PREFACE. 



xxxvii 



A tree has been described as growing in China, 

 of a size so prodigious, that one branch of it only 

 will so completely cover two hundred sheep, that 

 they cannot be perceived by those who approach 

 the tree ; and another so enormous, that eighty 

 persons can scarcely embrace the trunk. 



What a magnificent tree is the Banyan, or In- 

 dian Fig tree, or more properly we should say, 

 forest ! A tree of this kind has been described as 

 370 feet in diameter, the circumference of its 

 shadow at noon measuring 1116 feet; and that of 

 the several stems, of which there were fifty or sixty, 

 921 feet. There is a celebrated Banyan near 

 Gombroon, on the Persian Gulf, and another near 

 Fort St. David's, in the East Indies, which is com- 

 puted to cover near 1700 yards. " The Gentoos," 

 says Martyn, " are almost as sensibly hurt if any 

 one cuts or lops any of the branches, as if he had 

 mutilated or destroyed a cow, which they hold in 

 so much veneration." Thevenot speaks of it by 

 the title of Va?^ tree ; he says it is also called Ber 

 treCi and Arhre des racines (tree of roots,) and that 

 it is held sacred by the Gentiles of India*. 



* Thevenot's Voyage de Levant^, Part III. p. 73^ 



