Page:Life in India or Madras, the Neilgherries, and Calcutta.djvu/289

Rh and yet have enough to procure for themselves the comforts of life.

It was refreshing to turn from the works of man to those of God. Attracted by a majestic banian-tree, we sat down by its root. From the outstretching branches of the parent trunk of this peculiar and noble tree, long cord-like fibres grow until they reach the ground. Striking into the earth, these fibrous cords take root, and, becoming in their turn trunks, support the branch from which they grow, and thus extend the shade of the parent tree. Thus one tree becomes an assemblage of trunks, sustaining a spreading mass of foliage. Among the branches of the tree, a multitude of parrots were sporting, full of life and joy; but at its root the work of man appeared again. In humiliating contrast with the arched and living pavilion above us, stood a temple not larger than a dog-kennel, and before it a stone with two images rudely carved upon its face: this was an object of worship! a god! It bore the marks of having been that day worshipped, for it had been anointed with oil and ornamented with flowers. How is human nature sunken!