which the Mariposa and Calaveras are chief. The euca-
lyptus of Australia is a taller tree than the sequoia
gigantea of California — Wellingtonea gigantea these
trees were once called ; but this could not be tolerated
in a land where is celebrated the 4th of July, and so
the name was changed to Washingtonea ; but lately,
arborists say simply sequoia gigantea. Taking height,
bulk, and numbers together, if not the tallest and old-
est, we have here the grandest groups of forest trees
upon this planet.
The Mariposa grove, which, with the Yosemite valley was given by congress to the state of California for public use and recreation, is situated thirty miles from Yosemite, and contains, scattered amono- smaller trees, over 200 which are more than twelve feet in diameter. Sixty of them, measured six feet from the ground, have diameters of from 27 to 67 feet, and in heio-ht are from 187 to 270 feet. The Grizzlv Giant measures on the surface 93 feet in circumference. Through the hollow of a prostrate trunk, two horse- men ride abreast for a distance of 100 feet. One hundred feet above the ground, a trunk which is there twenty feet in diameter, puts out a branch six feet in thickness. The trees are straight, with gracefully tapering trunks, fluted bark of a light cinnamon color, and small coniform tops. In the Calaveras grove there are about 100 trees of the larger sort, thirty of which measure from 230 to 235 feet in height, and from 30 to 45 feet in circumference six feet from the ground. Five men occupied twenty -two days in felling one of them, which was accomplished by bor- ing through the trunk with pump-augers. After it was completely severed, wedges had to be driven in on one side to overturn it. This tree is estimated to have been 1,300 years old; its bark was a foot and a half thick, and upon its stump, which six feet from the ground has a diameter of twenty-seven feet, after squaring and smoothing it, was erected a pavilion for dancing and pleasure parties.
