THE BANYAN-TREE.
The banyan, or burr tree, the ficus Indica of Linnæus, a picture of which is given in the cut beyond, claims our particular attention. It is considered as one of the most curious and beautiful of Nature’s productions in the genial climate of India, where she sports with the greatest profusion and variety. Each tree is in itself a grove, and some of them are of an amazing size, as they are continually increasing, and, contrary to most other animal and vegetable productions, seem to be exempted from decay: for every branch from the main body throws out its own roots, at first in small tender fibers, several yards from the ground, which continually grow thicker; until by a gradual descent, they reach its surface; where, striking in, they increase to a large trunk, and become a parent tree, throwing out new branches from the top. These, in time, suspend their roots, and, receiving nourishment from the earth, swell into trunks, and shoot forth other branches; thus continuing in a state of progression so long as the first parent of them all supplies her sustenance.
THE BANYAN-TREE.
A banyan-tree with many trunks, forms the most beautiful walks, vistas and cool recesses, that can be imagined. The leaves are large, soft, and of a lively green; the fruit is a small fig, of a bright scarlet when ripe, affording sustenance to monkeys, squirrels, peacocks, and birds of various kinds, which dwell among the branches.
The Hindoos are peculiarly fond of this tree; they consider its long duration, its outstretching arms, and overshadowing beneficence, as emblems of the Deity, and almost pay it divine honors. The Brahmins, who thus “find a fane in every sacred grove,” spend much of their time in superstitious solitude under the shade of the banyan-tree; they plant it near the dewals, or Hindoo temples, improperly called pagodas; and in those villages where there is no structure for public worship, they place an image under one of these trees, and there perform their morning and evening sacrifice. These are the trees under which a sect of naked philosophers, called Gymnosophists, assembled in Arrian’s days; and this historian of ancient Greece, says Forbes, in his “Oriental Memoirs,” affords a true picture of the modern Hindoos. “In winter the Gymnosophists enjoy the benefit of the sun’s rays in the open air; and in summer, when the heat becomes excessive, they pass their time in cool and moist places, under large trees; which, according to the accounts of Nearchus, cover a circumference of five acres, and extend their branches so far, that ten thousand men may easily find shelter under them.”
On the banks of the Narbudda, in the province of Guzzerat, is a banyan-tree, supposed by some persons to be the one described by Nearchus, and certainly not inferior to it. It is distinguished by the name of the Cubbeer-Burr, which was given to it in honor of a famous saint. High floods have, at various times, swept away a considerable part of this extraordinary tree; but what still remains is nearly two thousand feet in circumference, measured round the principal stems; the overhanging branches, not yet struck down, cover a much larger space; and under it grow a number of custard-apple, and other fruit trees. The large trunks of this single tree amount to three hundred and fifty, and the smaller ones exceed three thousand. Each of these is constantly sending forth branches and hanging roots, to form other trunks, and become the parents of a future progeny. The Cubbeer-Burr is famed throughout Hindoostan, not only on account of its great extent, but also of its surpassing beauty. The Indian armies generally encamp around it; and, at stated seasons, solemn jatarras, or Hindoo festivals, to which thousands of votaries repair from every part of the Mogul empire, are there celebrated. It is said that seven thousand people find ample room to repose under its shade. It has long been the custom of the British residents in India, on their hunting and shooting parties, to form extensive encampments, and spend weeks together, under this magnificent pavilion, which affords a shelter to all travelers, particularly to the religious tribes of the Hindoos. It is generally filled with a variety of birds, snakes and monkeys, the latter of whom both divert the spectator by their antic tricks, and interest him by the parental affection they display to their young offspring, in teaching them to select their food, to exert themselves in jumping from bough to bough, and in taking, as they acquire strength, still more extensive leaps from tree to tree. In these efforts, they encourage them by caresses, when timorous, and menace, and even beat them, when refractory.