Gloucester County Democrat., 1892-04-21
AusTRALAsIAN FORESTS.



ting Down the Gigantic Trees.
Tie kauri pine Is undisputed sovereign
Of the Australasian forest. NO other
tree can approach it in grandeur Of pro-
portion or in impressiveness when, as
one Of clan, it tholds as its own stretches
Of country hundreds Of nils in extent.
Perhaps the sight which the kauri grove
presents to the eye j. unequaled ia tile
whole realm Of nature. As fhe traveller
I gaZes around him in the recesses of the
forest he Is impressed even against his
will. To walk between those mighty
pillars, smooth and dark AS ebony, uni
form in age and size, and buried ia
perennial twilight and silence that the
widest storm only disturbs by the
merest ripple Of sound, awakens a feel
ing Of awe
Mile upon mile they stretch into dis
tance, in a majestic procession that fol-
lows every irregularity Of the land, like
some colossal temple dedicated to night
or melancholy, the somber aisles full Of
am awful lnon0tony and solemn still
ness. Like the Egyptian Sphinx, they
ignore the lapse of time, preserving the
same majestic calm and nnvarying ez-
preston before the cataclysms which
have altered the whole aspects of the
globe, and before the social upheavals
which have swept away civilizations as
if they had never been.
The youth Of the Oldest kauri groves
is shroHded in the mists Of the past. But
that they are very ancient IS beyond
doubt They were mere saplings when
the Pharaohs adorned the land of Egypt
with imperishable memorials Of their
4 power, and We're still slight and grace
ful when Solomon filed the east with
the fame Of his glory; they stood in all
( the pride Of maturity when Hannibal
4 crossed the Alps, and Rome entered On
her victorious career. They have seen
the splendid dawn Of all the great en-
pireg Of the world, and seen them set III
7 gloom, when the canker Of decay had
sapped their very foundations.
But the kauri has now fallen upon
evil days; its closing years are full Of
danger. It has survived to see the forms
( Of life, long dead in the great masses Of
land, fade away before the vigorous
fauna and fora Of another order of things
At no distant Gate it also, like tho ma
I tiyes, the birds, the grasses, viii have
s passed into the measureless oblivion
from whence it came. In the presence
Of this venerable giant pine of Maori
land, the grandest representative Of a
4 primitive age, the colonial, q creature Of
\ yesterday, feels like pignly as he gazes
/ on the solemn files on every side. AS
( though ashamed Of his own littleness
and painful newness. he is possessed
only with the passion Of destruction.
/ The weirdness inseparable from the
very nature Of a kauri forest is intensi-
) fed by the total absence Of animal life
( The con.ented droning of insects, the
hum Of the bee, the glad singing Of
/ birds, so distinctive Of the mixed bush,
( are never heard beneath the outrageous
4 canopy which excludes theradiant south
Y ern sun. The kauri reigns supreme in
its own domain Nor is there the en-
chanting diversity Of ordinary bush
the palms and tile tree ferns, the shrubs
and the prodigal wealth Of beautiful
parasites whose bewildering variety is
rlirivaled 1sen I'D tlIp tDrrid zsrc-
With the exception Of living carpet
of delicate maidenhair, which attains a
height Of from five to six feet, ana of
ropes Of creeper ferns which swing from
tree to tree like fairies in the castle Of a
4 giant, tho forest is altogether bare Of
underground. III the woods Of recent
growth. however, vegetation is more
luxuriant. The long tendrils Of the
clematis and rata connect trunk with
trunk in garlands Of white and scarlet
bloom, and at their base fourishes an
infinite variety Of ferns, while here and
/ there a graceful tree fern rears its silvery
lined crown.
1t is q curious sight to English eyes to
see a group of young kauris standing
dark, tall and erect against the pale
blue and gold Of the sky and the lighter
4 greens Of the background Of the forest
Like all the species. the dome Is out Of
all proportion to the height. But their
doom has been spoken. The ak Of the
lumberman and the whirr of the saw
mill resound in the land and the earth
quivers with the shock of falling pa
triarchs. With the reeklessness of the
spendthrift the New Zealander is spend
ing his heritage, and before another
fifty years have passed away this noble
l tree will be as extinct as the moa.-
London Globe.