8. For a hundred years more, he stood upon his head with his feet
towards heaven.
9. For a hundred years more, he stood upon the palm of one hand
resting on the ground.
{166}
10. For a hundred years more, he hung by his hand from the branch of a
tree.
11. For a hundred years more, he hung from a tree with his head
downwards.
When he at length came to a respite from these severe mortifications,
a radiant glory encircled the devotee, and a flame of fire, arising
from his head, began to consume the whole world."--_From the Seeva
Pooraun_, MAURICE's _History of Hindostan_.
You see a pious Yogi, motionless as a pollard, holding his thick bushy
hair, and fixing his eyes on the solar orb. Mark--his body is half
covered with a white ant's edifice made of raised clay; the skin of a
snake supplies the place of his sacerdotal thread, and part of it
girds his loins; a number of knotty plants encircle and wound his
neck, and surrounding birds' nests almost conceal his shoulders.
_Dushmanta_. I bow to a man of his austere devotion.--SACONTALA.
_That even Seeva's self,_
_The Highest, cannot grant, and be secure._--VI. p. 52.
It will be seen from the following fable, that Seeva had once been
reduced to a very humiliating employment by one of Kehama's
predecessors:
{167}
_Ravana_, by his power and infernal arts, had subjugated all the gods
and demigods, and forced them to perform menial offices about his
person and household. _Indra_ made garlands of flowers to adorn him
withal; _Agni_ was his cook; _Surya_ supplied light by day, and
_Chandra_ by night; _Varuna_ purveyed water for the palace; _Kuvera_
furnished cash. The whole _nava-graha_ (the _nine planetary_ spheres)
sometimes arranged themselves into a ladder, by which, they serving as
steps, the tyrant ascended his throne: _Brahma_ (for the great gods
were there also; and I give this anecdote as I find it in my
memoranda, without any improved arrangement)--_Brahma_ was a herald,
proclaiming the giant's titles, the day of the week, month, &c. daily
in the palace,--a sort of speaking almanack: _Mahadeva_, (i. e.
Seeva,) in his Avatara of _Kandeh-roo_, performed the office of
barber, and trimmed the giants' beards: _Vishnu_ had the honourable
occupation of instructing and drilling the dancing and singing girls,
and selecting the fairest for the royal bed: _Ganesa_ had the care of
the cows, goats, and herds; _Vayu_ swept the house; _Yama_ washed the
linen;--and in this manner were all the gods employed in the menial
offices of _Ravana_, who rebuked and flogged them in default of
industry and attention. Nor were the female divinities exempted; for
_Bhavani_, in her name and form of _Satni_, {168} was head Aya, or
nurse, to Ravana's children; _Lakshmi_ and _Saraswati_ were also among
them, but it does not appear in what capacity.--MOOR's _Hindu
Pantheon_, p. 333.
Seeva was once in danger even of annihilation: "In passing from the
town of Silgut to Deonhully, says Colonel Wilks, I became accidentally
informed of a sect, peculiar, as I since understand, to the
north-eastern parts of Mysoor, the women of which universally undergo
the amputation of the first joints of the third and fourth fingers of
their right hands. On my arrival at Deonhully, after ascertaining that
the request would not give offence, I desired to see some of these
women; and, the same afternoon, seven of them attended at my tent. The
sect is a sub-division of the _Murresoo Wokul_,[1] and belongs to
the fourth great class of the Hindoos, viz. the Souder. Every woman of
the sect, previously to piercing the ears of her eldest daughter,
preparatory to her being betrothed in marriage, must necessarily
undergo this mutilation, which is performed by the blacksmith of the
village, for a regulated fee, by a surgical process sufficiently rude.
The finger to be amputated is placed on a block; the blacksmith places
a chisel over the articulation of the {169} joint, and chops it off at
a single blow. If the girl to be betrothed is motherless, and the
mother of the boy have not before been subject to the operation, it is
incumbent on her to perform the sacrifice. After satisfying myself
with regard to the facts of the case, I enquired into the origin of so
strange a practice, and one of the women related, with great fluency,
the following traditionary tale, which has since been repeated to me,
with no material deviation, by several others of the sect:
A Rachas (or giant) named _Vrica_, and in after times _Busm-aasoor_,
or the giant of the ashes, had, by a course of austere devotion to
_Mahadeo_ (Seeva) obtained from him the promise of whatever boon he
should ask. The Rachas accordingly demanded, that every person on
whose head he should place his right hand, might instantly be reduced
to ashes; and Mahadeo conferred the boon, without suspicion of the
purpose for which it was designed.
The Rachas no sooner found himself possessed of this formidable power,
than he attempted to use it for the destruction of his benefactor.
Mahadeo fled, the Rachas pursued, and followed the fugitive so closely
as to chace him into a duck grove; where Mahadeo, changing his form
and bulk, concealed himself in the centre of a fruit, then called
_tunda pundoo_, but since named _linga_ {170} _tunda_, from the
resemblance which its kernel thenceforward assumed to the _ling_, the
appropriate emblem of Mahadeo.
The Rachas having lost sight of Mahadeo, enquired of a husbandman, who
was working in the adjoining field, whether he had seen the fugitive,
and what direction he had taken. The husbandman, who had attentively
observed the whole transaction, fearful of the future resentment of
Mahadeo, and equally alarmed for the present vengeance of the giant,
answered aloud, that he had seen no fugitive, but pointed, at the same
time, with the little finger of his right hand, to the place of
Mahadeo's concealment.
In this extremity,[2] Vishnou descended, in the form of a
beautiful damsel, to the rescue of Mahadeo. The Rachas became
instantly enamoured;--the damsel was a _pure_ Brahmin, and might not
be approached by the _unclean_ Rachas. By degrees she appeared to
relent; and, as a previous condition to farther advances, enjoined the
performance of his ablutions in a neighbouring pool. After these were
finished, she prescribed, as a farther purification, the performance
of the _Sundia_,--a ceremony in which the right hand is successively
applied to the breast, to the crown of the head, and to other parts of
the body. {171} The Rachas, thinking only of love, and forgetful of
the powers of his right hand, performed the _Sundia_, and was himself
reduced to ashes.
Mahadeo now issued from the _linga tunda_, and, after the proper
acknowledgments for his deliverance, proceeded to discuss the guilt of
the treacherous husbandman, and determined on the loss of the finger
with which he had offended, as the proper punishment of his crime.
