caste on his forehead. These marks are painted every morning after the bath. But even without the painted brow and the drooping loop of thread, you can come to know the Brahmin from his bearing, his clean-cut, intellectual face, his mien of conscious intellect and superiority. Pilgrims pray and chant. On the walls- for our temple is open monkeys are perching, chattering, and skipping. Around the walls of the enclosure are stalls, with cows and calves. These are sacred-held in reverence by the pilgrims, who feed and caress and adore them. One or two are monstrous births, and they are specially adored. The animals move about among the worshippers, quite tame, somewhat arrogant. Mrs. Grant was wearing a garland of flowers, which a child, who supplied flowers to the worshippers, had thrown over her neck. One of the animals seeing the flowers, and knowing them to be savory, made a rush for the garland, and before any one could interfere was munching and tearing it in a deliberate manner. Evidently that cow had had her own way in her relations with the human race, and if she chose to make as much of a meal as possible out of the decorations and possessions of Mrs. Grant, it was only the force of education. One of the police came to the rescue of our lady, but it was only after a struggle that the cow could be persuaded to abandon her meal. I have no doubt many holy Brahmins were grieved to see the authority of England, in the shape of a policeman, cudgel a sacred animal into its stall.

If I were to tell you of all the wells and temples. in Benares, the holy places and the legends which make them sacred, it would carry me beyond bounds. After we had visited several of the temples we went to the observatory of Raja Jai Singh, built at the close of the seventeenth century, and looking down from its battlements we see the sacred river shining in the morning sun, the teeming, busy hive of temples and shrines, from which the hum

of worship seems to arise; masses of pilgrims sluggishly moving towards the river to plunge into its holy waters and be cleansed of sin. We are pointed out the site of the holy well of Manikarnaki, dug by the god Vishnu, consecrated by the god Mahadeva, whose waters will wash away any sin and make the body pure. From here we went down to the water and, on board of a steam-launch, slowly steamed under the banks, and the view of the city as seen from our boat was one of the most striking the world can afford. Here was the burning Ghat, the spot where the bodies of the Hindoos are burned. As we slowly steamed along, a funeral procession was seen bearing a body to the funeral pyre. We observed several slabs set around the burning Ghat. These were in memory of widows who had burned themselves on that spot in honor of their husbands, according to the old rite of suttee. We pass shrines and temples without number, the mere recital of whose names and attributes would fill several pages. All this is lost in the general effect of the city as seen from the river. Benares sits on the sacred river, an emblem of the strange religion which has made it a holy city, and there is solemnity in the thought that for ages she has kept her place on the Ganges, that for ages her shrines have been holy to millions of men, that for ages the wisest and purest and best of the Indian race have wandered as pilgrims through her narrow streets and plunged themselves as penitents into the waters to wash away their sins. It is all a dark superstition, but let us honor Benares for the comfort she has given to so many millions of sinful, sorrowing souls. And as we pass along the river towards our house, and leave the white towers and steps of Benares glistening in the sunshine, we look back upon it with something of the respect and affection that belong to antiquity, and which are certainly not unworthily bestowed upon so renowned, so sacred, and so venerable a city.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

ARRIVAL AT CALCUTTA – -RECEPTION BY THE CONSUL-GENERAL THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE- THE CITY- -RELIGIOUS PROGRESS GENERAL GRANT AT THE UNIVERSITY THE MONEY-CHANGERS OF INDIA -THE RECEPTION BY THE VICEROY A PICNIC AT BARRACKPORE-REMNANTS OF INDIAN SPLENDOR-REFUGEES FROM BURMAH - FAREWELL TO CALCUTTA-RECEPTION OF GENERAL GRANT AT BURMAH-RANGOON-THE HINDOO FAITHTHE GOLDEN PAGODA.

