y separated. It was the largest and most
comical party of monkeys I ever saw. They were generally more than
two feet high, and their skins were a dirty yellow colour.

My kind host took me one day to Sarnath (five miles from Benares),
where there are some interesting ruins of three remarkably massive
towers. They are not particularly high, and stand upon three
artificially raised mounds, a mile distant from each other. Both
the mounds and towers are constructed of large bricks. The largest
of these towers is still covered in many places with stone slabs, on
which traces of arabesques are here and there visible. Numbers of
slabs lie scattered about the ground. There are no signs of any
such covering on the remaining towers. In each there is a small
door and a single apartment.

Excavations were commenced beneath these towers by the English
government in the hope of making some discoveries which would throw
light upon the origin of these buildings; but nothing was found
beyond an empty underground vault.

There is a lake close by of artificial construction, which is
supplied with water from the Ganges by a canal.

There is a very singular tradition connected with these towers and
the lake. "In very ancient times three brothers ruled here, who
were giants, and had these buildings erected and the lake excavated,
and all in one day. It must, however, be known that a day at that
time was equal to two years of modern reckoning. The giants were so
tall that they could go from one tower to the other with a step, and
the reason these were built so close was their fondness for each
other, and their desire to be always together."

An indigo plantation in the neighbourhood, the first I ever saw, was
not less interesting to me than these towers and their singular
tradition. The indigo plant is herbaceous, and from one to three
feet high, with delicate bluish-green leaves. The harvest is
generally in August; the plants are cut tolerably low on the
principal stem, tied together in bundles, and thrown into large
wooden vats. Planks are laid on the tops of the bundles weighted
with stones, and water poured on them; generally after sixteen
hours, though sometimes after several days, according to the
character of the water, fermentation commences. This is the
principal difficulty, and everything depends upon its continuance
for the proper time. When the water has acquired a dark-green
colour, it is transferred to oth