cultivation; palms, mangos, and the tamarind, the
first and last rare features in this part of Bengal, appeared
to he common, with fields of rice and broad
acres of flax and rape, through the latter of which the
blue Indian Broom rape (Orobanche indica) swarmed.
The short route to Maddaobund, through narrow rocky
valleys, was impracticable for the elephant, and we had
to make a very considerable detour, only reaching that
village at 2 p .m . All the hill people we observed were
a fine-looking athletic race; they disclaimed the tiger
being a neighbour, which every palkee-bearer along the
road declares to carry off the torch-hearers, torch and
all. Bears they said were scarce, and all other wild
animals, but a natural jealousy of Europeans often
leads the natives to deny the existence of what they
know to he an attraction to the proverbially sporting
Englishman.
The site of Maddaobund, elevated 1230 feet, in a
clearance of the forest, and the appearance of the snow-
white domes and bannerets of its temples through the
fine trees by which it is surrounded, are very beautiful;
and the situation is so sheltered that the
tamarind, peepul, and banyan trees are superb. A
fine specimen of the latter stands at the entrance to the
village, not a broad-headed tree, as is usual in the
prime of its existence, but a mass of trunks irregularly
throwing out immense branches in a most picturesque
manner; the original trunk is apparently gone, and
the principal mass of root-stems is fenced in. This,
with two magnificent tamarinds, forms a grand clump.
The ascent of the mountain is immediately from the
village up a pathway worn by the feet of many a pilgrim
from the most remote parts of India.
OLD TAMARIND TREES.
Parasnath is a mountain of peculiar sanctity, to
which circumstance is to be attributed the flourishing
state of Maddaobund. The name is that of the twenty-
third incarnation of Jinna (Sanscrit “ Conqueror ”),
who was bom at Benares, lived one hundred years,
and was buried on this mountain, which is the eastern
metropolis of Jain worship, as Mount Aboo is the
western (where are their libraries and most splendid
temples). The origin of the Jain sect is obscure,