AMONG the wonders of the vegetable kingdom, the Banyan Tree has no common distinction. The distant view of such a tree, from an oriental river, must be beautiful in the extreme. The delicate tracery of the smaller limbs; the fairy neatness with which they cross each other, and mingle with the ground, and the rich contrast between the verdant foliage, so profuse and heavy, and the slender shafts which seem to drop like ribbons from it; - all combine to give it the finest character of grace and strength. An air of patriarchal grandeur reposes in the massy trunk, — while, in the process by which it increases itself, the mind is carried forward to coming ages, when that tree, endowed as it were with the power of self-creation, shall continue to prolong its own existence,-fastening its young shoots into the ground, to be, in their turn, aged and stately trees

The same eastern tourist to whom we were indebted for a written and pictorial sketch of the Talipât tree, has also furnished the annexed description of the Banyan:

"We passed a beautiful Banyan tree, at a short distance from Mizapoor, under which, from the sanctity of the situation, a most excellent piece of sculpture had been originally fixed. Around this the tree had twisted its strong and sinewy arms, lifted it completely from the pedestal, and carried it up in its growth, throwing round it a frame formed by its own picturesque and convoluted branches; thus rendering it a natural curiosity well worth beholding. The effect was as singular as it was striking. The tree from which the accompanying engraving is taken, was a much finer specimen of this extraordinary production of the vegetable kingdom, than that to

which I have just referred; it grew a few miles farther up the river. It had two stems of nearly equal circumference, forming a junction at the root, and from these stems there branched laterally two large arms, from which numerous strong fibres depended; these two arms throwing out horizontal shoots in all directions, and covering a prodigious space with thick and verdant foliage. The tree afforded daily shelter to men and cattle, to pilgrims and travellers, who at times congregated in great numbers beneath its branches. It appeared to be in the full vigour of its maturity, as not a single portion of it had begun to decay.

"As the Banyan tree has always been an object of great interest to travellers, I shall make no apology for introducing a short account of it here. The boughs grow horizontally from the stem, and extend so far, that in the ordinary process of nature they would be unable to support themselves. To supply this support, small fibrous shoots fall perpendicularly from them, and take root as soon as they reach the ground, thus propping the parent bough, while the lateral branches continue to throw out new sprouts, from which other fibres drop, until, in the course of years, one tree forms a little forest. The perpendicular stems put forth no shoots, and vary in circumference from a few inches to eight or ten feet. Before they reach the ground they are very flexible, and seem to dangle from the parent boughs like short thick thongs. The leaves of the Banyan tree are of an elliptical shape, smooth, crisp, and glossy. They are about the size of a lettuce-leaf, and grow in regular alternations on each side of the branch. The fruit, which adheres to the smaller twigs, has no stem; it is about the size of a hazel-nut, and its colour a deep bright red. It is eaten by monkeys, paroquets and other birds, but is insipid, and therefore seldom made use of by natives, and never by Europeans, as an article of food. The seeds are said to pass through birds uninjured; on the contrary, their germinating properties are improved by the process. They are thus deposited in various parts of the country, and frequently on buildings, where they take root, and by these means the tree becomes extensively propagated. It is held in great veneration by the Hindoos, and has been therefore confounded with the 'ficus religiosa,' a tree altogether different in its growth and properties."

70

UNFOLD my doom! it is the hour

To exercise the Sybil's power;

Daylight hath died; the siltim* now

Haunts the dark wood, and mountain's brow;

The mystic garland near thee laid

Doth fill with scents the charmed shade.

Hemasagaras there unfold

With sunlike gleam, their leaves of gold;

Sephalicas, within whose eye

The laden bee loves best to lie;

The silver lotus sparkles there,

And Amra flowers, like moonlight fair;
And the tube rose, so soft and bright,
"T is named the " empress of the night;"
And that sweet tree whose blossoms line
Love's quiver-when the boy divine
Comes down from the celestial grove
To bless or cross a mortal's love.
Bright amaranths their garlands twine
That might the rainbow's wreath outshine;
And flowers that love the craggy steep,

Far gleaming o'er the silent deep,
Like the pale, lofty stars which show

The path to mariners below: :