Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1884-04-26

BILE superstitions. Perhaps if you came here
| you could become a rhapsodist like Mr. lay
lor and the rest, and SO etherealize your
senses that you would neither smell, see nor
| hear any of these offensive things that to my
| mind are such vivid factors in the tout en-
| sen6Le. Perhaps they would surprise and
shock you because they have been so much
overlooked by writers of travels, just as they
did me. do not know.
Having crossed the river we drove over
narrow metalled roads through four miles of
mud huts as squalid as the river palaces had
been splendid. Sekrole proved to be a rath-
or pleasant community, laid out on scale of
magnificent distances. There is a spacious
madam, a handsome postoffice, newspaper
Office, town hall of imposing architecture,
a government college. hotels, other public
buildings, and a considerable collection of
bungalows, all surrounded by immense, dry,
parched lawns. It is not healthy to crowd
| together here. In the distance could hear
band playing familiar anthems dow at the
soldiers barracks. On bulletin board
read the advertisement of Wizards Anglo
American Marionettes, advertising them
selves as the ''most conglomerate amalgama-
ton of amusement consultations on earth"
Now rise to ask if, in the AuRustan age of
American amusements, any troupe ever
eclipsed that
Once at the hotel 1 am Immediately be-
sieged by vendors of brass ware prettily
chased, snake-charmers, conjurors and ped
dIers of every description. I make indignant
protestations and whisk the porch doors to-
gether but it is of no use. They will not be
elected until the hotel proprietor appears
upon the scene. When pass in to dinner
am charRoed by bouquets of familiar flowers
on the table, phlox, petunias. verbenas,
pinks, larkspur and balsams. But the fruit
alas, it is strange assortment to my eyes.
and 1 have to make individual acquaintance
slowly. There are guAvas, a strange kind of
plum, and, among the side dishes, the Shiny
ochre.
Benares is city of little over 175, 900
people. Many of the native palaces are real
ly pretentious and attractive structures, with
very small windows for keeping out the sun,
and walls Enthusiastically painted with groups
of NEUROLOGICAL figures from the Hindoo pan
theon. The streets are very narrow and in
some places the houses approach SO close to
each other that galleries have been put in eff
fecting a communication. The streets are
full of goats of various shades running all
the way from black to white,
which will run up perpen~
dicular wall backwards, and extract nourish-
ment out of anything from corn-cob to a
piece of corrugated zinc. There are also
camels and occasionally elephants to be seen
threading their way along the crowded
thoroughfares; but the chief beast of burden
| is the donkey. Sacred bulls wander about
way, but you must not poke them, however
gently, for the Infatuated Hindoos would lead
| you to repent of it if you did. You must re-
member that only two decades ago it would
not have been safe for you to have witnessed
| these idolatries here at all. The British gov
eminent allows entire religious freedom, and
| interferes in no questions of controversy be-
tween different heathenisms.
| As passed along the streets at first no.
| ticed that people would frequently turn aside
and wait for me to pass. Accustomed to the
| obsequious courtesy of the Oriental,
| naturally supposed at first that this was q
| mark of respect; but soon learned to my
chagrin that it was because the people feared
would contaminate them. They were
| Brahmins governed by laws of caste as in
| exorable as those of the Modes and Persians.
| Caste has been greatly broken down in India
| by the advent of western civilization; but the
remnants of the system impress the stranger
most forcibly. Down at the cremating CHAT
on the river discovered phase oft. When
a man is to be burned, the fire must be
brought from the house of some domra, the
lowest and most despised caste in all India
During his lifetime the man would not take
fire from domra for anything in the world
If he did he would be banned from caste fell
| lowship, and only on the performance o.
some penance would he be admitted to hi
own clique again. The system of caste-dis
cipline is very rigid. The necessity of pro
curing the cremation fire from a domra at
fords q considerable revenue to the despiseC
class the members of which often charg
fabulous sums. Baikunt or heaven has to b.
bought here by continual sacriicial rites
Even accidental contact with a lower cast,
man must be expiated.
Among the other things for which Benare
is famous are the gold and silver brocade
here manufactured. These are gorgeouslJ
beautiful and often very costly, some of then
/ 4 81.
per yard.
Benares is "wholly given over to idolatry.
Some industrious statistician has figured
out that there are 1470 shivalas Cor temples
and 28O mosques in the city, exclusive o
those at Sikraul. Dividing the population
here into religion, he also states that Their
are approximately $50 Christians, Al, O0'
figures only apply to the permanent popula
ton. There are also thousands of pilgrim
here most of the time, who have taken thei
journey across the burning plains of India t.
this city, which is to the Hindoos what Niece
Is to the Mohammedans, Rome to thu
Papists, and in some sense Jerusalem
to the Christians. In this connection
I have got hold of some figures of genera
rather than special or local interest. They
are extracts from Catholic missionary pub
LEGATION, and are merely quoted here on that
authority. It is estimated that there are but
| hDOuG OZI ,UUUSUUU mOuObu0Iblb III Inc WOEIO
| as against 80, 600, 900 pagans. Thus the
monotheists are minority of the whole pop
| ulation. OF the monotheists the nomina
| Catholics are the most numerous, but only
| by a small majority. They are estimated al
212, 600, 900 as against POS, 000,O Protestant
secst. and 200, 600, 900 Mohammedans. The
Buddhists are of course the most numer.
GUS of ALL being set down at 423, 000 600
The Brahmins number 1913, 600. OF unquali-
| fed heath0nS there are 23O 600. 600,
These are essentially the same figures thai
| German scientists really arrived at, believe
| The population by countries, consecutively
arranged, is as follows: Europe 315, 600, 900;
Africa, 205, 900, 600; America, $1,000, 900
| Australia, 1000, 900.
These estimates are particularly apPropri.
ate when given from this famous Hindoo
| city. JTere Buddhism was born. Benares was
| its Jerusalem, and Garnath-about four miles
distant-its Bethlehem. How much, after all,
has its spread been like that of Christianity!
| 1t has gone west and inverted Burmah
China, Japan, Siam and Ceylon; while the
| spot where it began its career has gone over
into the hands of hostile religion. So thai
most sacred country, from which arose oul
| own benign faith, has passed over into Mo
| hRmmedan control, and the Christian tourists
who would visit it must go with greater prep
arations to insure safety than does the Bud
dhist who sorrowfully reviews these scenes
| of Gaudamas early labors.
The spot where Gaudama began his minis
try at Garnsth is marked by tope, as it ii
called, a huge pile of masonry. partially in
ruins, but measuring still 1873 feet above the
surrounding country and ninety-three feet
in diameter. This tope was Quilted in thu
hope of finding treasure within, just as wal
the great pyramid in Egypt, and many of the
psgodas OF Burmah. Instead of gold only 6
good many tons of mouldy rice were found
and now the British are restoring the struc-
ture. Once this ancient city lay where Gar