alluded to here were those of the
banian-tree, of which the leaves, says Sir James Forbes, are large,
soft, and of a lively green; the fruit a small bright scarlet fig. The
Hindoos are peculiarly fond of this tree; they consider its long
duration, its outstretching arms, and overshadowing beneficence, as
emblems of the Deity, and almost pay it divine honours. The Brahmins,
who thus "find a fane in every sacred grove," spend much of their time
in religious solitude, under the shade of the banian-tree; they plant
it near the dewals, or Hindoo temples; and in those villages where
there is no structure for public worship, they place an image under
one of these trees, and there perform morning and evening sacrifice.
The size of some of these trees is stupendous. Sir James Forbes
mentions one which has three hundred and fifty _large_ trunks, the
smaller ones exceeding three thousand; and another, whereunder the
chief of the neighbourhood used to encamp in magnificent style; having
a saloon, dining room, drawing-room, bedchambers, bath, kitchen, and
every other accommodation, all in separate tents; yet did this noble
tree cover the whole, together with his carriages, horses, camels,
guards, and attendants; while its spreading branches afforded shady
spots for the tents of his friends, with their servants and cattle.
And in the march of an army it has been known to shelter seven
thousand men.

Such is the banian-tree, the pride of Hindustan: which Milton refers
to as the one which served "our general mother" for her first essay in
the art of needlework.

"Both together went
Into the thickest wood; there soon they chose
The fig-tree; not that tree for fruit renown'd,
But such as at this day, to Indians known,
In Malabar or Deccan spreads her arms,
Branching so broad and long, that in the ground
The bended twigs take root, and daughters grow
About the mother tree, a pillar'd shade
High overarch'd, and echoing walks between:
There oft the Indian herdsman, shunning heat,
Shelters in cool, and tends his pasturing herds
At loopholes cut through thickest shade: Those leaves
They gather'd, broad as Amazonian targe;
And, with what skill they had, together sew'd,
To gird their waist."

Some of the most interesting incidents in Holy Writ turn on the
occupation of needlework; slight sketches, nay, hardly so much, but
mere touches which engage all the gentler, a