The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1880-09-09
The Big Trees Of California.

The Big Trees of California.
The Mariposa grove comprises tract
two miles sausre, and is the property Of
the State of California. 1t is situated six
miles distant from the Big Tree Station
on the Mariposa trail to the Yosemite,
and about Is miles due south of the ho.
tells in the valley. The average size of
the trees is greater than that OF any other
grove in the State, but the average height
IS inferior TO the trees of Calaveras.
Here are in reality two distinct groves
the upper one containing over S65 trees
over foot in diameter, and the lower about
one-half as many. In the upper grove
are at least ten trees over 80 feet in cir
cumference, and one hundred and TWEEN.
ty.fiye over 40 in circumference Several
trees here, badly burned, were originally
over 100 feet in circumference, while
others, vet in the full vigor of their
growth. show proportions but little infe-
Flor. Most of the trees have been mum.
bered instead Of named, like sthose OF
Calyeras; and q complete description
would show wonders the half of which
has not vet been told. The principal
treesin either grove is the one known as
the "Grizzly Giant" and the eye and
sense of the spectator are at once bewlld-
cred at the size of its mighty proportions.
at the base of this tree the carriage stops,
and the trail for horses begins. "Golly,
that 'sia whopper !" said one of our party
as we approached; and soon we all named
this mighty wonder the grandest OF the
Mariposa grove. Carefully measuring
the circumference with aline carried for
that purpose, we found it to be over SO
feet at the base, and this is not counting
the burnt away portions, which would
have made the total still greater. We
measured 81 feet as the diameter. AT
the base were FIVE openings, any one OF
which seemed large enough TOR the &C,
commodation of a camping party and
Immediately around these the bark was
gone. From, the ground to a. height
ofabout eleven feet thestree contracted
perceptibly; then, perfectly round, it
shot up with scarcely change to the
lowest limbs, which were fully 100 feet
from the ground. On one side were about
ten limbs, varying from two to six feet
in diameter, and on the other twelve al
most as large. The largest limb was
probably $50 feet from the ground, and
this was fullyz20 feet in circumference
where il left the trunk. Shooting out in
q straight line for a distance of 80 feet or
more, It curved then sued only upward
in a perpendicular direction, and, at a
distance OFFS feet more, was lost in the
upper foliage. Secondary branches, as
large rs a. full grown Eastern oak, shot
ont from this primary branch as trunk,
and these again produced othet branches,
to the third and fourth generation. Some
of these. branches were decayed; some
moss covered; some were in full vigor Of
their extraordinary growth. The top OF
The frees seemed to have been broken OF,
perhaps BY lightning; and the appear
ance of the whole was that OF the war
worn veteran of the Sierra. 1t was near
dusk when ne had finished our ln-
spection of this mighty tree. we were
over a mile above the level of the sea,
and six miles from our stopping place for
the night. Still we fingered. Although
it was then June, yet the eternal SHOWS
of the mountains were everywhere around
.us, and rs the huge banks and drifts
stretched away off in the distance, the
melting power of the heat and elements
were on every side de6ed. Not q weed
or a blade Of grass relieved the monotony
of The view ]; not the chirping Of an in-t
sect or the twitting of q bird was heard:
The solemn stiffness of the night added
wierd grandeur to the scene. Now and
then breath Of wind stirred the topmost
branches of the pines and cedars, and as
they swaYed to- and fro in the air, the
music was like that of Ossian, pheasant
ebut mournful to the SOUL" There were
sequoias lon every side almost twice as
high as the Falls of Niagara there were
pines rivaling the dome Of the Capitol at
Washington in grandeur; there were ce-
dars to whose tops the monument OF Bun
ker Hill would not havereached. There
were trees which were in the full vIgor
of manhood before America itself was
discoyerd; there were others which were
yet old before Charlemange was born !;
there were others still growing when the
Saviour himself was on earth. There were
trees which had witnessed the wind and
storms of twenty centuries; there were
Others which would endure long after
countless generations of the future would
be numbered with the past. There were
trees crooked and short and massive; !;
there were others straight and tall and
slender. There were pines whose limbs
were as evenly proportioned as those Of
the Appollo Belyidere; there were ce-
dars whose beauty was not surpassed in
their counterparts Of Lebanon; there
were frs whose graceful foliage was like
therfabled locks of the gods of ancient
story. It was picture in nature which
captivated the sense at once by its gran
deur and extent; and as we drove back
to Clark's through the miles of this luz
uriance, with the darkness falling about
us like black curtain from the heavens,
and the mighty canon of the Sierra sink
ing away from our pathway like the
opening of another world, then it was not
power, but majesty; not beauty, but sub.
Unity; not the natural, but the super.
natural, which seemed above US and be-
fore US.
STORY OF PRovERB.-The Boston
Transcript, in answer to correspondents
query, retells the origin of the rhyming
old saw:
There's many slip
Tween the cup and lip"
Some of our subscribers who have
studied Greek, may have seen the account