. Wanderings east of Suez in Ceylon, India, China and Japan. s of temples and palaces. This uncannycity on the Ganges is naturally the Brahmins par-adise, for these devotees constitute a governingforce in the citys control, and from this fountain-head spread their influence throughout the land ofHind. These insinuating men of religion line theriver bank, and infest the temples, sitting like spi-ders waiting for their prey. Their emissaries areeverywhere in India, promoting pilgrimages, orhovering about the entrances to the city to makecertain of the arrival of the unwary enthusiastwith well li
. Wanderings east of Suez in Ceylon, India, China and Japan. s of temples and palaces. This uncannycity on the Ganges is naturally the Brahmins par-adise, for these devotees constitute a governingforce in the citys control, and from this fountain-head spread their influence throughout the land ofHind. These insinuating men of religion line theriver bank, and infest the temples, sitting like spi-ders waiting for their prey. Their emissaries areeverywhere in India, promoting pilgrimages, orhovering about the entrances to the city to makecertain of the arrival of the unwary enthusiastwith well lined purse. Rich and poor, high casteand low, all come to the sacred city. Some travelin state by lordly elephant or camel caravan,others by railway; but none follow a surer avenueto eternal grace than those who plod on foot overthe Great Trunk highway, sweeping diagonallyacross India, after the manner of Kijilings holyman from Thibet whose footsteps were watchedover by Kim. The business of Benares beingthe bestowal of holiness, the manufacture of brass 186. Benares, Sacred City of the Hindus goods appealing to tourists is incidental in impor-tance and revenue. No other city of its popula-tion can have a more insignificant trade measure-able by statistics. For three miles the religious section of Benaresruns along the brow of the plateau overlooking thechocolate-hued stream, and every foot of this dis-tance is curious and interesting. Falling belowthe disgusting temple resorted to by pilgrims fromNepal, the Hindu region beyond Indias frontierand the snows, is the ghat (a ghat is a largestone s-tairway descending to the river), where thegood Hindu gives his dead to the flames, and themuddy inlet from the Ganges where this occurs isdedicated to Vishnu, the sleeper on the waters,a name singularly appropriate to a place wherethe ashes of the dead are consigned to the bosomof Mother Ganga. A visitor observes a number of platform-likestructures of masonry that are decorated withroughl
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