The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-07-29

A
STIR TREE IN THE TU0LUMNE GRovE-sE
oroIAs OVER THREE HUNDRED FEET IN
ps,ouT AND ONE HUNDRED FEET IN ClRcuM.
FERENCE AT THE BAsE-THIR1Y-TwO PER-
SONS DANCING TOGETHER on ssooTHED-
ovr STUMP IN THE CALAykRAS GR0vE-Thk
r.vor,s "GRIZzLY GIANT OF THE MARI
rosa GRovE-A NIGHT VIEW IN A SIERRA
FOREST.
fspecisl CORES pondence OF the Chicago Tribune'J
SAX FRANcIsco, CAL, July 81 have Just
returned from trip among the famous VI
tree groves OF California. Although Tue
fame OF these great wonders Is Worldwide,
and scarcely q journal in Christendom mas
failed to note at some time their glgahuc
proportions. yet, aside from speciai report
or two BY Whitney, Muir, ana other en-
perts, but little that Is reliable mas ever Deeh
published, and the mystery wbicn Ve's
their extraordinary growth and production
;s vet but little understood. Tourists and cor
resnondents. with notebooks In hand. have
rushed through the Mariposa and Cala-
yeras groves IN great haste, ana the
information thus given To the world
has been for the most part eXagge-
rsed and incomplete. No passing
view will give the traveller an ade'
quate idea Of the size and grandeur OF these
famous trees. The eye must reign all
powerfully over the soul. Day by dsy he
must loiter among them, single them ont
one by one from the immense pines and
c,dars which surround them, measure and
study their marvellous height and circum-
ference, watch the shadows OF evening
creep up their huge trunks like spectr6s
from another world. listen TO the deep bass
q their branches as they join in the mourn
full music Of the Sierra chors, aud become
conscious OF that sublime power and great
nsss which awes and uphfts like the pre-
sepce of God Himself. The Indians bave
tradition that nature produced the other
trees OF the forests from seeds sown in the
ground, but that the Great Spirit created
the seauoias ard placed them as The monu-
menis OF His divinity in the world.
THE DISCOVERY OF THE BIG TREES.
The history OF their discovery has become
4 part and parcel Of The euide-Dooks and
hooks OF travel. Every one has heard bow,
nearly thirty years ago, hunter, having
wounded a bear, and while industriously
in pursuit, came suddenly upon one OF those
famous trees. whose wondrOus size caused
him TO forget his fleeing game, and sent him
hack to his comrades with story which
only caused him to be laughed at for his
pains. Smothtring his Indignation then, on
The following sunday be returned in great
haste from a hunt, and, rushing eXcltediy
into Camp. exclaimed Boys, have Killed
the largest grizzly.b bear that L ever saw
IN my life. While l am getting little
something to cal. you make preparations TO
bring him in. All had better 20 that can
possibly be spared, as their assistance VIII
certainly be needed" AS the "big-tree
warn" had by this time been mostly Tor
gotten. the party started, with the hunter
as guide, TO bring in the BEAR Across ra-
vines, up cenons, through thickets, along
ridges. they patiently Iourneyed along,
until finally the leader halted, and, point
ing to the tree which he bad before dis
covered and described, cried out
Bows, do you now believe my big
tree yarn? That is the large grizzly j
wanted you to see. Do you still think it a
story ?" Then the sturdy pioneers ackuow-
lodged that they bad been caught by rlIse
of their leader, their doubt changed to Won
der and amazement, and they returned to
their camp more than ever impressed with
the wild and weird grandeur Of the Sierra.
The wonderful discovery soon became
known to the world. An article descriptive
of the trees appeared in the Sonora Herald ;
this was copied into the Echo du Pacific, OF
san Francisco, and afterwards into the
London AthenGum. Other journals and
magazines disseminated the news through
their columns, until now the fame OF the
big trees has only counterpart in that OF
the Yosemite.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.
Soon after their discovery an English
botanist, in honor Of the Iron Duke, named
the big trees Wetingtonid gigdnted, as
forming a new genus; but on their being
shown TO belong TO family already CLASH
fed and described, the name SeQuOia 9igan-
tea has been universally adopted. They
belong exclusively to California. So far as
known there are eight or nine separate
groves in the State, and these are found on
the western slope If the Sierra. The alti-
tude Is from ), 900 10 G,000 feet above the sea,
and they are always associated with greater
number OF other trees. The wood is
soft. light, elastic, straig ht-grained. and
looks like cedar. The bark is deeply
corrurated loDeiiudinally, and so spongy
as TO be used for pln.cushions. The
branches seldom appear below 100 or
$50 feet from the ground, and shoot
out in every direction from the trunk. The
leaves are OF two kinds-those OF the
younger trees and OF the lowe branches OF
the larger set IN pairs opposite each other
on little stems; and those growing on
branches which have Powered, triangular
in shape, and lying close down to the stem.
The cones are remarkable for their diminu-
tive size, being not much larger than hens
egg, while the cones OF much smaller conf
fers are larger than pineapples. The seeds
are short and thin as paper. Ii is said that
il takes ffty-thousaud OF them TO weigh a
poupd The two most southerly groves
those on the south and north forks Of the
Tule riyer-haye as yet been but little eX-
plored; but they are known TO contain
many trees scattered over considerable
area. The next grove to the north-tbat be-
tween Kings and Kaweah rivers-is one OF
the most extensive I'm the State, there
being thousands OF trees scattered over a
belt eight or ten miles in length by four or
five In width, but most OF the trees being
small, averaging scarcely more than ten feet
In diameter or about thirty feet in circum-
ference near the base. Two trees in this
group, described by Professor Whitney, are
scarcely in size elsewhere surpassed, and
their Dimensions are the wonder OF all who
have seen them. The one near Thomas's
Mill has height Of 276 feet. and circum-
ference twelve feet from the ground OF
seventy five feet. The tree at the ground is
badly burned, and the circumference origi-
nally was over 100 feet. Into the other
tree, which Is PROSTATE and burned hollow,
three borsemen can ride abreast for dis
lance Of thirty feet, the height and width OF
the cavity being about eleven feet. At dis
lance OF seventy feet the diameter OF the
cavity Is still eight feet, while 1863 feet from
The base the diameter OF the tree IS nine
feet.