The wife of the husbandman, who had just arrived at the field with
food for her husband, hearing this dreadful sentence, threw herself at
the feet of Mahadeo. She represented the certain ruin of her family,
if her husband should be disabled for some months from performing the
labours of the farm, and besought the Deity to accept two of her
fingers, instead of one from her husband. Mahadeo, pleased with so
sincere a proof of conjugal affection, accepted the exchange, and
ordained, that her female posterity, in all future generations, should
sacrifice two fingers at his temple, as a memorial of the transaction,
and of their exclusive devotion to the God of the Ling.
The practice is, accordingly, confined to the supposed, posterity of
this single woman, and is not common to the whole sect of
Murresoo-Wokul. I ascertained the actual number of families who
observed this practice in three {172} successive districts through
which I afterwards passed, and I conjecture that, within the limits of
Misoor, they may amount to about two thousand houses.
The Hill of _Sectee_, in the talook of Colar, where the giant was
destroyed, is (according to this tradition) formed of the ashes of
Busmaa-soor: It is held in particular veneration by this sect, as the
chief seat of their appropriate sacrifice; and the fact of its
containing little or no moisture, is held to be a miraculous proof
that the ashes of the giant continue to absorb the most violent and
continued rain. This is a remarkable example of easy credulity. I have
examined the mountain, which is of a sloping form, and composed of
coarse granite.--_Hist. Sketches of the South of India_, vol. i. p.
442, note.
_The Ship of Heaven._--VI. p. 56.
I have converted the _Vimana_, or self-moving Car of the Gods, into a
Ship. Capt. Wilford has given the history of its invention,--and, what
is more curious, has attempted to settle the geography of the story:
"A most pious and venerable sage, named RISHI'CE'SA, being very far
advanced in years, had resolved to visit, before he died, all the
famed places of pilgrimage; and, having performed his resolution, he
bathed at last in the sacred water of the _Ca'li_, where he observed
some {173} fishes engaged in amorous play, and restating on their
numerous progeny, which would sport like then in the stream, he
lamented the improbability of leaving any children: but, since he
might possibly be a father, even at his great age, he went immediately
to the king of that country, HIRANYAVERNA, who had fifty daughters,
and demanded one of them in marriage. So strange a demand gave the
prince great uneasiness: yet he was unwilling to incur the displeasure
of a saint, whose imprecations he dreaded; he, therefore, invoked
_Heri_, or _Vishnu_; to inspire him with a wise answer, and told the
hoar philosopher, that he should marry any one of his daughters, who,
of her own accord, should fix on him as her bridegroom. The sage,
rather disconcerted, left the palace; but, calling to mind the two
sons of ASWINI, he hastened to their terrestrial abode, and
requested that they would bestow on him both youth and beauty: they
immediately conducted him to _Abhimatada_, which we suppose to be
_Abydus_, in Upper _Egypt_; and, when he had bathed in the pool of
_Rupayauvana_, he was restored to the flower of his age with the
graces and charms of CA'MA'DE'VA. On his return to the palace, he
entered the secret apartments, called _antahpura_, where the fifty
princesses were assembled: and they were all so transported with the
vision of more than human beauty, {174} that they fell into an
ecstacy, whence the place was afterwards named _Mohast-han_, or
_Mohana_, and is, possibly, the same with _Mohannan_. They no sooner
had recovered from their trance, than each of them exclaimed, that she
would be his bride; and their altercation having brought
HIRANYAVERNA into their apartment, he terminated the contest by
giving them all in marriage to RISHICE'SA, who became the father of
a hundred sons; and, when he succeeded to the throne, built the city
of _Suc-haverddhana_, framed _vimânas_, or celestial, self-moving
cars, in which he visited the gods, and made gardens, abounding in
delights, which rivalled the bowers of INDRA; but, having granted
the desire, which he formed at _Matoyasangama_, or the place where the
fish were assembled, he resigned the kingdom to his eldest son
HIRANYAVRIDDHA, and returned, in his former shape, to the banks of
the Ca'li, where he closed his days in devotion.--WILFORD. _Asiatic
Researches_.
_Dushmanta_. In what path of the winds are we now journeying?
_Matali_. This is the way which leads along the triple river, heaven's
brightest ornament, and causes yon luminaries to roll in a circle with
diffused beams: it is the course of a gentle breeze which supports the
floating {175} forms of the gods; and this path was the second step of
Vishnu when he confounded the proud Bali.
* * *
_Dushmanta_. The car itself instructs me that we are moving over
clouds pregnant with showers; for the circumference of its wheels
disperses pellucid water.
* * *
_Dushmanta_. These chariot wheels yield no sound; no dust arises from
them, and the descent of the car gave me no shock.
_Matali_. Such is the difference, O King! between thy car and that of
Indra.--SACONTALA.
_And ending thus where they began_, &c.--VII. p. 66.
It has been supposed that the perpetual lamps, which were at one time
believed to have been found in certain sepulchres, were kept burning
by a similar process. For the lamp, it was argued, being hermetically
closed, so that no smoke could escape, the smoke was condensed into
its original liquid form; and thus the liquor which fed the flame
passing into smoke, and the smoke again into the liquor, the flame was
continually kept up. There still remained a difficulty about the wick;
some supposed that this was made of threads of gold inconceivably
fine: others, with less expense of fancy, said a wick of {176}
asbestos would answer the purpose.--FEYJOO. _Theatro Critico_, _T_.
4. _Disc_. 3. § v. 13.
_The Raining Tree._--VII. p. 65.
The island of _Fierro_ is one of the most considerable of the
Canaries, and I conceive that name to be given it upon this account,
that its soil not affording so much as a drop of fresh water, seems to
be of _iron_; and, indeed, there is in this island neither river, nor
rivulet, nor well, nor spring, save that only, towards the sea-side,
there are some wells; but they lie at such a distance from the city,
that the inhabitants can make no use thereof. But the great Preserver
and Sustainer of all, remedies this inconvenience by a way so
extraordinary, that a man will be forced to sit down and acknowledge
that he gives in this an undeniable demonstration of his goodness and
infinite providence,
For, in the midst of the island, there is a tree, which is the only
one of its kind, inasmuch as it hath no resemblance to those mentioned
by us in this relation, nor to any other known to us in Europe. The
leaves of it are long and narrow, and continue in a constant verdure,
winter and summer; and its branches are covered with a cloud, which is
never dispelled, but resolved into a moisture, which causes to fall
from its leaves a very clear water, {177} and that in such abundance,
that the cisterns, which are placed at the foot of the tree to receive
it, are never empty, but contain enough to supply both men and
beasts.--MANDELSLO.
