THE PĪPAL TREE.
A Bengali village now appears beneath a group of cocoa-nut trees, beyond which the Pīpal-tree (ficus religiosa) is seen, with its roots exposed, the earth having been washed from them during the rains by the rising of the river. This tree is particularly venerated by the Hindūs; they believe its sacred branches to be the residence of the gods, and will never cut a branch to the injury of the tree. In front, a Hindū is sitting at worship by the side of the river; a charpāī, on which probably a corpse has been brought to be burned, is near the spot, also a skull and some bones: skulls are continually seen on the banks of the river.