The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1858-06-23
The Cedars Of Lebanon.

The Cedars Of Lebanon.
A correspondent of the Bos on T1ar-
elsr writing from Beirut Syria, under
date OF March 8, 1857 80" DismeuntiDg,
gave my horse to the guide, while I
made my way as best 1 could down to the
Cedars q descent Of more than three thou
sand feet. For long time NO osdssrs
appeared and then at last they were seen
in the distance and far below me. At
last we approached them We walked un-
der them we looked up into them; We
sat down under their amazing branches
and midnight shade; and then, and not
till then, at least began to feel the aw-
fulnsss and sanctity Of their presence.
! Thu csdsrs stand upon 8 or 4 rocky
hillocks or knolls which join each other.
and cover a space Of forty rods in diam
stsr, forming thick forest without un--
derbrush, fern or flowers, and by the
smoothness of the soil and compactnsss
Of the branches, making cool and agree
able promenade. The number of the
trees has been varieusly estimated, on ao-
count Of the different mode Of reckoning,
the Oldest trees all having several trunks,
which some travellers have reckonsd indi-
yidually, while others have taken the
whole as one. Burkhardt, who il regard
ed as good authority, says he counted
eleven Of the oldest and best looking
twenty-five which were very large; and
City Of middling size, and then three hun.
drsd smaller and younger ones. Rev.
Mr.. Calhoun, Principal Of Absth Semi
nary, who has repeatedly visited the Ce-
dars, and studied them, rsckons only sev-
en- or eight as among the primsval forest.
But even the descendants Of the second
and third are generally Of large dimen-
sions and wear venerable aspect. As
to size, Maundrel, the celebrated traveller,
measured the trunk, Of one, whose glrth
he found to be twelve yards and six inch.
es, or thirty-si1 feet and half. hr.
Calhoun made one forty feet. The branch
es shoot out not above ten or twelve feet
2 from the ground and almost at right an
giles, the lower ones bending 50 low that
easily broke of the extremetiss.i The
heights of the trunks cannot exceed forty
feet if even thirty, while the spread ol
the branches i, often, thirty-ssvsD yards
or about one hundred and ten feet, ant
so thickly sntsrtwined. and rising story
above story the sun can hardly penetrate
them. The younger trees are some cen
tries old. while the patriarch seven hav'
usually been regarded as contsmporar!
with Solomon aud his temple. Rev. Mr.
Calhoun, a gentleman Of science, a. vel
a. an excellent missionary. calculated from
the diameter Of one Of the trees and tn
layers Of block which had been cut on
Of it, that according to the uusrring shzon
, ology of its growth, il must be fully thrs
thousand years old, if not indeed Older
as be was inclined to suspect. So slow
: the growth, that where, on certain trss
: a traveller about two hundred ysars asc
cut away place to inscribs his name, tn
: growth above the hswn spst IL almost i'm
pereeptibls, at any rate not greater ths
/. the thickness Of the bark. Seme of th
trees are hollow high up in the trunk Int
: one which succeeded in throwing ston
$ which may consound the learned, Q
though part of the natural growth, G
b lead to some new geological theory Of th
. world when the tree shall fall and be CT
up, some three thousand years hence
: Some are gnarlsd and twistsd into strsna
. shapes by the storms Of some twenty {
p thirty centuries while others have bee
, shivsred by the lightning. The hoary p'
n triarch and father Of all, above twslv
i feet in diameter, stands nearly in the Gel
l. trs of little forest, on gentle sminen'
IT spreading abroad his ponderous and vic
r. arms, each one tree in itself. above Il
., heads of all generations, which hs'
y grown up under them, as if in instinct
'. love aud protection Of its children.
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