The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1872-05-09
The Great Chestnut Tree of Mount Etna,

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The large trees of California have for
lew years been considered wonderful
productions OF nature, and they are we'll
worth seeing but the great chestnut tree
OF Mount Etana is much larger than any
that have been discovered in California.
and Is one the most celebrated trees in
the world. 1t is known by the name of
the castagno de'cento cavalli-the chest.
nut tree ola hundred horses. There is
tradition that Jane. Queen of Arragon,
on her voyage from Spain to Naples, land
ed in Sicily for the purpose of visiting
Mount Etna, aud, being overtaken by a
storm, she and her hundred attendants,
on horseback, found shelter within the
trunk of this celebrated tree. 1t appears
to consist of five large and two smaller
trees, which, from the appearance of the
barks and boughs-being all on the out
side-indicates that it was one trunk
originally. The largest trunk is thirty
eight feet in circumference and the
whole five, measured just about the ground,
are l63 feet. 1t still bears rich foliage
and an abundance of small fruit, though
the heart Of the trunk is decayed, aud a
public road leads through it wide enough
for two coaches to drive abreast. In the
cavity hut is built for the accommoda.
fion of those who collect and preserve the
chesnuts.
1t is said by the natives to be ''the old
est of trees" From the state of the de,
cay it is impossible to have recourse to
the usual mode OF estimating the age Of
trees-by counting the concentrie rings
of annual growth-and therefore no ex-
act numerical expression can be assigned
to this tree. That it may be some thou
sand years old is by no means improbable.
Anderson examined in this manner
Baobab tree in Senegal, and infer
red that it had attained the age of FIVE
thousand one hundred and fifty years !;
and De Candolle considers it not improb-
able that the celebrated Tdroidum of Che
pultepec, in Mexico-which is one hun
dred and seventeen feet in circumference
may be still more aged. -...
1t is evident that if the great chestnut
tree were in reality collection of trees,
as it at first appears to be, the wonder of
its size would at once be at an end. Bry-
done, who visited this tree one hundred
years ago, said ..
own that at FIRST was by no means
struck with its appearance, as it did not
seem to be one tree, but bunch Of FIVE
trees-all large, and growing very near
together. We complained to our guides
of the imposition, when they unanimously
assured us that, by the universal tradi
tion, and even by the testimony of the
country, all these were once united in
one stem (; that their grandfathers remem-
bered when this was . beautiful tree, and
was looked upon as the glory of the for
est, aud when it was visited from all quar-
ters but that for many years it had been
reduced to venerable ruin. We then
began to examine it with more attention,
and were indeed satisfied at last that it
was formerly but one tree.
The opening in the middle is at pres
ent very lnrge, but there is no appear
ance of bark on the inside of any of the
stumps. And more recently Canonico
Recupero, An ingenious ecclesiastic,
made and examination of the place, and
was at the expense of taking up mum
Der of peasants, with tools, to dig around
the castdgno dc'cento cauaNi, and he
ascertained that all the stems united be
low the ground in one root, and that it
was the remains of but one enormous tree.