mary" are named after two young
ladies who made the first buggy drive to the grove. The
trees are nearly 300 feet high and 65 in circumference,
and are very handsome. The " Horseback Ride" is an old.
faren hollow trunk of 250 feet in length ; -it is separated
into two parts. The space ridden through is 75 feet, and
is 12 feet iu diameter in the clear. " Uncle Tom's Cabin"
is about 300 feet high and 90 feet in circumference. The
cabin has a narrow entrance and two and a half feet in
width, and will' seat twenty-five persons; it is ten feet
high. The " Bride of the Fofest" is not the largest tree,
but is noted for having the smoothest bark of any in the
grove. It is 280 feet high, and 70 feet in circumference.
The " Beauty of the Forest" is 65 feet in circumference
and 300 feet high ; it is very straight and slender,
and nearly free of limbs ; the top is surmounted
with a beautiful and regular green cap. The altitude of
the grove is 2,400 feet above Murphy's Camp.
In one instance, with great exertions, one of these
trees was felled—not .by axes though ; it could not be
done by them ; it was effected partly by boring the trunk
with augurs, and the wind coming to the assistance of
the parties, blew it down, and such was its great weight
that a complete trench was made in the ground ; and up
the hollow trunk of this tree so fallen a Mr. Lupham, a
proprietor in that district, rode nearly 100 yards on
horseback. The trunks of some of these trees are nearly
as large as the tubes of the Britannia-bridge over the
Menai Straits, or the Conway tubular bridge ; and our
railway contractors might plant the Wellingtonia
gigan-
tea by the side of any rivers they wished to span with a
bridge, then cut them down and let them fall across the
stream ; they would carry the heaviest train that could
be drawn; but still there is one objection—they would
have to wait about 3,000 years before they grew to a
sufficient size, and railway companies would scarcely
wait so long.

An enterprising American has been endeavouring to
give us some idea of the enormous size of these trees,
having stripped off the layers of the bark of one, which
he has built up in a circular form, just as it came from
the tree, forming a tolerably-sized apartment. And the
seedlings which have been reared from the cones show us
the character of the growth and foliage. These trees
when of 1,000 years' growth are not old—they are mere
boys—old boys perhaps, to our senses, but still boys.
They belong to a family the most useful of all forest
trees. Deals and pine furnish the timber principally used
in domestic architecture, and though our wooden walls
are built of oak they cannot be navigated without masts
or sticks, as the sailors call them, and what magnificeni,
sticks might be cut from someof these trees, which would
only be fit for masts for the immense steam vessel build-
inc, on the banks of the Thames, and which is expected
to be launched this year. Unless some of these gigantic
forest monarchs are sought out, we know not where
masts for this leviathan are to come from.
Milton, in his " Paradise Lost," speaks of a tree used
by Satan as a lance :

" To equal which
The tallest pine hewn ea Norwegian shores
To be the mast of some groat ammlral
Were but a wand." •
This may be fitly represented by tho trunk of one of
these giant cypresses.
The concentric rings or layers deposited by the rap
furnish a good chronicle of the age of many trees, and,
applying this test to the trees, it appears that they ave.
age from 3,000 to 4,000 years of age. These concentric