A Bengali village now appears beneath a group of cocoa-nut trees, beyond
which the _Pīpal_-tree (ficus religiosa) is seen, with its roots
exposed, the earth having been washed from them during the rains by the
rising of the river. This tree is particularly venerated by the Hindūs;
they believe its sacred branches to be the residence of the gods, and
will never cut a branch to the injury of the tree. In front, a Hindū is
sitting at worship by the side of the river; a _charpāī_, on which
probably a corpse has been brought to be burned, is near the spot, also
a skull and some bones: skulls are continually seen on the banks of the
river.