All Surya, or the sun, and Sareswati. three met at Prayaga, thence called Triveni, or the three platted locks; but Sareswati, according to the popular belief, sinks under ground, and rises again at Triveni near Hugli, where she rejoins her beloved Ganga."* The Brahmaputra, as the name expresses, is the son of Brahma; and that noble river, the Krishna, is sacred to Krishen, the incarnate Vishnu. It would be almost endless to enumerate the various sacred streams. "We have mentioned the Lotos as being highly venerated by the Hindūs. It is particularly sacred to Lacshmi, the wife of Vishnu, in her attributes of Sris, goddess of plenty, who presides over the harvests. She is sometimes represented holding a Lotos in her hand; at others sitting on one; and by poets she is frequently denominated Padma-Devi,+ tha, goddess of the Lotos, Padma being one of the Sanscrit * Jones. + Mr. Wilford however ascribes that epithet to Cali, L white, with a delicate fragrance, one breathing after sunset the odour of cloves."* The Cadamba, or Nipa, Priyaca, Halipreya, which is also distinguished by other names, appears to be the Nauclea of Linnæus. Of this there are three species on the coast of Coromandel and in the northern Circars; which, we believe, are also to be found in most other parts of Hindustan : 1. The Parvifolia, or Bota-cadamie, which grows to a large tree; its flowers are small, of a light yellow colour; the wood, of a light chestnut, firm and close grained, is used for a variety of purposes, 2. The Cordifolia, or Daduga of the natives; the flowers of which resemble the former; the tree is also large; the wood is of a beautiful light yellowish colour, very close grained, and much used for furniture; planks of it may be had from one to above two feet diameter: both trees are natives of mountainous parts. 3. The Purpurea, or Bagada of the Hindūs, is a small tree, chiefly found in val * Jones. says, it furnished subsistence to the Roman armies when traversing that part of Africa.* A late celebrated traveller,+ speaking of this plant, says: "These (its berries), called Tomberongs, are small farinaceous berries, of a yellow colour and delicious taste, which I know to be the fruit of the Rhamnus Lotos of Linnæus. The negroes shewed us two large baskets full, which they had collected in the course of the day. These berries are much esteemed by the natives; who convert them into a sort of bread, by exposing them for some days to the sun, and afterwards pounding them gently in a wooden mortar, until the farinaceous part of the berry is separated from the stone. This meal is then mixed with a little water, and formed into cakes; which, when dried in the sun, resemble in colour and flavour the sweetest gingerbread. The stones are afterwards put into a vessel of water, and * Pliny, lib. v. c. 4.-and lib. xiii. c. 17 and 18. + See Travels in the Interior of Africa, by Mungo Park, 8vo. edit. p. 147 & seq. Asoca, or Venjula. The flowers of this tree are 66 fascicled, fragrant just after sunset and before sun-rise, when refreshed by the evening and morning dew; beautifully diversified with tints of orange-scarlet, of pale yellow, and of bright orange, and forms a variety of shades, according to the age of each blossom that opens in the fascicle. The vegetable world scarcely exhibits a richer sight than an Asoca tree in full bloom: it is about as high as an ordinary. eherry-tree. It perpetually occurs in the old Indian poems, and in treatises on religious rites."* Parnasa, or Tulasi, termed by Linnæus Ocymum, sacred to Krishna, and highly venerated by the Hindus, "who have given one of its names to a sacred grove of their Parnassus, on the banks of the Yamuna. A fable truly Ovidian is told in the Puranas concerning the metamorphosis of the nymph Tulasi, who was beloved by the * Jones. pastoral god, into the shrub which has since borne her name."* næus. Patali, or Patala, the Bignonia of LinThe flowers of this tree are exquisitely fragrant, are preferred by bees to all other flowers, and compared by poets to the quiver of Camadeva, the god of love. The Patali blossoms early in the spring, before a leaf appears on the tree, but the fruit is not ripe till the following winter."+ Nagacesara, the Mesua of Linnæus, and which is described in the Hortus Malabaricus, under the name of Balutta Tsiampacum. "This tree is one of the most beautiful on the earth; the delicious odour of its blossoms justly gives them a place in the quiver of Camadeva. In the poem called Naishadha, there is a wild but elegant couplet, where the poet compares the white of the Nagacesara, from which the bees were scattering the pollen of the numerous gold-coloured anthers, to an alabaster wheel on which Cama was whetting * Jones. + Idem. ‡ Vol. iii. p. 63. |