Page:On the Coromandel Coast.djvu/76

 are of enormous extent with a perfect forest of smooth columns, which have been compared to the pillars of some great cathedral aisle. Bishop Heber exclaimed, as his eyes rested on a hoary giant in Central India, 'What a noble place of worship!' In old trees a palmyra or a neem tree may sometimes be found growing from the central trunk. This is brought about by the agency of the birds that drop seeds. It is called by the Hindus 'the sacred marriage,' and is highly venerated. There are many superstitions concerning the banyan. One is that lightning never strikes it; 'a notion,' says George Johnstone in his 'Stranger in India,' 'probably founded on experience. The fact, if truth it be, is to be accounted for by the resinous non-conducting quality of its leaves and wood.' With its many stems and evergreen foliage it is the emblem of immortality. The tradition is that all nature will pass away except one big mystic banyan tree. Under this tree the Diety will be enthroned and glorified. The leaves are of a glossy green and the fruit is a scarlet berry of the nature of a small fig. Birds during the day, and bats at night, chatter and quarrel over the feast. Some natives are said to eat the fruit, and all who have no brass and china platters make use of the leaves. They are pinned together with stalks of grass and form excellent plates and dishes for the boiled rice. After use they are thrown aside and fresh ones are manufactured for the next meal. There are many beautiful specimens of the many-stemmed banyan in Madras ; but the largest that I ever saw was at Madura, in the com- pound of the house usually occupied by the judge. When Mr. Weir filled that position, a party of American visitors came to see the tree. They had heard tales of its enormous size and were sceptical as to their truth. The States consider that they possess a monopoly of big things including trees. At sight of the giant the gentleman of