26 
one of these trees, and there perform a morning and evening sa- 
crifice. 
These are the trees under which a sect of naked philosophers, 
called Gymnosophists, assembled in Arrian's days; and this histo- 
rian of ancient Greece gives us a true picture of the modem 
Hindoos; “ In winter the Gymnosophists enjoy the benefit of the 
££ sun's rays in the open air; and in summer, when the heat be- 
£C comes excessive, they pass their time in cool and moist places, 
££ under large trees; which, according to the accounts of Nearchus, 
“ cover a circumference of five acres, and extend their branches 
4£ so far, that ten thousand men may easily find shelter under 
u them. 5 ' 
.[’here are none of this magnitude at Bombay; but on the 
banks of the Narbudda I have spent many delightful days with 
large parties, on rural excursions, under a tree supposed by some 
persons to be that described by Nearchus, and certainly not at all 
inferior to it. High floods have at various times swept away a 
considerable part of this extraordinary tree; but what still remains 
is near two thousand feet in circumference, measured round the 
principal stems; the over-hanging branches, not yet struck down, 
cover a much larger space; and under it grow a number of cus- 
tard-apple, and other fruit trees. The large trunks of this single 
tree amount to three hundred and fifty, and the smaller ones ex- 
ceed three thousand; each of these is constantly sending forth 
branches and hanging roots, to form other trunks, and become the 
parents of a future progeny. 
This magnificent pavilion affords a shelter to all travellers, par- 
ticularly the religious tribes of Hindoos; and is generally filled 
