SUMATRA. . iji 
bougbs, which^ when they touch the earth, become new ftems, and go 
on encreafmg to fiich an extent, that fome have meafurcd in circnmfer* 
ence of the branches, upwards of a thoufand feet, and have been faid to 
afford Ihclter to a troop of horfe'*, Thefe fibres, that look like ropes 
attached to the branches, when they meet with any obftrndion in their 
defcent, conform themfelves to the ihape of the refi fling body^ and thus 
occafion many curious metamorphofes. I recoHedl feeing them ftand 
in the perfect fhape of a gate, long after the original pofts^ and crofs 
piece, had decayed and difappeared ; and I have been told of their lin* 
ing the internal circumference of a large brick well; like the worm in a 
diftUler's tub ; there exhibiting the view of a tree turned infide out, the 
branches pointing to the center, inftcad of growing from it* It is not 
more extraordinary in its manner of growth, than whimfical and fan- 
taftic in its choice of fituatlons. From the fide of a wall or the top of a 
houfe, it feems to fpring fpontaneous. Even from the fmooth periphery 
of a wooden pillar, turned and painted, I have feen it ihoot forth as if 
the vegetative juices of the feafoned timber, had renewed their circula- 
tion, and begun to produce leaves afreih. I have feen it flourilh in the 
center of a hollow tree, of a very different fpecies, which however ftill 
retained its verdure, its branches encompafling thofe of the jawH 
jawHy whilft its decayed trunk enclofed the ftem, which was vifible, 
at interfaces, from nearly the level of the plain on \vhich they grew. 
This, in truth, appeared fo flriking a curioiity, that I have often re- 
paired to the fpot, to contemplate the fingularity of it. How the feed, 
from which it is produced, happens to occupy ftations feemingly fo un- 
natural, is not eafily determined. Some have imagined the berries car- 
ried thither by the wind, and others, with more appearance of truth, 
by the birds; which, cleanfing their bills where they light, or attempt 
to light, leave, in thofe places, the feeds, adhering by the vifcous mat- 
» The following is an account of the dimcnfions of a remarkable Banyan tree, near Man jee, 
twcniy miles weft of I'aina in Bengal. Diameter 3^3 to 375 feet. Circumference of the fiiadow 
at noon, 1116 feet. Circumference of the fevcral ftcms, in number fifty or fixty, t^%\ feet. 
Under this tree fat a naked Fakir, who had occupied that fituation for twenty five years ; but he 
did not continue there the whole year throughi for bis vow obliged Ivm to lie, during the four 
cold months, up to liis neck m the waters of the river Ganges. 
ter 