Feyjoo denies the existence of any such tree, upon the authority of P.
Tallandier, a French Jesuit, (quoted in Men. de Trevoux. 2715, art.
97.) who visited the island. "_Assi no dudo_," he adds, "_que este
Fenix de las plantas es ten fingedo como el de las aves._"--Theat.
Crit. _Tom. ii. Disc_. 2. § 65. What authority is due to the
testimony of this French Jesuit I do not know, never having seen his
book; but it appears, from the undoubted evidence of Glas, that its
existence is believed in the Canaries, and positively affirmed by the
inhabitants of Fierro itself.
"There are," says this excellent author, "only three fountains of
water in the whole island, one of them is called Acof,[3] which,
in the language of the ancient inhabitants, signifies river; a name,
however, which does not seem to have been given it on account of its
yielding much water, for in that respect it hardly deserves the same
of a fountain. More to the northward is another called Hapio; and in
the middle of the island is a spring, {178} yielding a stream about
the thickness of a man's finger. This last was discovered in the year
1565, and is called the Fountain of Anton Hernandez. On account of the
scarcity of water, the sheep, goats, and swine here do not drink in
the summer, but are taught to dig up the roots of fern, and chew them,
to quench their thirst. The great cattle are watered at those
fountains, and at a place where water distils from the leaves of a
tree. Many writers have made mention of this famous tree; some in such
a manner as to make it appear miraculous; others again deny the
existence of any such tree, among whom is Father Feyjoo, a modern
Spanish author, in his _Theatro Critico_. But he, and those who agree
with him in this matter, are as much mistaken as they who would make
it appear miraculous. This is the only island of all the Canaries
which I have not been in; but I have sailed with natives of Hierro,
who, when questioned about the existence of this tree, answered in the
affirmative.
The author of the History of the Discovery and Conquest has given us a
particular account of it, which I shall relate here at large. "The
district in which this tree stands is called Tigulahe; near to which,
and in the cliff, or steep rocky ascent that surrounds the whole
island, is a narrow gutter or gulley, which commences at the sea, and
continues to the summit of the cliff, where it joins or {179}
coincides with a valley, which is terminated by the steep front of a
rock. On the top of this rock grows a tree, called, in the language of
the ancient inhabitants, Garse, _i.e._ Sacred or Holy Tree, which,
for many years, has been preserved sound, entire, and fresh. Its
leaves constantly distil such a quantity of water as is sufficient to
furnish drink to every living creature in Hierro; nature having
provided this remedy for the drought of the island. It is situated
about a league and a half from the sea. Nobody knows of what species
it is, only that it is called Til. It is distinct from other, trees,
and stands by itself; the circumference of the trunk is about twelve
spans, the diameter four, and in height, from the ground to the top of
the highest branch, forty spans: The circumference of all the branches
together, is one hundred and twenty feet. The branches are thick and
extended; the lowest commence about the height of an ell from the
ground. Its fruit resembles the acorn, and tastes something like the
kernel of a pine-nut, but is softer and more aromatic. The leaves of
this tree resemble those of the laurel, but are larger, wider, and
more curved; they come forth in a perpetual succession, so that the
tree always remains green. Near to it grows a thorn, which fastens on
many of its branches, and interweaves with them; and, at a small
distance from the Garse, are some beech-trees, {180} bresos, and
thorns. On the north side of the trunk are two large tanks, or
cisterns, of rough stone, or rather one patera divided, each half
being twenty feet square, and sixteen spans in depth. One of these
contains water for the drinking of the inhabitants, and the other that
which they use for their cattle, washing, and such like purposes.
Every morning, near this part of the island, a cloud or mist arises
from the sea, which the south and easterly winds force against the
fore-mentioned steep cliff; so that the cloud, having no vent but by
the gutter, gradually ascends it, and from thence advances slowly to
the extremity of the valley, where it is stopped and checked by the
front of the rock which terminates the valley, and then rests upon the
thick leaves and wide-spreading branches of the tree; from whence it
distils in drops during the remainder of the day, until it is at
length exhausted, in the same manner that we see water drip from the
leaves of trees after a heavy shower of rain. This distillation is not
peculiar to the Garse, or Til, for the bresos which grow near it
likewise drop water; but their leaves being but few and narrow, the
quantity is so trifling, that, though the natives save some of it, yet
they make little or no account of any but what distils from the Til;
which, together with the water of some fountains, and what is saved in
the winter season, is sufficient to {181} serve them and their flocks.
This tree yields most water in those years when the Levant, or
easterly winds, have prevailed for a continuance; for by these winds
only, the clouds or mists are drawn hither from the sea. A person
lives on the spot near which this tree grows, who is appointed by the
Council to take care of it and its water, and is allowed a house to
live in, with a certain salary. He every day distributes to each
family of the district, seven pots or vessels full of water, besides
what he gives to the principal people of the island."
"Whether the tree which yields water at this present time be the same
as that mentioned in the above description, I cannot pretend to
determine, but it is probable there has been a succession of them; for
Pliny, describing the Fortunate Islands, says, "In the mountains of
Ombrion, are trees resembling the plant Ferula, from which water may
be procured by pressure: What comes from the black kind is bitter,
but that which the white yields is sweet and palatable."--GLAS's
_History of the Canary Islands_.
Cordeyro (_Historia Insulana_, lib. ii. c. 5.) says, that this tree
resembles what in other places is called the _Til_, (_Tilia_,) the
Linden Tree; and he proceeds, from these three letters, to make it an
emblem of the Trinity. The water, he says, was called the _Agua
Santa_, and the tree {182} itself the _Santa Arvore_,--appellations
not ill bestowed. According to his account the water was delivered out
in stated portions.
There is an account of a similar tree in Cockburne's Travels; but this
I believe to be a work of fiction. Bernal Diaz, however, mentions one
as growing at Naco, in Honduras, "_Que en mitad de la siesta, por
recio sol que hiziesse, parecia que la sombra del arbol refrescava el
corazon, caia del uno como rozio muy delgado que confortava las
cabezas._"--206.
