Reports of explorations and surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean: Vol. 5, Pt. 2

GEOLOGY.
grandeur of the scene cannot be described; it must be seen to be felt. The surface is mouldee
on a scale commensurate with this mighty forest. It rises in graceful swells, miles in extent,
into mountain-like elevations, so smooth and rounded that a carriage may be driven almost
anywhere among the lordly trees.
About sundown we reached an eminence, and commenced descending into a sheltered valley.
The hills on all sides were densely covered with pines and spruces, and there was some undergrowth. The shadows became more dense, and at dark we reached the level of the valley,
passing on our way one or two giant trunks, which rose above the gloom of the forest into the
twilight above. We dismounted at the door of " Big Tree Cottage," a comfortable frame
building erected by Mr. Lapham, where we passed the night, surrounded by the shadows of the
most magnificent forest yet known on earth.
August 8.-This valley is sheltered on all sides, and it has a very deep and moist soil. This
was shown by the earth thrown out when the well was dug; it is nearly all granitic sand and
gravel and fine clay. The only rock observed was a compact, gray granite, and some round
basaltic blocks, on the surface of the hills on one side of the valley. This depression is so much
sheltered by the ridges and high forests around that there is little violent wind; and it is said
that the ground does not freeze to a great depth in winter, although there is about thirty inches
of snow from January to April. The elevation is estimated at 2,400 feet above Murphy's, and
4,550 above the sea. These results are reported to have been obtained by Captain Hianford, the
engineer of the Union Water Company. The crest of the Sierra is about thirty-five miles distant
but the lowest limit of the snow is only fifteen miles.
The first of the great trees that claimed our attention is at the side of the cottage, and lies
prostrate upon the earth. It was cut down by boring through it with pump-augers about six
feet above the ground. This operation employed five men for three weeks. The stump being
nearly flat, was smoothed off perfectly level, and now forms the floor of a good-sized room connected with the house. The solid wood of this stump-for it is sound to the very centre-is
twenty-fivefeet in diameter, and, adding the thickness of the bark, the whole diameter is about
twenty-eight feet; lower down, at the surface of the ground, it is probably thirty-two or thirtythree feet. The largest tree now standing, called the Mammoth, is about the same size, but is
imperfect on one side, a portion having been burned out by a fire at the roots. This tree was
carefully measured with a tape, and its circumference found to be ninety-four feet, giving about
thirty-one feet as its diameter.
Mr. Lapham states that he has counted about one hundred and ninety trees, including the
young and old. Of those of such gigantic proportions, however, there appears to be only about
twenty, and these vary in their diameters. The principal trees have received fanciful names,
such as, Father of the:Forest, Beauty of the Forest, Pioneer's Cabin, Three Sister8, Old Jl'aid,
Mammoth, &c. Although I did not measure the heights of these trees, I saw no reason to question the accuracy of the statemnents that have been made, and I believe them to range from
three hundred to three hundred and sixty feet in height. One is said to be three hundred and
sixty-three feet; and an old one,-lying prostrate, and much decayed, appears to have been over
four hundred feet high The prostrate tree is hollow, and I walked through it erect for a long
distance. It is said that, before the lower part became filled up by earth and stones, brought
in by a brook, a man could ride through on horseback. Most of the trees appear to have been
much-broken and deformed by the storms of centuries. The limbs are very short and thick, the
foliage appearing to be in thick bunches around the trunk. The most perfectly formed tree of
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