CHAPTER 12.
The Silver Tree, or 'Kalpa Briksha'-- The Singhara or _Trapa bispinosa_, and the Guinea-Worm.
Poor old Salamat Ali wept bitterly at the last meeting in my tent, and his two nice boys, without exactly knowing why, began to do the same; and my little son Henry[1] caught the infection, and wept louder than any of them.

I was obliged to hurry over the interview lest I should feel disposed to do the same.

The poor old Rani,[2] too, suffered a good deal in parting from my wife, whom, she says, she can never hope to see again.

Her fine large eyes shed many a tear as she was getting into her palankeen to return.
Between Jabera and Hardua, the next stage, we find a great many of those large forest trees called 'kalap', or 'Kalpa Briksha' (the same which in the paradise of Indra grants what is desired), with a soft, silvery bark, and scarcely any leaves.

We are told that the name of the god Ram (Rama) and his consort Sita will be found written by the hand of God upon all.[3] I had the curiosity to examine a good many in the forest on both sides of the road, and found the name of this incarnation of Vishnu written on everyone in Sanskrit characters, apparently by some supernatural hand; that is, there was a softness in the impression, as if the finger of some supernatural being had traced the characters.