bridge by which the
inmates pass from one to the other.

[Sidenote: WORSHIP IN THE TEMPLES.]

Not the houses, however, but the temples, secure the chief attention of
the visitor. They are seen on every side. Numerous though they be, they
are not sufficient to meet the demands of the people. At every few steps
objects of worship meet your view. In niches of the walls are little
images, so worn by the weather and by the water poured on them by
worshippers that it is difficult to determine what they are intended to
represent. At your feet, close to the walls, you see misshapen stones
which are regarded as sacred. As you proceed you find yourself
accompanied by a crowd who have bathed, and who are going to complete
their morning worship by acts of obeisance to their gods. They are seen,
as they walk, bowing their heads and folding their hands before the
sacred objects that line their way. Every now and then one of a party
will raise the shout "_Mahadeo jee kee jae!_"--("Victory to the Great
God"), that is to Shiva, to whom this title is given; and the shout is
taken up and repeated by others till the street resounds. It has
occurred to me that this is done with peculiar force when Europeans are
within hearing.

[Sidenote: THE TEMPLE OF BISHESHWAR.]

You speedily find yourself at the principal temple of Benares--the
temple of Bisheshwar, sacred to Shiva under this name, which means _Lord
of All_. This temple is in the midst of a quadrangle, covered in with a
roof; over it are a tower, a dome, and a spire. The tower and dome
glitter in the sun like masses of burnished gold, and on this account
it is called the Golden Temple. Natives will tell you that it is covered
with plates of solid gold, but in fact it is merely gilded with gold
leaf, spread over plates of copper overlaying the stones beneath. Under
the dome is a belfry in which nine bells are suspended, and these are so
low that they can be tolled by the hand of those who frequent the
temple. We are told that the temple, including the tower, is fifty-one
feet in height. "Outside the enclosure is a large collection of deities,
raised upon a platform, called by the natives 'The Court of Mahadeo.'"
Though the gods in the Hindu books are represented as continually
quarrelling with each other, and their devotees take up their quarrels,
not only at the temple of Bisheshwar, but throughout the city which is
regarded as Shiva's own, they are seen side by side, as in perfect