The doubt of its soundness, however, and the difficulty of finding
tools large enough to do it justice, procrastinated the period of its
doom. I recommended the landlord of the tavern to direct his guests,
from time to time, to inspect this Goliath of oaks."--Galt's
"Autobiography."]
* * * * * *

I replied, "Surely, you would not be such a Goth as to cut down such a
splendid oak merely for fence-wood, when you have plenty of rail-timber
which will answer that purpose equally well; and, besides, it may be
the means of drawing customers to your tavern."

"I do not know what you mean by a Goth; but I do know, if I could get a
crosscut saw long enough to cut that tree, I would not let it stand
there long; for you see it is mighty straight in the grain, and would
split like a ribbon."

Thus was this gigantic specimen of the primeval forest preserved for a
time, because there was not a saw long enough to cut it through in
Canada. I dare say there are many old oaks in England that exceed this
in diameter; but I do not believe one is to be found whose length of
trunk can be at all compared to it.

On the flats about a mile from the mouth of the Maitland, are some very
large button-wood trees. There is one, in particular, growing near a
fine spring of water, the circumference of which appeared very vast,
though I did not measure it; but the tree was a complete shell, and had
a sort of natural arched doorway, just high enough to admit a full-
sized man. I was once inside this tree with Dr. Dunlop and eleven other
persons, at the same time. The trunk of this tree forked at twelve or