The gnarled and knotted trunk was scarred and seamed with the ravages of time.

The upper part was dead.

Long limbs extended skyward, gaunt and bare, like the masts of a storm beaten vessel.

The lower branches were white and shining, relieved here and there by brown patches of bark which curled up like old parchment as they shelled away from the inner bark.

The ground beneath the tree was carpeted with a velvety moss with little plots of grass and clusters of maiden-hair fern growing on it.