The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1878-08-07


mcmbered present rates are already at a
level Of cheapness in Great Britain that
never has been hitherto maintained for
two whole years." #E sfftf
HindOo Funerals and Worship.
My last letter was dated upon my ar
rival in Calcutta, which L found to be a
beautiful city, with wide streets, fine
buildings and numerous pleasant parks.
The commence of Calcutta is immense.
Ships are moored head and stern in tires
of four or five each, so close that the
head gear has. to be removed, and they
extend Tor several miles along the ght
bank of the river. saw where the ia
NOUS Black Hole OF Calcutta was, but
there was nothing now to mark the spot
save large lamp-post. In the botani-
cal garden we saw a famous banyan tree,
one of the largest in the world. Tt has
900 branches and is 500 feet around
After spending several days very pleas
antly in Calcutta, we started for Benares.
distant days ride in the cars. ~
Z Benares is the sacred city of the Hin
docs. and is on the Ganges River. They
say that the city is eighty thousand steps
nearer Heaven than any other place on
earth; and as by dying here good hindoos
will be saved quite long tramp, the
city is tlled with superannuated speci-
mems of humanity, ready for their long
journey .-,
It is part Of the religion of the Hin
docs to battle every morning and say
their prayers before taking food The
favorite place for doing both is on the
banks of the Gauges. So, one morning,
we arose about daylight and went to see
them. We hired quite large boat row.
ed by kalf-a-dozen natives, and had a
very good view. Thousands were in the
water bathing and washing their clothes.
~ After being in sufficient time, they
went to one Of the numerous priests to be
found on the bank, said their players,
and the Brahmin painted their faces, red
Or yellow, according to caste.
While out on our sail that morning,
we saw another very curious sight.
namely, the burning of bodies or p1les of
wood. The burning is always done on
the banks Of the river, at place called
the Burning Chat, and following is the
general order of arrangements: The
body is brought down on bamboo
stretcher, On the shoulders of four COO
lies, followed by the relatives. 1t is first
dipped in the holy Ganges, and then
placed on the bank, while the wood IS
arranged clubhouse fashion,, Then the
body is put in the river again, and after
ward put on the pile of wood, face down
ward. Wood is then placed Oh the
corpse, and everything being ready, a boy
pounds big gong, and the fire is lighted.
OF course, there was sickening smell,
but my curiosity compelled me to remain
1t took three hours to burn the remains
to ashes, which were then thrown into
the sacred river. The people think that
the Gauges fowes directly into heaven.
All the details Of the burying were done
by relatives Of the deceased, but they
did not see II very sad. In fact, they
laughed and chatted as if the whole pro
ceedings was capital joke. Many die
in Benares, and there are alWas several Of
these operations every day. Sometimes
among tie poorer classes. who cannot af-
ford the great expense, about $3.50, the
burning is dispensed with, and the body
is placed on its back, with lighted
candle in its mouth, aud sent floating
down the stream to heaven, via Gauges
River.
We spent one day among the celebrated
temples of Benares, which numbers over
1000, beside nearly three hundred Mo-
hamm eden mosques. I had been led to
expect something grand and wonderful,
but I was greatly disappointed, espec-
tally after having seen such places as
Shiba and Uyeno, in Japan; Hainam
Temple, in Canton, etc. In one part of
the city was a temple dedicated to the
sacred monkeys, which not only filed fhe
place, but raised Med" alt around the.
neighborhood. T bought quantity Of
nuts and fruit, which threw at the little
rasca,s, with the idea of frightening them,
but they merely stood on their hind legs
and caught the fruit with great dexterity.
=, At another temples there was very
.deep. well, and all that was necessary to
be done was to lock down, say a short
prayer and then make some request, no
matter what, and the request was sure to
be granted. But the most curious of all
was the Temple of the Brahmin Bull
1t was filed with people praying to lot
of COWS. The only sensible thing could
see about the religion of the country was
the bathing in the morning, which was
very needful, as the Hindoos are most
filthy people. ...
Our Intention was to go from Benares
to Agra andsDelhi, but the weather was
so dangerously hot that we were obliged
to abandon the idea and proceeded direct
to Bombay. 1t is a ride by rail Of about
forty hours. Bombay is pretty place.
With elegant buildings, drives, etc. The
most famous sights here is the Pharsee
Cemetery, where bodies are placed on the
top OF q tower and are picked to. pieces by
vultures. The greatest sight, however, in
Bombay, and l can almost say in India, is
the famous Elephanta Cave, which is