he chapter entitled 'The
England of Elizabeth' in Green's History of the English People.

12. As already observed, chapter 29, note 12, the term Gosain is by
no means restricted to the special devotees of Siva; many Gosains--
for example, those in Bengal and those at Gokul in the Mathura
district--are followers of Vishnu. The term 'fakir' is vaguely used,
and often applied to Hindoos.

13. Even still, something of this unquiet spirit hovers about India,
and the incompatibility between the ideas of twentieth-century
Englishmen and those of Indian peoples whose mental attitude
approaches that of Europeans of the twelfth century is a perennial
source of unrest.

CHAPTER 56

Govardhan, the Scene of Krishna's Dalliance with the Milkmaids.

On the 10th[1] we came on ten miles over a plain to Govardhan, a
place celebrated in ancient history as the birthplace of Krishna, the
seventh incarnation of the Hindoo god of preservation, Vishnu, and
the scene of his dalliance with the milkmaids (_gopis_); and, in
modern days, as the burial--or burning-place of the Jat chiefs of
Bharatpur and Dig, by whose tombs, with their endowments, this once
favourite abode of the god is prevented from being entirely
deserted.[2] The town stands upon a narrow ridge of sandstone hills,
about ten miles long, rising suddenly out of an alluvial plain and
running north-east and south-west. The population is now very small,
and composed chiefly of Brahmans, who are supported by the endowments
of these tombs, and the contributions of a few pilgrims. All our
Hindoo followers were much gratified as we happened to arrive on a
day of peculiar sanctity; and they were enabled to bathe and perform
their devotions to the different shrines with the prospect of great
advantage. This range of hills is believed by Hindoos to be part of a
fragment of the Himalaya mountains which Hanuman, the monkey general
of Rama, the sixth incarnation of Vishnu, was taking down to aid his
master in the formation of his bridge from the continent to the
island of Ceylon, when engaged in the war with the demon king of that
island for the recovery of his wife Sita. He made a false step by
some accident in passing Govardhan, and this small bit of his load
fell off. The rocks begged either to be taken on to the god Rama, or
back to their old place; but Hanuman was hard pressed for time, and
told them not to be uneasy, as they would have a comfortable resting-
place, and be wo