There may be some exaggeration in the accounts of the Fierro Tree, but
that the story has some foundation I have no doubt. The islanders of
St. Thomas say, that they have a sort of trees whose leaves
continually are distilling water. (_Barbot. in Churckle_, 405.) It is
certain that a dew falls in hot weather from the lime,--a fact of
which any person may easily convince himself. The same property has
been observed in other English trees, as appears by the following
extract from the Monthly Magazine:
"In the beginning of August, after a sun-shine day, the air became
suddenly misty about six o'clock; I walked, however, by the road side
from seven to eight, and observed, in many places, that a shower of
big drops of water was falling under the large trees, although no rain
{183} fell elsewhere. The road and path continued dusty, and the
field-gates showed no signs of being wetted by the mist. I have often
noticed the like fact, but have not met with a satisfactory
explanation of this power in trees to condense mist."
I am not the only poet who has availed himself of the Fierro Tree. It
is thus introduced in the Columbus of Carrara,--a singular work,
containing, amid many extravagancies, some passages of rare merit:
Ecce autem inspector miri dum devius ignis
Fertur, in occursum miræ magis incidit undæ.
Æquoris in medio diffusi largiter arbor
Stabat, opaca, ingens, ævoque intacta priori,
Grata qiues Nymphis, et grata colentibus umbram
Alitibus sedes, quarum vox blanda, nec ullâ
Musicus arte canor sylvam resonare docebat.
Auditor primum rari modulaminis, utque
Cominus admovit gressum, spectator et hæsit;
Namque videbat, uti de cortice, deque supernis
Crinibus, argentum guttatim mitteret humens
Truncus, et ignaro plueret Jove; moxque serenus
In concham caderet subjecti marmoris imber,
Donec ibi in fontem collectis undique rivis
{184}
Cresceret, atque ipso jam non ingratus ab ortu
Redderet humorem matri, quæ commodat umbram.
Dum stupet et quærit, cur internodia possit
Unda; per et fibras, virides et serpere rugas,
Et ferri sursum, genio ducente deorsum;
Adstitit en Nympha; dubitat decernere, Nais,
Anne Dryas, custos num fontis, an arboris esset;
Verius ut credam, Genius sub imagine Nymphæ
Ille loci fuerat. Quam præstantissimus Heros
Protinus ut vidit, Parce, o pulcherrima, dixit,
Si miser, et vestras ejectus nuper ad oras
Naufragus, idem audax videor fortasse rogando.
Dic age, quas labi video de stipite, lymphæ
Montibus anne cadant, per operta foramina ductæ,
Mox trabis irriguæ saliant in frondea sursum
Brachia, ramalesque tubos; genitalis an alvus
Umbrosæ genitricis alat; ceu sæpe videmus
Balsama de truncis, stillare electra racemis.
Pandere ne grave sit cupienti noscere causam
Vilia quæ vobis usus miracula fecit.
Hæc ubi dicta, silet. Tum Virgo ita reddidit, Hospes
Quisquis es, (eximium certe præsentia prodit)
{185}
Deciperis, si forte putas, quas aspicis undas
Esse satas terrâ; procul omni a sede remota
Mira arbos, uni debet sua munera Cœlo.
Quâ ratione tamen capiat, quia noscere gestis
Edicam; sed dicendis ne tædia repant,
Hic locus, hæc eadem, de quâ cantabitur, arbor
Dat tempestivam blandis afflatibus umbram:
Hic una sedeamus; et ambo fontis ad undam
Consedere; dehinc intermittente parumper
Concentu volucrum, placido sic incipit ore.
Nomine Canariæ, de quâ tenet Insula nomen,
Virgo fuit, non ore minus, quam prædita raræ
Laude pudicitiæ, mirum quæ pectore votum
Clausit, ut esse eadem genitrix et virgo cupiret.
At quia in Urbe satam fuerat sortita parentem
Ortum rure Patrem, diversis moribus hausit
Hinc sylvæ austeros, teneros hinc Urbis amores.
Sæpe ubi visendi studio convenerat Urbes,
Et dare blanditias natis et sumere matres
Viderat ante fores, ut mater amavit amari.
Sæpe ubi rure fuit de nymphis una Dianæ,
Viderat atque Deam thalami consorte carentem,
Esse Deæ similis, nec amari ut mater amavit.
Sed quid aget? cernit fieri non posse quod optat;
{186}
Non optare tamen, crudelius urit amantem.
Noctis erat medium: quo nos sumus, hoc erat illa
Forte loco, Cœloque videns splendescere Lunam,
O Dea, cui triplicis concessa potentia regni,
Parce precor, dixit, si quæ nunc profero, non sum
Ausa prius; quod non posses audire Diana,
Cum sis Luna potes; tenebræ minuere pudorem.
Est mihi Virginitas, fateor, re charior omni,
Attamen, hâc salvâ, fœcundæ si quoque Matris
Nomina miscerem, duplici de nomine quantum
Ambitiosa forem; certe non parva voluptas
Me caperet, coram si quis me luderet infans
Si mecum gestu, mecum loqueretur ocellis,
Cumque potest, quacumque potest, me voce vocaret,
Cujus et in vultu multum de matre viderem.
Ni sinit hoc humana tamen nature licere,
Fiat quâ ratione potest; mutare figuram
Nil refert, voti compos si denique fiam.
Annuit oranti facilis Dea; Virgine digna
Et quia vota tulit, Virgo probat. Eligit ergo
De grege Plantarum ligni quæ cœlibis esset.
Visa fuit Platanus: placet hæc; si vertat in istam
Canariæ corpus, sibi tempus in omne futuram
Tam caram esse videt, quam sit sua laurea Phœbo.
Nec mora, poscenti munus, ne signa deessent
{187}
Certa dati, movit falcatæ cornua frontis.
Virginis extemplo cœpere rigere crura
Tenvia vestiri duro præcordia libro,
Ipsaque miratur, cervix quod eburnea, quantum
It Cœlo, tantum tendant in Tartara plantæ;
Et jam formosâ de Virgine stabat et Arbos
Non formosa minus; qui toto in corpore pridem
Par ebori fuerat, candor quoque cortice mansit.
