New-York daily tribune., 1858-07-12
CALIFORNIA.
THE MAMMOTH TREES
PrE Our Own Couespondeni
M,rNoTB TREE GROW,
- Ma IA .

-. n, All .ises Of ne arr numerous Z snts Of a,
forest van rg from 70 20 81 feet 10 diameter, and hcn
Us TO 395 feet bieh. Sabh ne Cgotl tsca tee &c
ne with wonder as | lo,k a. j.. gance s. ensd
,he.s immense trunks convegs aneT ioea CT mems
ri6cence OF nature glorious 81 toe universe oa ess
s,iou nom is this grove. Ire Ttans snd tas scs
fought with such .hese 'of CUPS when 'ae ~
tempt was made 70 carry Hesvea oy storm d 'eeord
in the Grecian mythology. The trees arr 20 higa as
vo rBust look twice before yen see the tops, ul
then Won cannot comprehepi how high they s-e uatl
Won have looked a. q EN- from many points OF vsv,
and comnsrsd them with the hse pnes 10 the vcin'y
which do not exceed 10 feet 10 oismeier ant =" eee
hight No woTcs, DO sNc.sDsiors, no hSares' TO -
oriotion osn convey 70 psrsoa who has nos sea
hese msromohs tSe vivid iNpression OF taeT saoAGs
grandeur. which fls snd overwhelms the mind Oh IA
beholdsr But the ides, IN its fnll force, remAhs y
rhs mind only while the eyes sre nNed upon ,e Tres
The conception is too CREST 70 be Imprisoned N ne
brsin, except with the sd of vision as DOOR
ard While you have ths, yoa sre delighted. eodS
lie and lock up for hours al these mighty colaGnS
which seem TO threaten the beavers; ther sga' fls
nv mind with rapid succession Of changing emo
tons ard would oall them poetic thoughts, bli |
csnpot exp,ess them. ! feel as though an poe<
viii ont the mears of expression, as though, If could
w,ite vhstI feel. l should produce poem, wherein
the sun and plsuets would be tossed about as kick
this gravel st my feet. Nov that look up these
trees sppesr To be smorg tie gresiest oeecs Of ns-
tu,e srd ,nen are but esfthworms IN comparison.
The spire If Trinity Church, which is the highest
artificial structure in the United States, aud famed a.
such and therefore an object Of great curiosity, Nhch
towers I'D far above :ae remainder of New-fofk,
but 2Si feet high and would be entirely lost 10 vewa
put down with its church in this grove.
The grove is shout ha'f mile wide aud thres.
quarters Of a mile long, and it contains i& standing
trees. which in regald TO diameter may be clsssed 40
follows:
ltree........................Gts 81 Zee, in diuns,er
IS trees ou........... - 70 30 Zee. IN diameter.
s. trees ilom.........''' ~ 10 > Zee. N diameter
Tot.j, - tres shove IS fee, in diameter.
Remaining, 2SJ un Ter Is ect In diameter.
Ore tree has fallen. and considerable portion Of
has been burned, but think it nearly 80 iees N
diameter ard 400 feet lorg.
The mammoth tree is an evergreen, cone-oearng
tree, akin to the botanical genus called eHPre''1
cyprees) by Linn@us After the tins OF that nstnral'
it, a new generic name the tarodsml w@ given 70
some trees to which the mammoth is more nearly re-
lated, amorg which is the redwood Of the Csioinis
coast Mountains. Alta still later date about 1851,
the redwood was declared by Endhcber, the German
botarst TO belong to q new genus, and he named it
toe Sequoia. In 1883, the mammoth trees hrst came
to the notice of botanists. Some OF the leaves an&
cor es we're sent to American botsniss at NewYork,
bu. lost by sccdest while later sample, sent to
England placed in the possesson OF Lllgey. and
he declared the tree to bs of new genus and aimsi
it the UelliagtOnia Gigantea. Some American botsn-
ists were very indignant at this theft of American
thunder, and called the tree the Washingtonia Gi-
eanteo but Endlcher ssys the tree lie evidently of the
same genus with the redwood and therefore the gen.
eric name given 70 that tee before the discovery Of
the big trees must be retained according TO the we'll
established principles of botanic nomenclature He
calls the tree the Stquoia Gigantea, while the red
wood is the .Sequ0,a SemperrUens. I understand
that botanists generally consider Endcher TO be in
the right. To an ordinary observer the redwood and
the mammoth tree appear TO be Of the same species;
for they bear great similarity to each other that
neither the artist who paints their hkenesses, nor the
joiner who works in their wood, can distinguish be-
TIVE them, except by the occasional greater size OF
the mammoth.
The Seguoia GigaRtea as have said, IL an ever
green. The tree has the great peculiarly that u
ears two kinds OF leaves Those on The young trees
end on the lower branches of large trees about
fve-eigbths of inch long aud an eighth wide, and
are set pairs opposite 10 each other, on little stems.
But the upper branches Of the large trees, which have
borne flowers, have little triangular leaves about the
eighth Of an inch long, and these lis close down to the
stem. The cones are not much larger than hens
egg and their comparatively all size reminds me Of
the eye of the whale. The seeds also very smal,
being only about fourth Of an inch long, sixth
wide and almost as thin common writing-psper.
The bark is reddsh brown in color Of coarse dry,
strugy, elastic substance, and very thick the
largest trees not less than IS inches. The wood Is
soft, elastic, strsigbtgraotd light, when dry and red
in COLOR and il bears very close resemblance to red
cedar except that the gram not quite The
wood is very durable being, like the redwood, almost
in perishable, whether above or below ground
The Sequota Gigantea is found only the Sierra
Nevada Mountains in California, ct hight Of about
400 feet above the level of the exists only in
small groves, five Of which ere known-tbree 10 this
county, one in Casveras, ard one n Tuolumne.
These three counties lie sd Jinng to each other; and
the FIVE groves Al between 81 4V and 38' II of
south latitude. This grove n which nov am is the
largest and there are two otuer groves within mile
Of here, containing SO trees, and tue other with 80
trees. The Tuolumne grove was discovered only Q
few days ago. 1t contains 10 trees one or two of
which eaid 20 be So feet 10 diameter.
The Cslsyerss mammoth grove, to which made =
Aying visit on my way hhher, lies north vest from
here, 50 miles ds,an, strsis ht line, but consider
ably further By the Travelled roads. This fret
discovered Of the mammoth groves is the most noted,
and attracts the greatest number OF yeors It was hrt
kr own the whites when found by nuote IN 1850
but the public attention not called 10 the place
until 1854, when one Of the largest trees was cut
down and the bark stripped from another ~ dis
tance Of Il6 feet from the ground, The tree which