things seldom fail to make strong impressions and are therefore frequently overrated; so that, lest I should never see my friends in England to inform them verbally of this most beautiful and immensely grand tree, I shall here state the dimensions of the largest I could find among several that had been blown down by the wind.  At three feet from the ground its circumference is fifty-seven feet, nine inches; at one hundred and thirty-four feet, seventeen feet five inches; the extreme length two hundred and forty-five feet....  As it was impossible either to climb the tree or hew it down, I endeavored to knock off the cones by firing at them with ball, when the report of my gun brought eight Indians, all of them painted with red earth, armed with bows, arrows, bone-tipped spears, and flint knives.  They appeared anything but friendly.  I explained to them what I wanted and they seemed satisfied and sat down to smoke; but presently I saw one of them string his bow and another sharpen his flint knife with a pair of wooden pincers and suspend it on the wrist of his right hand.  Further testimony of their intentions was unnecessary.  To save myself by flight was impossible, so without hesitation I stepped back about five paces, cocked my gun, drew one of the pistols out of my belt, and holding it in my left hand, the gun in my right, showed myself determined to fight for my life.  As much as possible I endeavored to preserve my coolness, and thus we stood looking at one another without making any movement or uttering a word for perhaps ten minutes, when one at last, who seemed to be the leader, gave a sign that they wished for some tobacco; this I signified they should have if they fetched a quantity of cones.  They went off immediately in search of them, and no sooner were they all out of sight than I picked up my three cones and some twigs of the trees and made the quickest possible retreat, hurrying back to my camp, which I reached before dusk.  The Indian who last undertook to be my guide to the trees I sent off before gaining my encampment, lest he should betray me.  How irksome is the darkness of night to one under such circumstances.  I cannot speak a word to my guide, nor have I a book to divert my thoughts, which are continually occupied with the dread lest the hostile Indians should trace me hither and make an attack.  I now write lying on the grass with my gun cocked beside me, and penning these lines by the light of my Columbian candle, namely, an ignited piece of rosin-wood.

Douglas named this magnificent species Pinus Lambertiana, in honor of his friend Dr. Lambert, of London.  This is the noblest pine thus far discovered in the forests of the world, surpassing all others not only in size but in beauty and majesty.  Oregon may well be proud that its discovery was made within her borders, and that, though it is far more abundant in California, she has the largest known specimens.  In the Sierra the finest sugar pine forests lie at an elevation of about five thousand feet.  In Oregon they occupy much lower ground, some of the trees being found but little above tide-water.