onsequences of touching their lips to a vessel out of which some
unworthy wretch a shade less holy has previously drunk, the fastidious
worshipper of Krishna, Vishnu, or Kamadeva always drinks from his hands,
unless possessed of a private drinking vessel of his own. The hands are
held in position to form a trough leading to the mouth; while an
assistant pours water in at one end, the recipient receives it at the
other. No little skill and care is required to prevent the water running
down one's sleeve: the average native seems to think the human throat a
gutter down which the water will flow as fast as he can pour it into the
hands.

The flowing yellow flood of Beas River, now at flood, and spreading
itself over the width of a mile, makes an impassable break in my road
soon after mid-day. A ferryboat usually plies across the stream, but by
reason of the broad area of overflow, and the consequent difficulty of
working it, it is moored up for the time being. Fortunately, the Scinde,
Punjab & Delhi Railroad crosses the river on a fine bridge near by, with
a regular ferry-train service in operation. Repairing thither, I find, in
charge of the ferry-train, an old Anglo-Indian engineer, who prevails
upon me to accept his hospitality for the night.

Hundreds of natives pass the night round about the railway-station,
waiting to cross the bridge on the first morning train. Nowhere else in
the world does a gathering of people present so picturesque and
interesting a sight as in sunny Hindostan. These people gathered about
the Beas River station look more like a company rigged out for the
spectacular stage than ordinary, everyday mortals attending to the
prosaic business of life. The nose-rings worn by many of the women are so
massive and heavy that silken cords are attached and carried to some
support on the head to relieve the nostril of the weight. The rims of the
ears are likewise grievously overburdened with ornaments. These
unoffending appendages are pierced with a number of holes all round the
rim from lobe to top; each hole contains a massive ring almost large and
heavy enough for a bracelet, the weight of which pulls the ear all out of
shape. Simple yet gaudy costumes prevail-garments of red, yellow, blue,
green, olive, and white, with gold tinsel, drape the graceful forms of
the dusky Sikh or Jatni belles; and not a whit less picturesque and
parti-colored are the costumes of their husbands, brothers, and
fathers-fine fe