The San Antonio light. (San Antonio, Tex.) 1883-1886, 1884-02-28
BeNARes.
The Hoiest and the oldest City In India The
Sacred Cow OF the Hndoos-
Buddhist Temple.

horn Renares WINS oreat "Wben Babv-
lon v.s struooling with Nineyeh for
srnremo.vn saws Mr. Sharing. .,wben
TYR. was nlantino her colonies. when
Athors wos oroving In strength before
poua b,d ho,ome Known or Greece had
oon,ondod With pors;. mr. Nebucbodnez-
~,
Ear had captured ENTHUSIASTICALLY anu .ne
inhabitants of Judea had been carried
into coptivitv. Benares had risen TO
aa 10 ~. 90 ,,,orv Nav obomoy
ere"'hess' II nv. W 9O
have heard OF the iame OF solomon ana
have sent her ivory, her apes, and her
neacocks tn odorn his palaoes. while
po" -. -, =. - 80
parity WIN her goiu ne may nave o'el-
laid the temple OF the Lord" In spite
of British domination, steam launches on
.ho rivar and railway troina crossing
9
the pahgespy IRON prluges' behares pre-
serves Its old-time aspect, and Is. with
tho exoention of an English church. A
IT., ho,,aa ooI,ooo nolioo sto,io,
n'is''oi "o"90' d" 49,
and the contonments OF BRUSH soldlery'
much as 1t was when Akbar reigned.
One railway does NOT presume TO enter
Tue 'o"h, pu, mas It's terminus vi 'ne
further side of the Ganges. The other,
the Dude and Rohilcund, enters from
,ho town s;do but stons on tho mt
w., ~, - -.
shrts, anu 'ne p"~""iS anu 'oi'Pio nav
1t all their own way IN the town. Inc
river IL crossed by n wretched bridge of
boats. whose poverty of accommodation
is made up for by excessive toll. The
upper portion of the town. near the Eng
lish settlement, is literally laid out In
squares, green lawns after the rains, but
lust now so bare and brown that il is
difficult to believe blades of grass could
ever burst through its barrenness. Still,
the trees are green. and are peopled with
a lively race of squirrels. who dodge the
passer-by, pceping around the trunk to
see II he is really coming, and disappear
ing amid the boughs with nimbleness
that makes nothing of their bushy tails.
There is a great deal of animal and bird
life about the streets, safe in the freedom
from harm, secured by the gentle creed
of the Hindoo. The sparrows chirp
about the roadways and almost stand TO
be passed over on the footpaths. Two
grey kites benignantly eye them from n
ruined wall, as if they would not touch
them, even If some one else would kill
promenading the roofs of the baZaars,
occasionally entering by open windows
and taking pot-luok, are thousands of
monkeys, sacred from stick or stone.
These are not monkeys such as OCCASION
ally lend added terror to the London
organ-grinder, but creatures running to
the length of three feet from head to
haunch, and of aspect preter-naturally
saGacious. Flocks of goats meander
through the streets; big, well-formed,
handsome beasts. Bullocks are used as
beasts OF burden, but the cows. like the
pope, ''lead merry life." / suppose they
belong to somebody, but they walk
about the streets as IL they were ground
landlords. They are small cattle, plump,
and well favored, forming strong CON
trast with the thin and careworn human
population among whom they indolently
pick their way. They stroll down the
center Of the narrow thoroughfares,
through the bazaars, frequently stopping
the traffic, types of the idolatry which
bars the growth of civilization. / met
one one morning strolling through the
bazaar, shouldering everybody out ofthe
way. Suddenly she caught sight of
basket of greens which a woman was
peddling on the roadway. Without say
ing, "Bv your leave" the COW stopped,
selected young and toothsome cauli-
flower. The poor woman feebly battled
with the marauder, but the COW took no
notice and did not bulge till it had its
cauliflower, when it resumed its morning
stroll through the bazaar. The COW, it
is well known, is one of the idols of
Hindoo worship, and If the woman's god
wanted cauliflower it would have been
sacrilegious too strenuously to resist the
desire. Close by where this uncommer-
cial transaction in green market stufls
took place there is temple where under
the portioo half dozen bulls are kept,
literally in clover. The place is much
dirtier and smells more vilely than an
English farmer would like to have his
cowshed. But the beasts seemed placidly
happy, reflectively munched their grass,
wondering what they did there, and in
their slumbers babbiing o. green fields.
The COW in bronze figures in various
sizes is in most of the temples. On the
pavement near one of extra size and
super-sanctity / saw two men playing
dice. As for the temples themselves,