Sed deerat conjux uxoris moribus æque
Integer et cœlebs, et Virginitatis amator,
Quo fœcunda foret; verum tellure petendus
Hon hic, ab axe fuit. Quare incorruptus et idem
Purior e cunctis stellatæ noctis alumnis
Poscitur Hersophorus, sic Graii nomine dicunt,
Rorem Itali. Quocumque die (quis credere posset?)
Tamquam ex condicto cum Sol altissimus extat,
Sydereus conjux nebulæ velatus amictu
Labitur huc, niveisque maritam amplectitur alis:
Quodque fidem superat, parvo post tempora fœtum
Concipit, et parvo post tempore parturit arbor,
Molle puerperium vis noscere? consule fontem,
Qui nos propter adest, in quo mixtura duorum
Agnosci possit, splendet materque paterque.
Læta fovet genitrix, compos jam facta cupiti;
Illius optarat vultu se noscere, noscit;
{188}
Cernere ludentem se circum, ludere cernit;
Illum audire rudi matrem quoque voce vocantem,
Et matrem sese dici dum murmurat, audit.
Nec modo Virgintas fæcunda est arboris, ipsæ
Sunt quoque fœcundæ frondes, quas excutit arbor.
Nam simul ac supra latices cecidere tepentes,
Insuper accessit Phœbei flamma caloris,
Concipiunt, pariuntque: oriturque tenerrimius ales
Nomine Canarius, qui pene exclusus in auras,
Tenvis adhuc, cœlique rudis, crudusque labori
Jam super extantes affectat scandere ramos,
Et frondes, quarum una fuit. Nidum inde sub illis
Collocat adversum Soli, cui pandere pennas
Et siccare queat; latet hic, nullâque magistrâ
Arte canit, matrisque replet concentibus aures.
Adde quod affectus reddit genitricis eosdem,
Utque puellari genitrix in pectore clausit,
Hinc sylvæ austeros, teneros hinc Urbis amores,
Sic amat hic sylvas, ut non fastidiat Urbes.
Tecta colit, patiturque hominem, nec divitis aulæ
Grande supercilium metuit sylvestris alumnus.
Imo loco admonitus, vix aulicus incipit esse,
Jam fit adulator, positum proferre paratus
In statione melos, domini quod vellicet aurem.
CARRARA. _Columbus_.
{189}
The Walking-Leaf would have been better than the Canary Bird.
_Nared_.--VII. p. 67.
A very distinguished son of Brahma, named Nared, bears a strong
resemblance to Hermes or Mercury; he was a wise legislator, great in
arts and in arms, an eloquent messenger of the Gods either to one
another, or to favoured mortals, and a musician of exquisite skill.
His invention of the _Vina_, or Indian lute, is thus described in the
poem entitled _Magha_: "Nared sat watching from time to time his large
_Vina_, which, by the impulse of the breeze, yielded notes that
pierced successively the regions of his ear, and proceeded by musical
intervals."--_Asiatic Researches_, Sir W. JONES.
The _Vina_ is an Æolian harp. The people of Amboyna have a different
kind of Æolian instrument, which is thus described in the first
account of D'Entrecasteaux's Voyage: "Being on the sea-shore, I heard
some wind-instruments, the harmony of which, though sometimes very
correct, was intermixed with discordant notes that were by no means
unpleasing. These sounds, which were very musical, and formed fine
cadences, seemed to come from such a distance, that I for some time
imagined the natives were having a concert beyond the road-stead, near
a myriameter {190} from the spot where I stood. My ear was greatly
deceived respecting the distance, for I was not an hundred meters from
the instrument. It was a bamboo at least twenty meters in height,
which had been fixed in a vertical situation by the sea-side. I
remarked between each knot a slit about three centimeters long by a
centimeter and a half wide; these slits formed so many holes, which,
when the wind introduced itself into them, gave agreeable and
diversified sounds. As the knots of this long bamboo were very
numerous, care had been takes to make holes in different directions,
in order that, on whatever side the wind blew, it might always meet
with some of them. I cannot convey a better idea of the sound of this
instrument, than by comparing them to those of the
Harmonica."--LABILLARDIERE. _Voyage in Search of La Perouse_.
Nareda, the mythological offspring of _Saraswati_, patroness of music,
is famed for his talents in that science. So great were they, that he
became presumptuous; and, emulating the divine strains of _Krishna_,
he was punished by having his _Vina_ placed in the paws of a bear,
whence it emitted sounds far sweeter than the minstrelsy of the
mortified musician. I have a picture of this joke, in which _Krishna_
is forcing his reluctant friend to attend to his rough-visaged rival,
who is ridiculously touching the {191} chords of poor _Nareda's Vina_,
accompanied by a brother bruin on the cymbals. Krishna passed several
practical jokes on his humble and affectionate friend: He
metamorphosed him once into a woman, at another time into a
bear.--MOOR's _Hindu Pantheon_, p. 204.
----_The Sacrifice_
_That should, to men and gods, proclaim him Lord_
_And Sovereign Master of the vassal World._--VII. p. 71.
The Raisoo Yug, or Feast of Rajahs, could only be performed by a
monarch who had conquered all the other sovereigns of the
world.--HALHED. _Note to the Life of Creeshna_.
_Sole Rajah, the Omnipotent below._--VII. p. 71.
No person has given so complete a sample of the absurdity of oriental
titles as the Dutch traveller Struys, in his enumeration of "the proud
and blasphemous titles of the King of Siam,--they will hardly bear
sense," says the translator, in what he elsewhere calls, by a happy
blunder, "the idiotism of our tongue."
The Alliance, written with letters of fine gold, being full of godlike
glory. The most Excellent, containing all wise sciences. The most
Happy, which is not in the world among men. The Best and most Certain
that is {192} in Heaven, Earth, and Hell. The greatest Sweet, and
friendly Royal Word; whose powerful-sounding properties and glorious
fame range through the world, as if the dead were raised by a godlike
power, and wonderfully purged from ghostly and corporal corruption. At
this both spiritual and secular men admire with a special joy, whereas
no dignity may be herewith compared. Proceeding from a friendly,
illustrious, inconquerable, most mighty, and most high Lord; and a
royal Crown of Gold, adorned with nine sorts of precious stones. The
greatest, clearest, and most godlike Lord of unblameable Souls. The
most Holy, seeing every where, and protecting Sovereign of the city
JUDIA, whose many streets and open gates are thronged by troops of
men, which is the chief metropolis of the whole world, the royal
throne of the earth, that is adorned with nine sorts of stones, and
most pleasant valleys. He who guides the reins of the world, and has a
house more than the Gods of fine gold and of precious stones; they the
godlike Lords of thrones and of fine gold; the White, Red, and
Round-tayl'd Elephants,--which excellent creatures are the chiefest of
the nine sorts of Gods. To none hath the divine Lord given, in whose
hand is the victorious sword; who is like the fiery-armed God of
Battails, to the most illustrious.
