ntruders. Benares contains 300,000
inhabitants, of which scarcely 150 are Europeans.

The town is handsome, especially when seen from the river side,
where its defects are not observed. Magnificent rows of steps,
built of colossal stones, lead up to the houses and palaces, and
artistically built gateways. In the best part of the town, they
form a continuous line two miles in length. These steps cost
enormous sums of money, and a large town might have been built with
the stones employed for them.

The handsome part of the town contains a great number of antique
palaces, in the Moorish, Gothic, and Hindoo styles, many of which
are six stories high. The gates are most magnificent, and the
fronts of the palaces and houses are covered with masterly
arabesques and sculptured work; the different stories are richly
ornamented with fine colonnades, verandahs, balconies, and friezes.
The windows alone did not please me; they were low, small, and
seldom regularly arranged. All the houses and palaces have very
broad sloping roofs and terraces. The innumerable temples afford a
proof of the wealth and piety of the inhabitants of this town.
Every Hindoo in good circumstances has a temple in his house, i.e.,
a small tower, which is frequently only twenty feet high.

The Hindoo temples consist properly of a tower thirty or sixty feet
in height, without windows, and having only a small entrance. They
appear, especially at a distance, very striking and handsome, as
they are either artistically sculptured or richly covered with
projecting ornaments, such as pinnacles, small columns, pyramids,
leaves, niches, etc.

Unfortunately, many of these beautiful buildings are in ruins. The
Ganges here and there undermines the foundations, and palaces and
temples sink into the soft earth or fall entirely down. Miserable
little huts are in some places built upon these ruins, and disfigure
the fine appearance of the town, for even the ruins themselves are
still beautiful.

At sunrise, a spectacle is to be seen at the river which has not its
counterpart in the world. The pious Hindoos come here to perform
their devotions; they step into the river, turn towards the sun,
throw three handsful of water upon their heads, and mutter their
prayers. Taking into account the large population which Benares
contains, besides pilgrims, it will not be exaggeration to say that
the daily number of devotees amounts, on the average, to 50,000
persons.