n death actually comes, his relatives wash his body
in the holy stream. But the bathing ghat only makes ready for the
burning ghat. These burning ghats are castle-like edifices, from which
the smoke of burning flesh ascends continually. Cremation, with the
Hindu, takes the place of burial. The ashes are collected and are
preserved in a tomb. To die in Benares, and to have a temple for a tomb,
is the surest passport to happiness in a future state, since the
transmigration of souls into higher or lower forms is an essential
doctrine of modern Hinduism.

A wealthy resident of Benares courteously offered us the use of his
observation-boat to view the scene upon the river in the early morning.
This river-craft was a double-decker, propelled by oars from the lower
deck. From the upper platform, one could overlook the ceremonial
washings of hundreds of pilgrims. Stalwart men plunged themselves three
times into the stream, looked toward the sun, joined their hands, spoke
a prayer, rinsed their sacred cord, cleansed their raiment, and then,
reclad, went to the priest on his platform, to be smeared with ashes on
the forehead and marked with a little colored dot, as a certificate that
they had correctly performed their vow. Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, had
each his worshipers and his priests, to give the appropriate mark. The
"holy man" was there, either upon his bed of spikes or in an attitude
which suggested torture, and ready to receive the homage, and the money
as well, of his benighted admirers. Mothers were present, immersing not
only themselves but also their children. All the bathers must drink of
the muddy and fetid water, for purification internal is as needful as
purification external. And so, hundreds of worshipers every day, and on
special feast-days thousands, drink this water of the "sacred Ganges,"
foul with the stains of disease and reeking with the sweat of the dead.
It is no wonder that the burning ghats have no lack of business, and no
wonder that medical experts have traced epidemics of cholera, smallpox,
and plague, in Western lands, to this city of Benares, where "Satan's
seat is." The throne of the great adversary, however, seems to be built
on very insufficient foundations, for not a few of the temples which
line the steep banks of the river have toppled over, or have sunk into
the yielding sand. Their massive fragments, at the base of long
stairways of stone, show how hideous is the ruin of any system of
rel