The second is as blasphemous as the first, though hardly swells so far
out of sense.
{193}
The highest PADUCCO SYRY SULTAN, NELMONAM WELGACA, NELMOCHADIN
MAGIVIITHA, JOUKEN DER EAUTEN ALLAULA FYLAN, King of the whole world;
who makes the water rise and flow. A King that is like a God, and
shines like the Sun at noon-day. A King that gives a glance like the
moon when it is at full. Elected of God to be worthy as the North
Star, being of the race and offspring of the great Alexander; with a
great understanding, as a round orb, that tumbles hither and thither,
able to guess at the depth of the great sea. A King that hath amended
all the funerals of the departed Saints, and is as righteous as God,
and of such power that all the world may come and shelter under his
wings. A King that doth right in all things, as the Kings of old have
done. A King more liberal than all Kings. A King that hath many mines
of gold that God hath lent him; who hath built temples half gold and
half brass; sitting upon a throne of pure gold, and of all sorts of
precious stones. A King of the white Elephant, which Elephant is the
King of all Elephants, before whom many thousands of other Elephants
must bow and fall upon their knees. He whose eyes shine like the
morning-star. A King that hath Elephants with four teeth, red, purple,
and pied. Elephants, _ay_, and a BYYTENAQUES Elephant; for which
God has given him many and divers sorts of apparel {194} wrought with
most fine gold, ennobled with many precious stones: and, besides
these, so many Elephants used in battle, having harnesses of iron,
their teeth tipt with steel, and their harnesses laid over with
shining brass. A King that has many hundred horses, whose trappings
are wrought with fine gold, and adorned with precious stones of every
sort that are found in the universal world where the Sun shines, and
these shod with fine gold: besides so many hundred horses that are
used in war of every kind. A King who has all Emperours, Kings,
Princes, and Sovereigns in the whole world, from the rising to the
going down of the sun, under subjection;--and such as can obtain his
favour are by him promoted to great honour; but, on the contrary, such
as revolt, he burns with fire. A King who can show the power of God,
and whatever God has made.
And so, by this time, I hope you have heard enough of a King of
Elephants and Horses, though not a word of his Asses.--STRUYS.
_The Sacrifice._--VIII. p. 74.
The _Aswamedha_, or sacrifice of a horse. Considerable difficulties
usually attended that ceremony; for the consecrated horse was to be
set at liberty for a certain time, and followed at a distance by the
owner, or his champion, {195} who was usually one of his near kinsmen;
and, if any person should attempt to stop it in its rambles, a battle
must inevitably ensue; besides, as the performer of a hundred
_Aswamedhas_ became equal to the God of the firmament, _Indra_ was
perpetually on the watch, and generally carried off the sacred animal
by force or by fraud.--WILFORD. _Asiat. Res_.
Mr. Halhed gives a very curious account of this remarkable sacrifice:
"The Ashum-meed-Jugg does not merely consist in the performance of
that ceremony which is open to the inspection of the world, namely, in
bringing a horse and sacrificing him; but Ashum-meed is to be taken in
a mystic signification, as implying that the sacrificer must look upon
himself to be typified in that horse, such as he shall be described,
because the religious duty of the Ashum-meed-Jugg comprehends all
those other religious duties, to the performance of which all the wise
and holy direct all their actions, and by which all the sincere
professors of every different faith aim at perfection: The mystic
signification thereof is as follows:
"The head of that unblemished horse is the symbol of the morning; his
eyes are the sun; his breath the wind; his wide-opening mouth is the
Bishwaner, or that innate warmth which invigorates all the world: His
body typifies {196} one entire year; his back paradise; his belly the
plains; his hoof this earth; his sides the four quarters of the
heavens; the bones thereof the intermediate spaces between the four
quarters; the rest of his limbs represent all distinct matter; the
places where those limbs meet, or his joints, imply the months and
halves of the months, which are called _peche_ (or fortnights): His
feet signify night and day; and night and day are of four kinds, 1.
the night and day of Birhma, 2. the night and day of angels, 3. the
night and day of the world of the spirits of deceased ancestors, 4.
the night and day of mortals; these four kinds are typified in his
four feet. The rest of his bones are the constellations of the fixed
stars, which are the twenty-eight stages of the moon's course, called
the Lunar year; his flesh is the clouds; his food the sand; his
tendons the rivers; his spleen and his liver the mountains; the hair
of his body the vegetables, and his long hair the trees: the fore part
of his body typifies the first half of the day, and the hinder part
the latter half; his yawning is the flash of the lightning, and his
turning himself is the thunder of the cloud: His urine represents the
rain, and his mental reflection is his only speech. The golden
vessels, which are prepared before the horse is let loose, are the
light of the day, and the place where those vessels are kept is a type
of the Ocean {197} of the East; the silver vessels, which are prepared
after the horse is let loose, are the light of the night; and the
place where those vessels are kept is a type of the Ocean of the West:
these two sorts of vessels are always before and after the horse. The
Arabian horse, which, on account of its swiftness, is called Hy, is
the performer of the journies of angels; the Tajee, which is of the
race of Persian horses, is the performer of the journies of the
Kundherps (or good spirits); the Wazba, which is of the race of the
deformed Tazee horses, is the performer of the journies of the Jins,
(or demons;) and the Ashoo, which is of the race of Turkish horses, is
the performer of the journies of mankind. This one horse, which
performs these several services, on account of his four different
sorts of riders, obtains the four different appellations. The place
where this horse remains is the great ocean, which signifies, the
great spirit of Perm-Atma, or the Universal Soul, which proceeds also
from that Perm-Atma, and is comprehended in the same Perm-Atma. The
intent of this sacrifice is, that a man should consider himself to be
in the place of that horse, and look upon all these articles as
typified in himself; and, conceiving the Atma (or divine soul) to be
an ocean, should let all thought of self be absorbed in that
Atma."--HALHED, _from Darul Shekuh_.
