Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1892-04-26
Aus1RALAslAN Eonesrs.
Tho yandnis of Sow Zealand Are Cot.
ting nnwn the Gigantic Trees.


The kuun pino iy undi.puto1 sovereign
OF tho AustiHlasian forest. No other
tree can approach it IN grandeur Of pro.
portion or Ia impros,iycucr when. ns
one OF clan, Il holdsas its own strctchor
Of country hundreds OF mills In oXtout.
Perhaps the sight which thokaun grove
pre- ents To- the eve is uurqunlod in the
whole i'alm Of mature As tho traveller
gazes around him In tho rcccsCs Of tho
forest lg Is impressed ovcn aguinlt his
Will. To walk between those mighty
pillars, smooth and darl, as ebony, mi.
iorm IN aye aud size, and buried On
perennial twilight aud silence that the
widest storm only disturbs by the
moroat ripple Of sound, awaScns feel
inT of awe
Mile uron mile they stretch into die.
lance. In majestic lioco ion that fal.
lows every irrcguiaiiiy o. the land. like
some colossal tOnpio dedicated To night
or melancholy, tho somber ai.l1s full Of
an awful nonotony aud solemn still
ness. Like tho Egyptian Sphinx. they
ignore tue lapse Of time. preserving tho
same majestic calm and unvaryiug OK.
preston before the oataclysms which
have altered the Vholc aspects of the
globe, and before tho social uphpavals
which hayo swept away civilizations u.s.
IL they had never L2cu.
The youth Of tho Oldest kauri groves
Il shroudcd In tho iui5ts of the past. But
that they ara very ancient is beyond
doubt They were nero fnplings when
the PhnraolH adorned the land Of Egypt
with iinporisliSblo memorials OF their
power, aud were still slight aud grace
ful when Solomon filled the east with
the famo Of his glory; they stood IN an
the pride Of maturity when Hannibal
crossed the Alps and Rome entered on
her victorious career. They have seen
the splendid dawn Of all tho great en-.
pircg Of the world. and seen thcm rot In
gloom, when tho cankcr Of decay had
sappel their very foundations.
But tho luuri has now fallen upon
evil days; It's closing years arc full Of
danger II has survived to see the forms
Of life, long dead IN the great masses of
land, fade away before tho vigorous
fauna and flora ofanothcro order things.
At no distant dnto it also, like tho nn.
tiycs, tho birds, the grasses, will have
passed into tho measurclcss oblivion
from whence II came. In the presence
of this venerable giant Pine Of Maori
land, tho grandcst representative Of n
primitive ngc, tho colonial, u creature Of /
yesterday, feels like n piginy as no gazes
ON rho solemn files on every side. As
though ashamed Of his own littlanc3s
ana painful nowncss, no Is possessed |
only with tho passion of destruction.
Tho weirdnoss iHseparablc from the
very nature Of kauri forest Is intcni. |
fed by the total absence Of animal life |
Tho contontcd droning Of insects, the |
hum Of tho bee, tho glad singing Of
birds, so distinctive Of the mixed bush, |
aronoycr heard beneath tho outrageous
canopy which excludes thcradiant south.
ern sun. The kauri rcigns supreme in |
itl own domain. Nor il thcro tho On.
chanting diversity Of ordinary bush
tho palms aud the tree ferns, the shrubs
and tho prodigal wealth Of beautiful
parasites whose bowildering variety is
oven In the turFid zone.
With the exception OF u living carpet
VI NNllAtlN AAilNtNllAiNt winch NllAlilh |
height Of from five TO six feet. aud Of
ropes % croepcr ferns which swing from
tree to tree like fairies in tho castle Of
giant, tho forest Is altogether bare Of
IN the woods OF recent
growth, however, vegetation Is more
luxuriant. The long tcndrils of the
and rata connect trunk with
trunk in garlands Of white and scarlet
bloom, and Mt their baso fourlsles an
infinite variety Of ferns, while hero and
there n graceful tree fern rears its ailyory
lined crown.
1t is a curious sight TO English ewes to
sec group Of young kauris standing
dark, tall aud erect against the nalo
blue and gold of the sky and the fighter
greens Of tho background Of the forest.
Like all tho species. the dome Il ont OF
OIL proportion to tho height. But their
doom has been spoken, The az Of tho
and tho wlirr of the saw.
mill rosound IN the land and tho earth
luiyors with tho shock Of falling pa.
iriarchs. with tho racklessnos. Of tho
tho Now Zcalndcr n spend.
rg his heritage, and before another
fifty years have passed away this noble
rec will DO as extinct as the moa.