The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1869-03-06
The Big Trees Of California.
BY REV. T. STARR KING.

Among the numerous descriptions
that have at various times appeared,
relative to those surprising wonders of
vegetation-the Big Trees of California
hone equal in beauty of language or
precision of thought, the account given
in the Boston Transcript, by r. Starr
King, now deceased. This statement
is SO definite and perspieuous, and with
al, SO thoroughly exhaustive Of the SUBJ
ject, that it leaves but little to be de-
sired indeed it is the most splendid
word-pcture ever painted of those une-
qualled marvels Of vegetable life, on
the western continent.
There are two large groves of man.
moth trees in California. The one
which is usually visited is in Calaveras
county. 1t contains hardly a third as
many as the Mariposa cluster, which
we were in search of, but is much more
easy of access, for good carriage road
leads to the heart of it. The valley
where this magnificent forest stands is
sheltered on all sides, and has very
deep, moist soil. 1t is nearly all grant
tic sand, gravel and fine clay The
only rock observed was compact,
gray granite, and some round, basaltic
blocks. This depression is so much
sheltered by the ridges and high forests
around that there is little violent wind j;
and it is said that the ground does not
freeze to great depth in winter, al
though there is about thirty inches of
snow from January to April. The ele-
walton is 1850 feet above the sea-
At the portal of the grove stands
pair of sentinels, twenty-five feet apart,
which are sixty feet in circumference,
and three hundred feet high. They
are well named 1.-The Two Guards
men,
Passing these wonders, we find the
grounds trimmed up, and the trees
named and labelled Some of the
labels are of gilt letters on marble, and
are tastefully inlaid in the bark from
six to twenty feet above the ground
There are about one hundred trees in
this grove, of which about twenty are
of truly gigantic proportions. The
Hercules " in this group is ninety
three feet in circumference. The Cal
ifornia y sevcntv-three feet in circuit,
shoots up straight as an arrow, three
hundred and ten feet high. The lar
gest tree now standing, is called the
MAMMOTH has a circumference of
NINETY-FoUR feet, and a diameter of
THIRTY-oNE feet. This tree is imper-
feet on one side, having been burned
out by fire. Uncle Toms Cabin is
also one that has been burned out it
is eighty-three feet in circumference,
and will lodge twenty persons. The
Mother of the Forest " is threee hun
dred and twenty-seven feet high, and
nearly eighty feet in girth.
Other large trees in this grove have
received fanciful names, such as
Father of the Forest" " Beauty of
of the Forest" pioneers Cabin"
"Three Sisters" Z" Old Maid" &c, and
so named from some real or supposed
characteristic, pertaining to each of
them. All of these ranged from three
hundred to three hundred and sixty
feet in height One is said to be three
hundred and si1ty-three feet high, and
an old one, lying PROSTATE, and much
decayed, appears to have been more
than FOUR HUNDRED FEET HIGH, and
over forty feet in circumference The
PROSTATE tree is hollow, and | walked
through it erect for long distance
1t is said that before the lower part
became filled up by earth and stones,
brought in by running brook Of water,
a man could ride through on horse
back. Most of the trees appear to have
been broken and deformed by the storms
of centuries The limbs are very short
and thick, the foliage appearing to be
in thick punches around the trunk
The most perfectly formed tree of the
group is called the 80 Beauty Of the
Forest" 1t is said to be only fifteen
feet in diameter at the base, and three
hundred and twenty feet high.
One of these Calaveras trees, three
hundred feet high, was cut down a few
years ago, eight feet from the ground
Part of the trunk is used as full-length
bowling-alley, and the stump, when
smoothed off perfectly level, measured
twenty-five feet in diameter, and now
constitutes the floor of good sized
room-the wood of the stump being
solid to the center. To cut down this
tree, pump augurs were used from
either side, until it was completely sew
cred from the base but so nicely poised
was it, that it would not fall. Only by
driving in large wedges, with immense
battering.rams, could its equilibrium be
disturbed sufficient to make it fall
Five men were at work twenty-five
days in this wretched drudgery of des-
truction The bark of the tree was one
and half feet thick making the diane
ter of the tree twenty-eight feet, at the
place where it was cut off, and about
thirty-three feet at the surface of the
ground The bark was stripped off from
the lower part of the log and sent away
for exhibition Since that time, a sec
ond tree has been stripped of its bark
to the height of ninety feet; and the
tree is still standing. 1t is the inten-
ton of the proprietors of the grove, to
surround it with a spiral staircase, so
that the visitors may ascend to the top,
and have full view of the surrounding
forest, with here and there giant
trunk rising above it. 1t had been
stated that these gigantic trees were
over three thousand years old, and this
appeared to be the belief at the locality
We now pass from the Calaveras, to
the Mariposa grove, which stands IN
profaned, except by fire, that long be-
fore the advent of Saxon White men
had charred the base of many of the
stalwart trees. We rode on for an
hour, climbing all the time, till we
reached forest planted five thousand
feet above the sea- This in New Eng
land is the height of Mt. Madison,
where not shrub can grow Riding
: on few rods, through ordinary ever
greens; with dark stems, we at last
catch glimpse of a strange color in
the forest. 1t is tree in the distance,
of a LIGHT cinnamon hue Annroachinr