{198}
Compare this specimen of eastern sublimity with the description of the
horse in Job! Compare it also with the account of the Bengal horses,
in the very amusing work of Captain Williamson,--"which said horses,"
he says, "have generally Reman noses, and sharp narrow foreheads, much
white in their eyes, ill-shaped ears, square heads, thin necks, narrow
chests, shallow girths, lank bellies, cat hams, goose rumps, and
switch tails."--_Oriental Sports_, vol. ii. p. 206.
_The Bowl that in its vessel floats._--VIII. p. 78.
The day and night are here divided into four quarters, each of six
hours, and these again into fifteen parts, of twenty-four minutes
each. For a chronometer they use a kind of dish of thin brass, at the
bottom of which there is a little hole; this is put into a vessel with
water, and it runs full in a certain time. They begin their first
quarter at six in the morning. They strike the quarters and
subdivisions of time with a wooden hammer, upon a flat piece of iron
or steel, of about ten inches in diameter, which is called a
_garnial_, and gives a pretty smart sound, which can be heard at some
distance. The quarters are first struck, and then as many times as the
brass dish has run full in that quarter. None but the chief men of a
district are allowed to have a _garnial_, and still they may {199} not
strike the first division of the first quarter, which is a privilege
reserved to the nabob alone. Those who attend at these clocks must be
of the Bramin cast.--STAVORINUS.
_Lo, the time-taper's flame, ascending slow_
_Creeps up its coil._--VIII. p. 79.
They make a sort of paste of the dust of a certain sort of wood, (the
learned and rich men of sandal, eagle-wood, and others that are
odoriferous), and of this paste they make sticks of several sorts,
drawing them through a hole, that they may be of an equal thickness.
They commonly make them one, two, or three yards long, about the
thickness of a goose-quill, to burn in the pagods before their idols,
or to use like a match to convey fire from one thing to another. These
sticks or ropes they coil, beginning at the centre, and so form a
spiral conical figure, like a fisherman's wheel, so that the last
circle shall be one, two, or three spans diameter, and will last one,
two, or three days, or more, according as it is in thickness. There
are of them in the temples that last ten, twenty, and thirty days.
This thing is hung up by the centre, and is lighted at the lower end,
whence the fire gently and insensibly runs round all the coil, on
which there are generally five marks, to distinguish the five parts of
the {200} night. This method of measuring time is so exact and true,
that they scarce ever find any considerable mistake in it. The
learned, travellers, and all others, who will rise at a certain hour
to follow their business, hang a little weight at the mark that shews
the hour they have a mind to rise at, which, when the fire comes
thither, drops into a brass bason set under it; and so the noise of it
falling awakes them, as our alarum-clocks do.--GEMELLI CARERI.
_At noon the massacre begun,_
_And night clos'd in before the work of death was done._
--VIII. p. 82.
Of such massacres the ancient and modern history of the East supply
but too many examples. One may suffice:
After the surrender of the Ilbars Khan, Nadir prohibited his soldiers
from molesting the inhabitants; but their rapacity was more powerful
than their habits of obedience, or even their dread of his
displeasure, and they accordingly began to plunder. The instant Nadir
heard of their disobedience, he ordered the offenders to be brought
before him, and the officers were beheaded in his presence, and the
private soldiers dismissed with the loss of their ears and noses. The
executioners toiled till {201} sun-set, when he commanded the headless
trunks with their arms to be carried to the main-guard, and there to
be exposed for two days, as an example to others. I was present the
whole time, and saw the wonderful hand of God, which employs such
instruments for the execution of his divine vengeance; although not
one of the executioners was satisfied with Nadir Shah, yet nobody
dared to disobey his commands:--a father beheaded his son, and a
brother a brother, and yet presumed not to complain.--ABDUL KURREEM.
_Behold his lovely home,_
_By yonder broad-bough'd Plane o'ershaded._--IX. p. 84.
The plane-tree, that species termed the _Platanus Orientalis_, is
commonly cultivated in Kashmire, where it is said to arrive at a
greater perfection than in other countries. This tree, which in most
parts of Asia is called the _Chinur_, grows to the size of an oak, and
has a taper straight trunk, with a silver-coloured bark; and its leaf,
not unlike an expanded hand, is of a pale green. When in full foliage,
it has a grand and beautiful appearance; and, in the hot weather, it
affords a refreshing shade.--FORSTER.
_The Marriage-Bower._--IX. p. 85.
The Pandal is a kind of arbour or bower raised before {202} the doors
of young married women. They set up two or three poles, seven or eight
foot in length, round which the leaves of the Pisan-tree, the symbol
of joy, are entwined. These poles support others that are laid
crossways, which are covered with leaves in order to form a shade. The
Siriperes are allowed to set up no more than three pillars, and the
infringing of this custom would be sufficient to cause an
insurrection.--A. ROGER, _in Picart_.
_There, from the intolerable heat,_
_The buffaloes retreat._--IX. p. 87.
About noon, in hot weather, the buffalo throws herself into the water
or mud of a tank, if there be one accessible at a convenient distance;
and, leaving nothing above water but her nose, continues there for
five or six hours, or until the heat abates.--BUCHANAN.
In the hot season, when water becomes very scarce, the buffaloes avail
themselves of any puddle they may find among the covers, wherein they
roll and rub themselves, so as in a short time to change what was at
first a shallow flat, into a deep pit, sufficient to conceal their own
bulk. The humidity of the soil, even when the water may have been
evaporated, is particularly gratifying to these animals, which cannot
bear heat, and which, if {203} not indulged in a free access to the
water, never thrive.--_Oriental Sports_, vol. i. p. 259.
The buffalo not only delights in the water, but will not thrive unless
it have a swamp to wallow in. There rolling themselves, they speedily
work deep hollows, wherein they lay immersed. No place seems to
delight the buffalo more than the deep verdure on the confines of
jiels and marshes, especially if surrounded by tall grass, so as to
afford concealment and shade, while the body is covered by the water.
In such situations they seem to enjoy a perfect ecstacy, having in
general nothing above the surface but their eyes and nostrils, the
horns being kept low down, and consequently entirely hidden from
view.--_Oriental Sports_, vol. ii. p. 49.
Captain Beaver describes these animals as to be found during the heat
of the day in the creeks and on the shores of the island of Bulama,
almost totally immerged in water, little more than their heads
appearing above it.
_The market-flag._--IX. p. 86.
