NATURAL HISTORY. 



59 



are the trees under which a sect of naked phi 

 losophers, called Gymnosophists, assembled in 

 Arriari s days, and this historian of Ancient 

 Greece presents a true picture of the modern 

 Hindoos. In winter, he says, the Gymno 

 sophists 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 

 Jive acres, and extend their branches so far, that ten 

 thousand men may easily find shelter under them. 

 &quot; On the banks of the river Narbuddy, in the 

 province of Gu/zerat, is a banian 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 Cubbeer Burr, 

 which was given it in honour 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 princi 

 pal 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; every one 

 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 Hindostan, not only 

 on account of its great extent, but also of its sur 

 passing 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 se 

 ven thousand persons 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 encamp 

 ments, and spend weeks together, under this de 

 lightful and magnificent pavilion, which affords 

 a shelter to all travellers, particularly to the reli 

 gious tribes of the Hindoos. It is generally filled 

 witn greenwood pigeons, doves, peacocks, and a 

 variety of feathered songsters with monkeys, 

 wnich both divert the spectator, by their antic 

 tricks, and interest him by the paternal affection 

 they display to their young offspring, in teaching 

 them to select their food, and to exert themselves 

 in jumping from bough to bough, and is shaded 

 by bats of a large size, many of them measuring 

 upwards of six feet from the extremity of one 

 wing to the other. This tree affords not only 

 shelter, but sustenance, to all its inhabitants, 

 being covered, amid its bright foliage, with small 

 figs, of a rich scarlet, on which they all regale 

 with as much delight as the lords of creation on 

 their more costly fure,in their parties of pleasure.&quot; 

 See Encyclopedia Britannica, Art. Ficus. 



This tree, which is doubtless one of the most 

 singular and magnificent objects in the vegetable 

 kingdom, appears to be a world in miniature, in 

 which thousands, both of human beings and of 

 the inferior tribes that traverse the earth and the 

 air, may find ample accommodation and subsist 

 ence. What a striking contrast does it present 

 to the forests of trees, or mushrooms, which are 

 perceived by the help of the microscope, in a 

 piece of mouldiness every plant of which is se 

 veral hundreds of times smaller than the point o 

 a fine needle! Yet both are the effects of the 

 agency of the same All-wise and Omnipotent 

 Being. And what an immense variety of gra 

 dations is to be found in the vegetable world, be 

 tween these two extremes every part of the vast 

 interval being filled up with flowers, herbs, shrubs, 

 and trees of every colour, form, and size, and in 

 such vast multitudes and profusion that no man 

 can number them ! 



An object, which approximates in a certain de 

 gree to the one now described, is mentioned in 

 &quot; Staunton s Account of Macartney s Embassy 

 to China,&quot; p. 70. It is called by botanists Adan- 

 sonia, and is also known by the name of the 

 Monkey Bread Tree, and was discovered in the 

 island of St. Jago. &quot; The circumference or girth 

 of the base was 56 feet, which soon divided into 

 two vast branches, the one in a perpendicular 

 direction, whose periphery, or girth, was 42 feet, 

 the other 26. Another, of the same species, stood 

 near it, whose single trunk, girthing only 38 feet, 

 was scarcely noticed.&quot; 



The only other specimen I shall exhibit to the 

 reader has a relation both to the animal and to the 

 vegetable kingdom. It is well known that the 

 examination of flowers, and vegetables of every 

 description, by the microscope, opens anew and 

 interesting field of wonders to the inquiring 

 naturalist. Sir John Hill has given the following 

 curious account of what appeared on his examin 

 ing a carnation. 



&quot;The principal flower in an elegant bouquet 

 was a carnation: the fragrance of this led me to 

 enjoy it frequently atiu near. The sense of smell 

 ing was not the only one affected on these occa 

 sions: while that was satiated with the powerful 

 sweet, the ear was constantly attacked by an 

 extremely soft, but agreeable murmuring sound. 

 It was easy to know that some animal within the 

 covert must be the musician, and that the little 

 noise must come from some little creature, suited 

 to produce it. I instantly distended the lower part 

 of the flower, and placing it in a full light, could 

 discover troops of little insects frisking, with wild 

 jollity, among the narrow pedestals that support 

 ed its leaves, and the little threads that occupied 

 its centre. What a fragrant world for their ha 

 bitation ! What a perfect security from all an 

 noyance, in the dusky husk that surrounded the 

 scene of action ! Adapting a microscope to take 

 in, at one view, the whole base of the flower, I 



