The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1846-12-01 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

THE BANKS OF THE GANGES.—Doubtless most of our readers have heard of the practice which obtains with natives of Bengal in the disposal of their dead. The custom among them is to carry the corpses of their deceased to the banks of the Ganges, where they are deposited with all due ceremony. On the rise of the river these are carried away by its waters, and hundreds of dead bodies may be seen at a time floating on its surface, and which are carried down by the stream into the sea. The sight is said to be disgusting in the extreme; some of the putrified carcases frequently resting against the cables of the vessels anchored in the river. Did the inhabitants confine themselves to the deposition of none hut dead bodies on the banks, there would not be so much cause for complaint; but it has often been found that persons supposed to be at the point of death have been thus dealt with, and that in consequence many have died who would, had they been properly cared for, have recovered. Many have been taken from the river ; but it would have been better far for them bad they died, for they were turned out of caste, and refused admittance into their own homes, it being reckoned a sign of the displeasure of the deity of the river that they bad not died and been ingulphed in its stream ! Another method in practice of disposing of their dead bodies is by incrernation. Hitherto the inhabitants of Calcutta have been permitted to burn their dead all along the banks of the river. People at the point of death are brought to the river, and there left till they die, when they are burnt, and their ashes thrown into the stream by their friends if able to afford it, or if not, they are allowed to lie on the bank till carried away by the tide. In order to put a stop to such a murderous system, the Government have ordered that the inhabitants shall dispose of their dead at either of five " Ghats" set apart for the purpose, where their proceedings may be watched by the police. We copy the following remarks on the subject from the Calcutta Christian Advocate of the 19th ultimo :—" We have often referred to the subject of Ghat murders, and to the, propriety and importance of their suppression. Little,, if any thing, has, we believe, been attempted by the authorities. The difficulties arising out of religious prejudice, and the extent of country over which the practiCe prevails, together with the difficulty of obtaining evidence on which the murderers could be convicted, have presented an almost insuperable barrier to the commencement of reform in this department ; we therefore bail any, even the remotest effort, tending to check a practice so fraught with mischief to the people. Our contemporaries state that the authorities have determined that for Calcutta only five Ghats shall be used for burning the dead of the city. This may bring the evil within the grasp pf the police, and, if they be on the alert, enable them to check the practice. The many Ghats and other laces at which the funeral rites of the Hindus was per.P - --4rlahle obstacle  formed, was one of the most formio.u.., way of the suppression of Gbat murders. This, to some extent, and as far as Calcutta is concerned, has now been remedied. This order should be extended all along the banks of the Ganges, places should be, set apart by th government, to which the dyinv, must be brought proper officers appointed to watch the movedeath parties. This would at least be a check upon crime and where such a sacrifice of life is concerned, surely the funds and officers of justice could not be more humanely or legitimately omployed,".-13combay Times.  onents of the