Then meet his wrath ! for He, even He, Hath set upon this worm his wanton foot. EREENIA. I knew her not, how wretched and how fair, When here I wafted her... Poor Child of Earth, Shall I forsake thee, seeing thee so fair, CASYAPA. That must not be, For Force and Evil then would enter here; Ganges, the holy stream which cleanseth sin, Would flow from hence polluted in its springs, And they who gasp upon its banks in death, Feel no salvation. Piety, and Peace, And Wisdom, these are mine; but not the power Which could protect her from the Almighty Man; Nor when the spirit of dead Arvalan Should persecute her here to glut his rage, To heap upon her yet more agony, EREENIA. Dead Arvalan ? CASYAPA. All power to him, whereof The disembodied spirit in its state Of weakness could be made participant, 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. 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, EREENIA. Look she drinks The gale of healing from the blessed Groves. Hath touch'd the Holy River in its source, CASYAPA. The Maiden, of a truth, is pure from sin. 5. The waters of the Holy Spring A life-bloom_reddening now her dark-brown cheek ; Dark as the depth of Ganges' spring profound Bright as the moon's refulgent beam, 6. Soon she let fall her lids, As one who, from a blissful dream Fain would return to sleep, and dream again. She moves not, fearing to disturb In wonder fix'd, opening again her eye She gazes silently, Thinking her mortal pilgrimage was past, 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 successive districts through which I afterwards passed, and I conjecture that, within the limits of Mysoor, 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. That she had reach'd her heavenly home of rest, 7. Lo! at Ereenia's voice, A Ship of Heaven comes sailing down the skies. Where would'st thou bear her? cries The ancient Sire of Gods. Straight to the Swerga, to my bower of bliss, The Glendoveer replies, To Indra's own abodes. Foe of her foe, were it alone for this Indra should guard her from his vengeance there; But if the God forbear, Unwilling yet the perilous strife to try, Or shrinking from the dreadful Rajah's might,... Weak as I am, O Father, even I Stand forth in Seeva's sight. 8. Trust thou in him whate'er betide, And stand forth fearlessly! The Sire of Gods replied: All that He wills is right, and doubt not thou, His righteous will in all things must be done. VII. THE SWERGA. 1. THEN in the Ship of Heaven', Ereenia laid The waking, wondering Maid; The Ship of Heaven, instinct with thought, display'd 1 I have converted the Vimana, or self-moving Car of the Gods, into a Ship. Captain 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 fishes engaged in amorous play, and reflecting on their numerous progeny, which would sport like them 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 Its living sail, and glides along the sky. The clouds of morn along its path divide; The Winds who swept in wild career on high, Before its presence check their charmed force; The Winds that loitering lagg'd along their course, Around the living Bark enamour'd play, Swell underneath the sail, and sing before its way. 2. That Bark, in shape, was like the furrow'd shell Wherein the Sea-Nymphs to their parent-King, On festal day, their duteous offerings bring. Its hue?... Go watch the last green light Ere Evening yields the western sky to Night; Or fix upon the Sun thy strenuous sight Till thou hast reach'd its orb of chrysolite. The sail from end to end display'a Bent, like a rainbow, o'er the Maid. An Angel's head, with visual eye, Through trackless space, directs its chosen way; Nor aid of wing, nor foot, nor fin, Requires to voyage o'er the obedient sky. Smooth as the swan when not a breeze at even Disturbs the surface of the silver stream, Through air and sunshine sails the Ship of Heaven. apartments, called antahpura, where the fifty princesses were assembled; and they were all so transported with the vision of more than human beauty, that they fell into an ecstasy whence the place was afterwards named Mokast-han, or Nohana, and is, possibly, the same with Mokannan. 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, be terminated the contest by giving them all in marriage to Rs. CE'SA, who became the father of a hundred sons; and, when he succeeded to the throne, built the city of Suc-haveréchant, framed vimanas, or celestial, self-moving cars, in which be visited the gods, and made gardens, abounding in del gets which rivalled the bowers of INDRA; but, having obta n-d the desire which he formed at Matoyasangama, or the place where the fish were assembled, he resigned the kingdom to his eldest son HIRANYAVRIDDAH, aud returned, in his former shape, to the banks of the Ca'll, where he closed his days t devotion." Wilford, Asiatic Researches. Dushmanta. In what path of the winds are we now journeying? Matali. This is the way which leads along the trijde river heaven's brightest ornament, and causes yon lum.taries to roll in a circle with diffused beams: it is the course of a gentie breeze which supports the floating forms of the gods, and this path was the second step of Vishnu when he confounded the proud Bali. For sure she deem'd her mortal part was o'er, And she was sailing to the heavenly shore; And that angelic form, who moved beside, Was some good Spirit sent to be her guide. 4. Daughter of Earth! therein thou deem'st aright; Rise on the raptured Poet's inward eye. The immortal Youth of Heaven who floated by, Low thought, nor base desire, nor wasting care, 5. The wings of Eagle or of Cherubim Had seem'd unworthy him; Angelic power and dignity and grace Were in his glorious pennons; from the neck Down to the ankle reach'd their swelling web Richer than robes of Tyrian dye, that deck Imperial Majesty : Their colour like the winter's moonless sky, When all the stars of midnight's canopy Shine forth; or like the azure deep at noon, Reflecting back to heaven a brighter blue. Such was their tint when closed, but when outspread, The permeating light Shed through their substance thin a varying hue; Now bright as when the rose, Beauteous as fragrant, gives to scent and sight Or ruby when with deepest red it glows; Kindles as it receives the rising ray, Proclaims the presence of the Power divine. 6. Thus glorious were the wings Of that celestial Spirit, as he went Disporting through his native element. Nor these alone The gorgeous beauties that they gave to view; Through the broad membrane branched a pliant bone, Spreading like fibres from their parent stem, Its veins like interwoven silver shone, Or as the chaster hue Of pearls that grace some Sultan's diadem. Now with slow stroke and strong behold him smite The buoyant air, and now in gentler flight, On motionless wing expanded, shoot along. 