some writers alleged, namely, five stadia, or upwards of three thousand feet. With such an exaggeration, the report of Nearchus, quoted by Arrian, might coincide. But though we cannot precisely ascertain, in what sense the measurement, spoken of, is to be taken, yet there can hardly be any doubt that the tree, which Arrian had in his mind, was the Banyan. In reading what Arrian relates of the naked philosophers of ancient India, one is re- minded of the Fakir, mentioned by Mr. Marsden, as sitting under the Banyan-tree, at Mangee,[1] who, it would seem, continued a practice that was known to his wise predecessors, many centuries before.
Thus I have collected all that may be supposed to have a reference to the Banyan-tree, in the remaining works of the classic authors. I do not believe, that any passage, or even any allusion, has escaped me. Perhaps the length, to which these observations have been extended, may require an apology. I was tempted to attribute some slight degree of interest to the subject, as the Banyan-tree has, in a manner, been marked by this Society as its own. It has been chosen for the emblem of the Society, and as the type for its seal. The extraordinary nature of this production, and its
locality, being peculiar to the remote East, recommended it as an object that might characterize the Astatic Society or Great Britain and Ireland. Whether any allegorical sense, in relation to the arts and sciences, their various ramification and extension, their connexion and mutual support, should be combined with it, I leave for others to determine. ‘The motto, joined to our emblem, is “ Quot rami, tot arbores,” or, “Every branch yields a tree:” and whether we adopt the allegory, or not, it is to be wished, that the efforts of this Society may contribute to extend human knowledge, and promote that intellectual improvement, which is calculated to constitute the happiness of our species.
- ↑ History of Sumatra, 3d ed. p. 163, note: “Under this tree sat a naked Fakir, who had occupied that situation for twenty-five years; but he did not continue there the whole year through, for his yow obliged him to be, during the four cold months, up to his neck in the waters of the Ganges,”
