Fig. 5.—Upright trunks in Specimen Ridge fossil forest.
On the steep hillside a short distance below the big tree just mentioned are the two trunks shown in [figure 5]. They are about 2 feet in diameter and 25 feet high, and stand some 20 feet apart, and we may imagine them to have formed the doorposts of the “ancient temple” of which Holmes speaks. Both these trunks are without the bark. On the left of the figure is one of the huge irregular masses of rock that has been carved out by erosion.
Fig. 6.—Trunk of fossil pine showing bark. Specimen Ridge fossil forest.
In [figure 6] is shown another trunk about 3 feet in diameter and nearly 30 feet high. In several places along the trunk the thick bark may be noted. This tree is a pine, as are the two last described, and slightly below and behind it are two living pine trees, which are about the size it must have been when living. Another trunk, some 12 feet in height, is shown in [figure 7], and in [figure 8] there may be noted a standing trunk and above it another that has recently fallen.
Fig. 7.—Trunk showing bark. Specimen Ridge fossil forest.
Fig. 8.—Upright and prostrate trunks, Specimen Ridge fossil forest.