ould find among several that had
been blown down by the wind. At 3 feet from the ground its
circumference is 57 feet 9 inches; at 134 feet, 17 feet 5 inches;
the extreme length 245 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 off 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 and 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 that 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 the camp, which I reached before dusk.... 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.

This grand pine discovered under such, exciting circumstances Douglas
named in honor of his friend Dr. Lambert of London.

The trunk is a smooth, round, delicately tapered shaft, mostly without
limbs, and colored rich purplish-brown, usually enlivened with tufts of
yellow lichen. At the top of this magnificent bole, long, curving
branches sweep gracefully outward and downward, sometimes forming a
palm-like crown, but far more nobly impressive than any palm crown I
ever beheld. The needles are about three inches long, finely tempered
and