an 200 millions of Hindus in
the world, and the thoughts of all of them turn to Benares. All Hindus
long to make a pilgrimage to their holy city. The sick come to recover
health in the waters of the sacred Ganges, the old travel hither to die,
and the ashes of those who die in distant places are sent to Benares to
be scattered over the waters of salvation. In Benares, moreover, Buddha
preached 500 years before Christ, and at the present day he has more
than 400 million followers; so to Buddhists also Benares is a holy
place.

[Illustration: PLATE XIII. THE TAJ MAHAL.]

The Hindus have three principal gods: Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the
preserver; and Siva, the destroyer. From these all the others are
derived: thus, for example, Kali represents only one of the attributes
of Siva. To this goddess children were formerly sacrificed, and when
this was forbidden by the British Government goats were substituted. But
we have not yet done with divinities. The worship of the Hindus is not
confined to their gods. Nearly all nature is divine, but above all, cows
and bulls, apes and crocodiles, snakes and turtles, eagles, peacocks and
doves. It is not forbidden to kill, steal and lie, but if a Hindu eats
flesh, nay, if he by chance happens to swallow the hair of a cow, he is
doomed to the hell of boiling oil. He becomes an object of horror to
all, but above all to himself. For thousands of years this
superstitution has been implanted in the race, and it remains as strong
as ever.

Ever since India, or, as the country is called in Persia, Hindustan, was
conquered by the invading Aryans from the north-west--and this was quite
4000 years ago--the Hindus have been divided into castes. The
differences between the different castes are greater than that between
the barons and the serfs in Europe during the Middle Ages. The two
highest castes were the Brahmins (or priests) and the warriors. Now
there are a thousand castes, for every occupation constitutes an
especial caste: all goldsmiths, for example, are of the same caste, all
sandal-makers of another, and men of different castes cannot eat
together, or they become unclean.

* * * * *

Early in the morning, just before the day has begun to dawn in the east,
let us hire a boat and have ourselves rowed up and down the Ganges. In
this way we obtain an excellent view of this wonderful town as it
stretches in front of us along the left bank of the river-