General Grant and his party next proceeded to Calcutta, where they arrived early on the morning of March 10th. Their arrival is thus detailed:-The American Consul-General, General Litchfield, was present at the station, with a guard of honor from the Viceroy and an aid. The General drove off in the state carriages, with a small escort of cavalry, to the Government House, where preparations had been made by Lord Lytton for the reception of himself and party. The streets had been watered, and there was just the suspicion of a cool breeze from the Hoogly, which, after the distress of a long night ride, made our morning drive pleasant. A line of native policemen was formed for a distance of about two miles, from the railway-station to the door of the Government House, who saluted the General as he drove along. The Government House is a large, ornate building, standing in a park or open square, and was built in 1804. The corner-stone was laid about the time that Washington laid the foundation of the Capitol. The cost of the building was $750,000. It is a noble, stately building, and may rank with any of

the palaces in Europe, while it is smaller and less pretentious than many of them. The idea of the Government House is a central building, with four outlying blocks, which form wings. There are magnificent council-rooms and a reception-room, which joins to the state dining-room. The two ideas which govern the architecture of the Government Houses in India are comfort and splendor-comfort, in order that the European may live; splendor, in order that the eye and imagination of the Oriental may be dazzled. It is rather odd at first to see the cold-blooded, indifferent, matter-of-fact Englishman, who at home only cares for practical things, as solicitous about pomp and ceremony as a court chamberlain. This is because pomp and ceremony are among the essentials of the government of India.

Of the public buildings, the Fort is, perhaps, the most important. It was begun by Clive, after the battle of Plassey, and cost $10,000,000. It mounts 600 guns, and is a strong work in good preservation. This is the home of the Commander-in-Chief of the army. There is a town hall in the Doric style, with some large rooms for public entertainments. The Court-House is a Gothic pile, with a massive tower. In Dalhousie Square is the Currency Office, a large building in the Indian style of architecture. The Mint stands on the river-bank. It is composed of two buildings, which, with the grounds, cover a space of eighteen and one-half acres, and is said to be the largest mint in the world. There is a Custom House, a bonded warehouse, and a block known as the Writers' Buildings, where young men find homes when they come to India. The new Post-Office, with its Corinthian columns and dome, ist a handsome building, while the new telegraph office is large and imposing. The Metcalf Hall is where the agricultural shows are held, and the Dalhousie Institute is erected as a

kind of Pantheon, "a monumental edifice, to contain within its walls statues and busts of great men." Most of the statues are of men who won fame in the mutiny. The St. Paul's Cathedral cost $250,000, and is the metropolitan church of the Episcopal diocese of Calcutta. There are several monuments and memorial windows to famous AngloIndians, among them a superb monument to the wise and saintly Heber, whose name is one of the glories of British civilization in India. The statue is by Chantrey, and it represents the illustrious divine in the robes of his holy office kneeling in prayer. There are other churchesseventeen Protestant, eight Roman Catholic, and six miscellaneous. The old Mission Church is a curious building. The Scotch Church is a handsome Grecian edifice.

There

is a free Scotch Church, built through the efforts of Dr. Duff, and chapels of the Wesleyan and Baptist denominations. There are no Hindoo temples in Calcutta, the people worshipping in their houses or on the banks of the river, which is one of the sacred rivers of India. Some of the wealthy Hindoos have apartments in their houses where gods are worshipped, but the great body of the people simply go to the river, bathe and pray, a form of faith which promotes cleanliness as well as godliness. There are several mosques, the finest being one erected by the son of Tippoo Sultan "in gratitude to God and in commemoration of the Honorable Court of Directors granting him the arrears of his stipend in 1840."

The annual convocation for conferring degrees of the University took place while General Grant was in Calcutta. The General, accompanied by Sir Ashley Eden, LieutenantGovernor of Bengal, and Sir Alexander Arbuthnot, the Vice-Chancellor, attended the convocation. The General and the Bishop of Calcutta sat on the Vice-Chancellor's right and Sir Ashley Eden on his left. Degrees were con