Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1861-04-05
rT'Gg r, GAZETTE.
pp1nay MORNING, APRIL ), 1861.

We we're very tired when we dlsIucuhfeo
ot Clorke's LOG hut and canvass dining tent
IN the plorions forest, thirty miles from MAT
;nosa-tred in BODY and in brain; tifeo ny
cur seven hours of horseback riding ana oy
the pssnetual feast Of floral beauty ana su,
,,ssr.r5;fY,4 h,aGnificence which had deIgn'eo
ey. !s,,l heart But it did not require q
wv. 1,;ma n restore US. Half an hour >
,.aat n,1ar nne of the stately hrs tha' 'o"tfee
shove the cabin, and a cup OF 'e'' WIN W..
moot, meal, fit for Il mandarin put Us III Soo"
working trim for the afternoon 5 eAcuiSiol,
". were only i've miles from The nalhs'o'"
t,aes. An easy upland ride ot an houf
would lead US to the grove where the FeSSeta'
HE Ttans we had so often read about, with I
wor3er tin ged with unbellei, held their sol
emn court ~.
And | confess that began to doubt; as
The ij~re )" =. uniting again approacteu' 10
IL the list, : Of the marVeis' was ~ pos
sible that. bc.tre sunset, was 10 Sfahu ny
:, LIVING tree re than ninety feet III circuit
and over three hundred feet hlgn! lhinh
what rhes, figures mean, my hasty reader,
,rhen transformed into solid bark and fibre.
rake 3 ball Of cord, measure of 4 hundred
feet from if. cut it and tie the ends and then
bv the aid of four or i've Of your compan-
ions, stretch it into circle. 1T you have
uarior spacious enough &c permit the experl'
ment and imagine that space Tiled WITH
column Of vigorous cedar Now conceive
this tree rooted on the common near the en-
trance. What do you say to the ldea 0!
looking up its smooth trunk 70 a point high
ar than the ropmast leaf of any elm on the
Tremont-street mall, and Of seeing there
bouuh thicker than the largest or those elms
shooting OUT from il? What do you say to
the fact 1hatits plumes would ncd q hundred
feet above the vaue at Park street spree
What say YOU to the possibility, If it lay
hollow on the ground, Of driving Il barouche
and four through it without being able 70
touch the highest point Of its curved ceiling
with a ten foot pole??" Then think ot IT
cut M into six thousand cords of wood.
The Mariposa grove stands as the Creator
has fashioned ii, unproiaucd except by nre,
which long before the advent ct Saxon white
MEN mad charrcd the base of the larger por-
ton Of the stalwart trees. We rode on tor
an hour, climbing all the time, till we reach
ed a forest plateau five thousand feet above
the sea- This, in New England, Is the
height IF lit. Madison, where not shrub
car glow. Riding On Il few rods, through
ordinary eyergreens with dark stems, we al
last catch glimpse Of strange color III
the forest. 1t is tree in the distance, OF
LIGHT cinnamon hue. We ride nearer and
nearer. seeing others Of the same complexion
starting out in the most Impressive contrast
with the sombre columns of the wilderness.
We are now in the grove Of the Iitans.--
We single out one Of them C1r first ac-
uuaintaGce and soon diSmcunt at its roots.
/ must confess that my own feelings, u |
first scanned it. and let them roam up its
tawny pillar, was of Intense disappointment
But then I said to myself this is doubtless
one Of the stripplings IF the Anak blood
only 4 small affair Of some forty feet in glrth
! took out the measuring line, fastened 1t to
the trunk with knife, and walked around
unwindng as | went. The line was seven
tv feet long. | came to the end OF the line
before completing the circuit. Nine feet
more were needed. had dismoupted be
fore structure eighty four feet high, aud
should not have guessed what would mea-
sure more than fifteen feet through. 1t did
not look to me twice as large as the Big Elm!
on the Common, although that is only
eighta n feet in circumference, and this was
twenty-eight in diameter. During the day
I had seen dozen sugar pines which ap-
peared to be far more lofty. The next one
we measured was eighty-nne feet AMI two
inches in girth; the third was ninety feet.--
There are nearly three times as many OF the
giant species in this grove as in the Caaver'
as cluster. Divided into two groups. there
sre six hundred and fifty Of them within q
space Of one mile and three,quarters. Col.
Warren, the faithful and 5eli-sacriicing
friend Of agricultural interests III this State,
Proprietor and editor of the California Far
1ner, measured the principal trees OF one
ground ca this ridge, some three years ago,
and found one Of lu2 feet, two of 100 feet,
one Of 81, one Of 90. one OF -, one OF
80, two OF r. three Of seyenty-stS, and
thus gradually diminishing, till more than
ahundred trees wereQn his hist that measured
fifty, feet and upwards III circumference. -
This crowd of ma este forms explains the
disappointment in first entering the grove
The general scale it too immense. Halt a
dozen Gf the largest trees spread halia mile
anart and properly set off trees OF SIX or
81 oht feet in lrirth, would shake the most VIOLA
tile mind with awe.
Four DAYS afterwards, on the h0mewarii
path by another trail, struck off the track
with cue of cur party 70 see some pig trees
that we're reported to Us as a mile from the
path, near Cranes Flat. We found them
The first one we approached was the only
one of the species in the range of vision, and
reared its snuff colored columns among some
ordinary frs. How majestic it swelled and
lowered. My companion and both eSclaIm-
ed: This is the largest tree we have YET
seem this will measure more than Il hundred
feet We gaZed for a long time AZ Its soar
ing stem, from which, A hundred feet above
US, the branches that shot out bent suddenly
upwards, like pictures Of golden candlesticks
in the Hebrew temple. 1t seemed protane
10 puta measureing tape upon sach piece
of organized Sublimity. But we wanted 10
know how much more than L hundred leet
could be claimed for il, and | made the trial.
twas Just tifty-six feet in circuit, but little
more than half the size of the monarchS ID
Mariposa which it seemed to excel 50 much
in majesty. There were an hundred trees
in the Mariposa grove larger than this, and
all Of them together did not make half the
impression on me that this one STAN ped into
the brain at first sight.
The Cleveland Plaiudealer has the follow
ing hit on the rage for office under the new
administration: