Mti wa Sequoia

Mariposa Grove ilikuwa saa moja kwa gari kutoka bonde. Mlinzi Tomas alimshusha Polly kwenye mwanzo wa njia na akaenda kupumzika. "Nenda uwaone wazee," alisema.

Mariposa Grove was an hour's drive south of the valley. Ranger Tomas had dropped Polly at the trailhead and gone off-duty. "Go see the old ones," he said.

Wazee walikuwa miti mikubwa ya sequoia. Ni miti mikubwa zaidi duniani kwa ujazo.

The old ones were giant sequoias. They are the biggest trees in the world by volume.

Jambo la kwanza ambalo Polly aliona lilikuwa rangi. Magamba ya sequoia siyo ya kahawia. Ni rangi ya kutu ya machungwa na yanaonekana kama sifongo. Alitua kwenye tawi la chini na kugonga magamba kwa mdomo wake. Magamba yalilegea kidogo. Ilikuwa karibu nusu mita nene, laini kugusa. Magamba haya nene ndiyo ulinzi mkuu wa mti dhidi ya moto.

The first thing Polly noticed was the colour. Sequoia bark is not brown. It is a deep rust-orange and looks spongy. She landed on a low branch and pecked the bark with her beak. The bark gave a little. It was nearly half a metre thick, soft to the touch. This thick bark is the tree's main defence against fire.

Familia moja ilipita. Msichana mdogo alisema, "Tazama, kasuku!" Baba yake alisema, "Ni mdoli wa kuchezea ambao mtu alisahau." Polly hakusonga.

A family walked past. A little girl said, "Look, a parrot!" Her father said, "It's a stuffed toy someone forgot." Polly did not move.

Aliruka juu ya mti, ngazi kwa ngazi. Akiwa mita thelathini juu, matawi yalianza. Yalikuwa manene kama mwili wake. Alitua juu ya moja na kutazama juu. Taji lilikuwa mita arobaini zaidi juu.

She flew up the side of the tree, level by level. At thirty metres up, the branches began. They were as thick as her own body. She perched on one and looked up. The crown was another forty metres higher.

Njia ilimalizika kwenye mti mmoja: Grizzly Giant. Ulikuwa na umri wa miaka 2,995. Shina lake lilikuwa pana kuliko basi la jiji.

The trail ended at one tree: the Grizzly Giant. It was about 2,995 years old. Its trunk was wider than a city bus.

Polly alitua kwenye sehemu ya chini ya magamba. Alitazama juu.

Polly perched on a low spot in the bark. She looked up.

Miaka elfu tatu. Mti ulikuwa hapa wakati mafarao wa Misri walikuwa wakijenga Bonde la Wafalme. Ulikuwa hapa wakati Roma ilikuwa kijiji kidogo cha kilimo. Ulikuwa umekua karibu sentimita moja upana kila mwaka, kwa utulivu wa kimya.

Three thousand years. The tree had been here when Egyptian pharaohs were building the Valley of the Kings. It had been here when Rome was a small farming village. It had grown about one centimetre wider each year, in steady silence.

Alikaa muda mrefu. Alama ndogo ya moto kwenye shina ilikuwa ya zamani kuliko nchi nyingi. Mti ulikuwa umenusurika moto kadhaa.

She stayed a long time. A small fire scar on the trunk was older than most countries. The tree had survived dozens of fires.

Mbegu yenye ukubwa wa kipande cha shayiri ilianguka karibu naye. Mbegu za sequoia zinahitaji moto ili kuota. Maganda hufunguka tu katika joto. Kila sequoia mpya ni matokeo ya moto wa zamani.

A seed about the size of an oat flake fell past her. Sequoia seeds need fire to grow. The cones only open in the heat. Every new sequoia is the result of an old burn.