Many villages have markets on particular days, when not only fruits,
grain, and the common necessaries of life are sold, but occasionally
manufactures of various descriptions. These markets are well known to
all the neighbouring country, being on appointed days of the {204}
week, or of the lunar month; but, to remind those who may be
travelling of their vicinity to the means of supply, a _naugaurah_, or
large kettle-drum, is beat during the forenoon, and a small flag,
usually of white linen, with some symbolic figure in colours, or with
a coloured border, is hoisted on a very long bamboo, kept upright by
means of ropes fastened to pins driven into the ground. The flags of
Hindoo villages are generally square and plain; those of the
Mussulmans towns are ordinarily triangular, and bear the type of
their, religion, viz. a double-bladed scymitar.--_Oriental Sports_,
vol. i. p. 100.
_Mount Meru._--X. p. 93.
According to the orthodox Hindus, the globe is divided into two
hemispheres, both called _Meru_; but the superior hemisphere is
distinguished by the name of _Sumeru_, which implies beauty and
excellence, in opposition to the lower hemisphere, or _Cumeru_, which
signifies the reverse: By _Meru_, without any adjunct, they generally
mean the higher or northern hemisphere, which they describe with a
profusion of poetic imagery as the seat of delights: while they
represent _Cumeru_ as the dreary habitation of demons, in some parts
intensely cold, and in others so hot that the waters are continually
boiling. In strict propriety, Meru denotes the pole and the polar
{205} regions; but it is the celestial north pole round which they
place the gardens and metropolis of _Indra_, while _Yama_ holds his
court in the opposite polar circle, or the Station of _Asuras_, who
warred with the _Suras_, or gods of the firmament.--WILFORD.
_Asiatic Researches_.
In the _Vayu Puráná_, we are told, that the water, or _Ogha_ of the
ocean, coming down from heaven like a stream of _Amrita_ upon _Meru_,
encircles it through seven channels, for the space of 84,000
_Yojanas_, and then divides into four streams, which, falling from the
immense height of Meru, rest themselves in four lakes, from which they
spring over the mountains through the air, just brushing the summits.
This wild account was not unknown in the west; for this passage is
translated almost verbally, by Pliny and Q. Curtius, in speaking of
the Ganges. _Cum magno fragore ipsius statim fontis Ganges erumpit_,
et magnorum montium juga recto alveo stringit, _et ubi primum mollis
planities contingat, in quodam lacu hospitatur_. The words in Italics
are from Pliny (vi. c. 18.) the others from Curtius (viii. c.
9.)--Capt. WILFORD. _As. Res_. vol. viii. p. 322. Calcutta edition.
The Swarganga, or Mandacini, rises from under the feet of Veeshno, at
the polar star, and, passing through the circle of the moon, it falls
upon the summit of Meru; where it divides into four streams, flowing
toward {206} the four cardinal points. These four branches pass
through four rocks, carved into the shape of four heads of different
animals. The Ganges running towards the south passes through a cow's
head: To the west is a horse's head, from which flows the Chaashu or
Oxus; towards the east is the head of an elephant, from which flows
the river Sita; and to the north is a lion's head, from which flows
the Bhadrasama.--WILFORD. _As. Res_. vol. viii. 317. Calc. edition.
The mountains through which the Ganges flows at Hurdwar, present the
spectator with the view of a grand natural amphitheatre; their
appearance is rugged and destitute of verdure; they run in ridges and
bluff points, in a direction east and west: At the back of the largest
range, rise, towering to the clouds, the lofty mountains of
Himmalayah, whose tops are covered with perpetual snow, which, on
clear days, present a most sublime prospect. Their large jagged
masses, broken into a variety of irregular shapes, added to their
stupendous height, impress the mind with an idea of antiquity and
grandeur coeval with the creation; and the eternal frost with which
they are encrusted appears to preclude the possibility of mortals ever
attaining their summit.
In viewing this grand spectacle of nature, the traveller may easily
yield his assent to, and pardon the superstitious {207} veneration of
the Hindoo votary, who, in the fervour of his imagination, assigns the
summit of these icy regions as the abode of the great Mahadeo, or
First Cause, where, seated on his throne of ice, he is supposed to
receive the homage of the surrounding universe.--FRANKLIN's _Life of
George Thomas_, p. 41.
At Gangóttara, three small streams fall down from impassable snowy
precipices, and unite into a small bason below, which is considered by
the Hindus as the source of the Ganges, over which, at that place, a
man can step. This is one of the five _Tirthas_, or stations, more
eminently sacred than the rest upon this sacred river. Narayana
Shastri, who gave this account, had visited it.--BUCHANAN.
The mountain, called Cailasa Cungri is exceedingly lofty. On its
summit there is a Bhowjputr tree, from the root of which sprouts or
gushes a small stream, which the people say is the source of the
Ganges, and that it comes from Vaicont'ha, or Heaven, as is also
related in the Puránas; although this source appears to the sight to
flow from the spot where grows this Bhowjputr tree, which is at an
ascent of some miles; and yet above this there is a still loftier
summit, where no one goes: But I have heard that, on that uppermost
pinnacle, there is a fountain or cavity, to which a Jogui somehow
penetrated, {208} who, having immersed his little finger in it, it
became petrified.--PURANA POORI. _Asiatic Researches_.
Respecting the true source of the Ganges much uncertainty still
prevails. In vain one of the most powerful sovereigns of Indostan, the
emperor Acbar, at the close of the sixteenth century, sent a number of
men, an army of discoverers, provided with every necessary, and the
most potent recommendations, to explore the course of the mighty river
which adorned and fertilised the vast extent of his dominions. They
were not able to penetrate beyond the famous _Mouth of the Cow_. This
is an immense aperture, in a ridge of the mountains of Thibet, to
which the natives of India have given this appellation, from the
fancied or real resemblance of the rocks which form the stupendous
chasm, to the mouth of an animal esteemed sacred throughout Indostan
from the remotest antiquity. From this opening the Ganges,
precipitating itself into a large and deep bason at the foot of the
mountains, forms a cataract, which is called Gangotri. The
impracticability of scaling these precipitous rocks, and advancing
beyond this formidable pass, has prevented the tracing whence this
rushing mass of water takes its primary rise.--WILCOCKE, _Note to
Stavorinus_.
{209}
_The birth of Ganges._--X. p. 94.