the government of the north-western
provinces, and is situated on a point of land between the rivers Ganges
and Jumna, on the great Indian railroad, about five hundred and
sixty-five miles from Calcutta, and about the same distance from the Bay
of Persia.

In a tropical climate where rain seldom falls during nine months of the
year, it is quite natural that the people regard streams and rivers as
their greatest benefactors, and by means of the vivid imagination of the
South this sentiment has occasionally been developed into religious
worship and idolatry. In this manner the great Ganges, which flows
nearly through the entire length of India, has, since time immemorial,
been regarded as sacred, as have also all places where three rivers
meet. At Allahabad the Jumna meets the sacred Ganges, thus affording two
of the necessary conditions to make the place sacred, and it was easy
for the fertile imagination of the Brahmins to create the third, which
is said to consist in a spiritual current from above, pouring down
continually at the point where the Jumna and the Ganges meet and
mingle. It is claimed that this invisible river is very abundant,
especially in the month of Magh, from the middle of January to the
middle of February, but the most favorable period in this respect is
under the astronomical cycle Yuga, which occurs every twelfth year in
the month of Magh, and is called "Kumbh." This occurred in 1882, which
was therefore a very important year for the Hindoos.

To bathe in the Ganges always means a spiritual purification, and to
bathe there where the three rivers meet at Allahabad in the month of
Magh is a very sacred rite. Every good Hindoo endeavors, if possible, to
bathe at this place at least once during his lifetime; but to bathe
there during the Kumbh Mela, or the twelfth year's cycle, is the most
sacred act a Hindoo can perform, and such a bath is said to atone for
the greatest sins both of the bather and his nearest relatives, be they
living or dead. Out of the immense population of India, one hundred and
ninety millions profess the above faith. Being a very religious people
in their way, and testifying to their faith by their works, it is no
great wonder that Allahabad in the course of four weeks was visited by
nearly two million pilgrims, who came there only for the purpose of
bathing in the sacred river. Partly from curiosity and partly in order
to obtain reliable information, I also made a short pilgri