and goddesses, and woe to the person who does them any harm.

The monkeys are not the only animals deemed sacred at Benares. All who
have heard anything about the city have heard about the well-fed lazy
bulls prowling about the streets, and insisting on making free with the
goods of the vegetable and grain sellers. These are no longer to be seen
going about in their former fashion. I shall have something to say
afterwards about them.

[Sidenote: FESTIVALS AT BENARES.]

Mr. Sherring gives an account of forty melas, or religious festivals, in
the course of the year in Benares. The principal of these are the Holee,
the Saturnalia of the Hindus, the Ram Leela (the dramatic representation
of the life of Ram as given in the epic poem, "The Ramayan"), and the
Pilgrimage of the Panch Kosee, when the people make the circuit of the
city, and halt for the night at certain assigned stations. On the
occasion of eclipses vast numbers resort to Benares from all parts of
India.

Benares has long been considered the Oxford of India. Its learned men
have from ancient times been famed for their learning, and the aspirants
for Hindu lore--all members of the same caste with themselves--have from
generation to generation sat at their feet. They have had no grand
academic halls in which to give their prelections; they have taken no
fees from their pupils; they have met in very humble rooms, or in the
open air in a garden under trees; but both teachers and students have
been characterized by an assiduity and a perseverance which the most
laborious of German scholars rarely attain. The very modest requirements
of these learned men have as a rule been met unasked by the princes and
wealthy of the land.

In 1791, a very short time after Benares was brought directly under
British rule, a Sanscrit college was founded by the payment of certain
pundits, who were left to carry on their work unchecked by any
authority, or even suggestion, from without. It is said that pundits of
the highest repute refused to have anything to do with the foreigner. In
1853 a very fine Gothic structure, said to be the most imposing building
erected by the British in India, was opened under the name of the
Queen's College, for the accommodation of students in both Western and
Eastern learning. Here both English and Sanscrit are studied, and under
the first Principal, the late Dr. Ballantyne, vigorous, and I hope to
some degree successful, effort was put forth to infu