Page:History of India Vol 9.djvu/35

 THE FERTILITY OF INDIA 11 are also of a similar kind and are made of carded byssos (or fibre), which is obtained from some sort of bark of plants. Nearchos states that reeds yield honey, although there are no bees, and that there is a tree THE DESCENDING BRANCHES OF A BANYAN -TREE. from the fruit of which honey is procured, but that the fruit eaten fresh causes intoxication. India produces many singular trees. There is one whose branches incline downwards, and whose leaves are not less in size than a shield. Onesikritos, describ-