Some cows and a buffalo are beneath a _pīpal_ tree in the park. On the
bank is the _sarput_, or _sirkī_, high jungle-grass that often rises to
the height of sixteen feet; the bloom waves gracefully, bending to the
wind, and elegantly recovers its position.
The next is the castor-oil plant (ricinus communis), much cultivated in
Bengal; the oil extracted from the seeds being used medicinally, as well
as for burning in lamps.
The tree with the broad and singular leaves is called the Traveller’s
Palm: if a knife is stuck into the stem a pure water gushes out. It
grows in the most sandy tracts where no water is to be found; hence it
is called the Traveller’s Palm. Dr. Wallich mentioned this circumstance,
and at the same time he struck his knife into the tree, of which the one
before you is a portrait.
The cart is the common _hackerī_ of the country, and the natives
belonging to it are asleep beneath it; a _chadda_, or cloth, is drawn
over their heads to protect them from the musquitoes, and their slippers
are laid on one side.
The Muhammadan Fakīr, a religious mendicant, in front of the group, is a
picturesque personage; he wanders over the country, and supports himself
on alms.