e had planted in the market-place,
because, so long as it remained, business could not be conducted.
They knew 'the value of a lie'.

3. The red cotton, or silk-cotton, tree, when in spring covered with
its huge magnolia-shaped scarlet blossoms, is one of the most
magnificent objects in nature. Its botanical name is _Salmalia
malabarica_ (_Bombax malabaricum; B. heptaphyllum_). This is the tree
referred to in the text. The white silk-cotton tree (_Eriodendron
anfractuosum; Bombax 'pentandrum; Ceiba pentandra; Gossampinus
Rumphii_) has a more southern habitat. (Balfour, _Cyclopaedia_, 3rd
ed., s.v. 'Salmalia' and 'Eriodendron'.)

4. The pipal is usually regarded as sacred only to Vishnu, the
Preserver. The _Ficus indica_, or banyan, is sacred to Siva, the
Destroyer, and the _Butea frondosa_ (Hind. 'dhak', 'palas', or
'chhyul ') to Brahma, the Creator, or [Greek text].

5. The sacred trees and plants of India are numerous. 'Balfour
(Cyclop., 3rd ed., s.v. 'Sacred') enumerates eighty, and the list is
by no mean complete. The same author's article, 'Tree', may also be
consulted. The minor 'deities' alluded to by the author are the real
gods of popular rural Hinduism. The observations of Mr. William
Crooke, probably the best authority on the subject of Indian popular
religion, though made with reference to a particular locality, are
generally applicable. 'Hinduism certainly shows no signs of weakness,
and is practically untouched by Christian and Muhammadan proselytism.
The gods of the Vedas are as dead as Jupiter, and the Krishna worship
only succeeds from its marvellous adaptability to the sensuous and
romantic side of the native mind. But it would be too much to say
that the creed exercises any real effect on life or morals. With the
majority of its devotees it is probably more sympathetic than
practical, and ranks with the periodical ablutions in the Ganges and
Jumna, and the traditional worship of the local gods and ghosts,
which really impress the rustic. He is enclosed on all sides by a
ring of precepts, which attribute luck or ill-luck to certain things
or actions. These and the bonds of caste, with its obligations for
the performance of marriage, death, and other ceremonies, make up the
religions life of the peasant. Nearly every village and hamlet has
its local ghost, usually the shrine of a childless man, or one whose
funeral rites remained for some reason unperformed. In the expressive
popular phrase, he is '