f, and then give some alms to the poor, who
are always present, and to the bramin or priest they give the cow and
calf, after which they go to several of the idols, where they offer
money, lying down flat on the ground before the idol, and kissing the
earth several times, after which they go away. Their chief idols are
black and very ugly, with monstrous mouths, having their ears gilded and
full of jewels, their teeth and eyes of gold, silver, or glass, and
carrying sundry things in their hands. You may not enter into the houses
where they stand with your shoes on. In these houses there are lamps
continually burning before the idols.

[Footnote 408: This tying of new married folks together by the clothes,
was used by the Mexicans in old times.--_Hakluyt_.]

From Benares I went down the Ganges to _Patenaw_, [Patna] passing many
fair towns and a very fertile country, in which way many great rivers
enter the Ganges, some as large as itself, by which it becomes so broad
that in time of the rains you cannot see across. The scorched bodies
which are thrown into the water swim on the surface, the men with their
faces down, and the women with theirs up. I thought they had tied some
weight to their bodies for this purpose, but was told no such thing was
done. There are many thieves in this country, who roam up and down like
the Arabs, having no fixed abode. Here the women are so decked with
silver and copper that it is strange to see them, and they wear so many
rings on their toes that they cannot use shoes. Here at Patna they find
gold in this manner: They dig deep pits in the earth, and wash the earth
in large holes, and in these they find gold, building the pits round
about with bricks, to prevent the earth from falling in.

Patna is a long and large town, being formerly a separate kingdom, but
is now under subjection to the great Mogor. The men are tall and
slender, and have many old people among them. The houses are very
simple, being made of earth and covered with straw, and the streets are
very large. There is here a great trade in cotton and cotton cloth,
likewise great quantities of sugar, which is carried to Bengal and
India, much opium, and other commodities. He that is chief here under
the king is called _Tipperdas_, and is held in much estimation by the
people. Here in Patna I saw a dissembling prophet, who sat on a horse in
the market-place, making as if he were asleep, and many of the people
came and touched his