7. Through air and sunshine sails the Ship of Heaven; The gross and heavy atmosphere of earth; The Maid of mortal birth At every breath a new delight inhales. And now toward its port the Ship of Heaven, Swift as a falling meteor, shapes its flight, Yet gently as the dews of night that gem, And do not bend the hare-bell's slenderest stem. Daughter of Earth, Ereenia cried, alight; This is thy place of rest, the Swerga this, Lo, here my Bower of bliss! 8. He furl'd his azure wings, which round him fold Graceful as robes of Grecian chief of old. The happy Kailyal knew not where to gaze; Her eyes around in joyful wonder roam, Now turn'd upon the lovely Glendoveer, Now on his heavenly home. EREENIA. Here, Maiden, rest in peace, And I will guard thee, feeble as I am. The Almighty Rajah shall not harm thee here, While Indra keeps his throne. KAILYAL. Alas, thou fearest him! Immortal as thou art, thou fearest him! I thought that death had saved me from his power; Not even the dead are safe. EREENIA. Long years of life and happiness, From death I sav'd thee, and from all thy foes KAILYAL. Not me alone, O gentle Deveta! I have a Father suffering upon earth, A persecuted, wretched, poor, good man, For whose strange misery There is no human help, And none but I dare comfort him Beneath Kehama's Curse; O gentle Deveta, protect him too! EREENIA. Come, plead thyself to Indra! Words like thine May win their purpose, rouse his slumbering heart, And make him yet put forth his arm to wield The thunder, while the thunder is his own. 9. Then to the Garden of the Deity Ereenía led the Maid. Dushmanta. The car itself instructs me that we are Dushmanta. These chariot wheels yield no sound; no moving over clouds pregnant with showers; for the circum- dust arises from them, and the descent of the car gave me no ference of its wheels disperses pellucid water. shock. Matali. Such is the difference, O King! between thy car and that of Indra. -Sacontola. In the mid garden tower'd a giant Tree; Rock-rooted on a mountain-top, it grew, Rear'd its unrivall'd head on high, And stretch'd a thousand branches o'er the sky, Drinking with all its leaves celestial dew.1 1 "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, 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 Mém. de Trevoux, 2715. art. 97.), who visited the island. "Assi no dudo," he adds, " que este Fenix de las plantas es ten fingido como el de las aves."-Theat. Crit. tom. ii. disc. ii. § 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 the existence of such a tree 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, 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 name of a fountain. More to the northward is another called Hapio; and in the middle of the island is a spring, 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 a 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 * In the Azanaga dialect of the Lybian tongue, Aself signifies a river. Lo! where from thence as from a living well A thousand torrents flow! For still in one perpetual shower, Like diamond drops, etherial waters fell From every leaf of all its ample bower. to the summit of the cliff, where it joins or 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 Td. It is distinct from other trees, and stands by itself; the cir cumference 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 ou many of its branches, and interweaves with them; and, at a small distance from the Garse, are some beech trees, breso8. and thorns. On the north side of the trunk are two large tanks, or cisterns, of rough stone, or rather one cistern divard, each half being twenty feet square, and sixteen spans in depth. One of these contains water for the drinking of the lababitants, and the other that which they use for their cattle, washing, and such like purposes. Every morning, near the part of the island, a cloud or mist arises from the sea, which the south and easterly winds force against the fore-mentarted steep cliff; so that the cloud having no vent but by the gutter, gradually ascends it, and from thence advances show ży 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 4 the tree; from whence it distils in drops during the remander of the day, until it is at length exhausted, in the same marner that we see water drip from the leaves of trees after a beavy 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 w saved in the winter season, is sufficient to serve them ami their flocks. This tree yields most water in those years whe the Levant, or easterly winds have prevailed for a coota T for by these winds only the clouds or mists are drawn w from the sea. A person lives on the spot near which tha rre grows, who is appointed by the Council to take care of a uni its water, and is allowed a house to live in, with a certum salary. He every day distributes to each family of the distres seven pots or vessels full of water, besides what he gives is 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 canst pretend to determine, but it is probable there has been a 60cession of them; for Pliny, describing the Fortunate Islands says, In the mountains of Ombrion are trees reseming the plant Ferula, from which water may be procured by pres sure. What comes from the black kind is bitter, but that which the white yields is sweet and palatable.'”—Gias's Pho tory of the Canary Islands. Cordeyro (Historia Insulana, líb. ii. c. 5.) says, that the Rolling adown the steep From that aërial height, Through the deep shade of aromatic trees, Half-seen, the cataracts shoot their gleams of light, And pour upon the breeze Their thousand voices; far away the roar, 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 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 Diar, 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 al 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-shiny 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 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 "Dum stupet et quærit, cur internodia possit In modulations of delightful sound, Half-heard and ever varying, floats around. Below, an ample Lake expanded lies, Blue as the o'er-arching skies: Forth issuing from that lovely Lake A thousand rivers water Paradise. 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 "Nomine Canariæ, de quâ tenet Insula nomen Ipsaque miratur, cervix quod eburnea, quantum It Cœlo, tantum tendant in Tartara plantæ. |