you have seen the Ganges several times, not much has been said
about it; and I will tell you a little more concerning it before we leave,
not to see it again. It rises in Gahrwal, one of the Hill states,
north-east of Delhi. It has its source in an ice-cave nearly fourteen
thousand feet above the level of the sea. It is not called the Ganges till
it has received the flow of two other rivers, a hundred and fifty miles or
more from its lofty source. Just below Allahabad it takes in the Jumna,
itself a mighty stream.

"As you have learned, it is the holy river of the Hindus; and it deserves
their homage, for, aside from the religious character they give to it,
three hundred thousand square miles are drained and fertilized by the
Ganges and its tributaries. Of its sanctity, that it washes away sin, and
that death in its waters or on its shores is the passport to eternal bliss,
you have learned. But it renders a more immediate and practical service to
the people; for it is navigable for small craft from the point where it
enters the lowlands, seventy or eighty miles north of Delhi.

"The river is 1,509 miles long. Though it rises and falls at different
seasons, it never fails, even in the hottest summer; and its inundations
render, to some extent, the benefit which the Nile does to the soil of
Egypt. Like the Mississippi, in your country, it has sometimes changed its
course, as proved by the ruins of cities that were once on its banks.

"Now you have a view of the Ganges for quite a distance, and can see the
kinds of boats that navigate it. It is one of the most frequented waterways
in the world, though the building of railways and canals has somewhat
diminished the amount of freight borne on its tide. About L6,000,000 is
needed to complete the Ganges canal, which will reach all the cities
through which you have passed. There is a very complicated mythology
connected with the river, which it would take me all day to relate, and
therefore I will not meddle with it."

For a couple of hours the passengers watched the boats and steamers on the
river, and the scenes on the other side. While they were thus employed,
Lord Tremlyn gave to each person a map of Calcutta, intimating that he
should soon tell them something about the city; and they all began to study
it, so as to form some idea of the place they were next to visit. Of course
they could make out but little from the vast maze of streets, but some of
them obtained a very