by the sun's rays, where she
sports with such profusion and variety, clothing the earth in gorgeous
flowers, variegated mosses and feathery ferns, till it seems to
groan beneath the manifold treasures of beauty and fragrance lavished
thereon. This noble tree grows wild in many Eastern countries and
islands, and sometimes attains to a size and an extent that are
marvelous to contemplate. Shoots are everywhere thrown out toward the
ground from the horizontal branches, increasing in size as they tend
downward, till at last they strike into the ground and become stems.
From these shoot new branches, which in their turn extend and form
roots and new stems, till at length a solitary tree becomes the parent
of an extensive grove, appropriately characterized by the bard as
"a pillared shade high overarched." And as they are thus continually
increasing, seeming meanwhile almost exempt from the general law of
decay, a tiny sapling borne to the spot in an infant's hand may come
in time to cover thousands of feet of soil. Such a specimen is the
noted Cubber Burr, growing on a picturesque little island in the river
Nerbudda, near Baroach, in the province of Guzerat. This wonderful
tree, named after a venerated Hindoo saint, occupies a space that
exceeds two thousand feet in circumference. The principal stems number
three or four hundred, and the smaller ones more than three thousand,
though some have been destroyed by high floods, that have carried away
not only portions of the giant tree, but of the banks of the island
itself. The beauty and magnitude of the Cubber Burr are famous all
over the East. Indian armies have encamped beneath its sheltering
branches, and Hindoo festivals, to which thousands of votaries
repair, are often held under its leafy shadow. I was told that
_seven thousand_ people could find ample shelter under its widespread
branches; and we often knew of English gentlemen forming hunting or
shooting excursions to the island, and encamping for weeks together
beneath this delightful pavilion. Their only hosts were frolicsome
monkeys and whole colonies of doves, peacocks, wood-pigeons and
singing birds, that find a permanent abode among the thick foliage,
and plentiful sustenance from the small, scarlet-colored figs that
hang pendent from every branch. The banian tree may be regarded as a
natural temple in Oriental regions, and the Hindoos especially look
upon it with profound veneration. Tiny, fancifully-adorned tem