ing was so interesting that I wrote
it down at the first opportunity.

After a few weeks we visited Hardwar ourselves, and since I saw it, my
memory has never grown tired of recalling the charming picture of its
lovely situation. It is as near a primitive picture of earthly Paradise
as anything that can be imagined.

Every twelfth year, which the Hindus call Kumbha, the planet Jupiter
enters the constellation of Aquarius, and this event is considered very
propitious for the beginning of the religious fair; for which this day
is accordingly fixed by the astrologers of the pagodas. This gathering
attracts the representatives of all sects, as I said before, from
princes and maharajas down to the last fakir. The former come for the
sake of religious discussions, the latter, simply to plunge into the
waters of Ganges at its very source, which must be done at a certain
propitious hour, fixed also by the position of the stars.

Ganges is a name invented in Europe. The natives always say Ganga, and
consider this river to belong strictly to the feminine sex. Ganges is
sacred in the eyes of the Hindus, because she is the most important of
all the fostering goddesses of the country, and a daughter of the old
Himavat (Himalaya), from whose heart she springs for the salvation of
the people. That is why she is worshiped, and why the city of Hardwar,
built at her very source, is so sacred.

Hardwar is written Hari-avara, the doorway of the sun-god, or Krishna,
and is also often called Gangadvara, the doorway of Ganga; there is
still a third name of the same town, which is the name of a certain
ascetic Kapela, or rather Kapila, who once sought salvation on this
spot, and left many miraculous traditions.

The town is situated in a charming flowery valley, at the foot of the
southern slope of the Sivalik ridge, between two mountain chains. In
this valley, raised 1,024 feet above the sea-level, the northern nature
of the Himalayas struggles with the tropical growth of the plains;
and, in their efforts to excel each other, they have created the most
delightful of all the delightful corners of India. The town itself is
a quaint collection of castle-like turrets of the most fantastical
architecture; of ancient viharas; of wooden fortresses, so gaily painted
that they look like toys; of pagodas, with loopholes and overhanging
curved little balconies; and all this over-grown by such abundance
of roses, dahlias, aloes and blossoming cactus