The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1922-03-24

lore pieces of baggage TO our Tav-
cling equipment.
The temple of worship in Benaries
that ATTRACTS most attention from
visitors is the sacred Monkey Temple
ia and around which innumerable
monkeys are capering about, and in
feeding them one incurs favor with
that deity.
At 6 o'clock the morning after
our arrival W: drove to the river,
engaged a boat, and made a trip
along the Chats, which are on its
banks. This is the most interesting
thing to be seen in Benaires and in
fact one of the most interesting
sights in India. "a Chat is a flight
of steps leading down to rivers.)
The Ganges, though sacred, is about
tia filthiest stream of water l have
eyer seen except the canal in Canton
China, and yet the Hindus, who can
reach it, bath in it every morning
and also take it up in their hands
and drink it At the same time. Going
along the river in a boat you see
thousands Of them doing their devo-
tions. The Hindus dispose Of their
dead by cremation, and the crema-
ton ground in Benaries is on the
banks of the sacred river and is call
ed the burning Chat" and here
you see dead bodies wrapped In
white shears awaiting their turn. The
body is first dipped into the sacred
river to be cleansed of earthly con-
termination. They use cord-wood cut
about 8 feet long and pile some Of it
in a certain way upon the ground
and lay the body on 1T and then put
q,sre wood on top and ignite it. They
do not use near enough wood and
consequently the bodies are never
eAtireiy consumed, so when the fire
is burned out what remains Of the
corpse is thrown in the river. Babies
under one year of age, are not burn
ed, but merely thrown into the river
with q stone attached to make them
sink for a while. Adults, too, who
have fallen from grace, are also
thrown into the river without the
burning process. Therefore, it is not
uncommon see human dead bodies
floating around among the bathers,
Also dead animals.
As we were going along Anne ex-
claimed "Oh! papa! what is that in
the water?" and looking where she
pointed I saw that It was a dead
donkey and the motion Of u boat
pushed it among a lot Of bathers who
were praying and drinking the
water, and one Of them merely push
ed it aside and went on with his
devotions. How these people can
escape some horrible disease I do
not know, it is to me the most mar
velous thing with which 1 have ever
come in contact, the water Of this
river must indeed possess some
thing that no other water contains
which acts as a powerful disinfect-
ant. I was glad to have been able to
see these things for I had read about
thsa often, but when I left Ben
aries I felt no regret whatever,
From there we went to Lucknow
and were much interested while
visiting the many points connected
with the Great Meeting and the re-
lief by Havelock and Colin Camp
bell. From here we visited Gavin
pore and saw other spots of bitter
memories connected with the great
meeting, including the Tragic Well
and Masecre Chat where two of the
most revolving crimes in the worlds
history were enacted. >>
Our next stop was at Agra, the
city Of the Tai Mahal where a great
treat was In store for US.
The architectural marvels Of this
city were begun by the greatest Of
an Mogl Enperors (Akbar) and
finished and added to by his wonder
fol son (Sha johann who built the
Tai as a tomb for his favorite queen,
Mumtaz-i-Mahal, the "Chosen Of