SCRIPTURAL DESCRIPTION OF A GREAT TREE. 307 



the Scriptures. It is taken from the book of the 

 Prophet Daniel 



" I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the Earth, and 

 the height thereof was great. The tree grew and was strong, 

 and the height thereof reached unto Heaven, and the sight 

 thereof to the end of all the earth. The leaves thereof 

 were fair, and the fruit thereof much: and it was meat for 

 all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the 

 fowls of Heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh 

 was fed of it." * 



It would be difficult for any word picture to convey 

 a finer idea of a group of giant trees, rising out of 

 the boundless flat surface of a great plain, such as 

 that of Northern India; such specimens are here seen 

 afar off, upon the distant horizon, towering towards 

 heaven, and are visible for miles in every direction ; 

 literally in this case " to the end of all the world, " that 

 is to say, for five or six miles, to the limits of the 

 terrestrial horizon. We can have no doubt that such 

 is the interpretation to be put upon this passage, 

 which thus read would be strictly correct. Such trees 

 form a grateful spectacle at all times, to break the 

 monotony of the landscape, and may often be seen thus 

 rising upon the boundaries of the horizon, which the 

 contour of the earth's curvature here limits to a man 

 travelling over its surface, somewhat to the distance 

 we have indicated above. 



Upon the great plains of India such groups of trees 

 generally consist among others of trees of the Ficus tribe, 

 such as the Banyan (Ficus Indica, Linn.), the Peepul 

 (Ficus Religiosd), or the Tamarind (Tamarindus Indica), 

 and in some plkces of the various Bombacese, especially 



* Daniel iv, 10 12. 



