CATARACTS AND INUNDATIONS. 11 



less than fourteen hundred British miles. The Burramport, or Bur- 

 Tampooter, which is its proudest auxiliary, is nearly as long as it- 

 self; it is generally conceived that their sources are not very distant 

 from each other, though we have no decisive information upon 

 this subject, and they separate from each other to tjie distance of a 

 thousand miles before they unite and constitute one common stream, 

 falling at length into the Bay of Bengal by several mouths. Ganga, 

 \ve have already observed, is an Hindoo term for river generally, 

 and is peculiarly applied to the river before ns on account of its un 

 rivalled magnificence The Hindoos bear a superstitious veneration 

 for all the great rivers which fertilize their country ; but the waters 

 of the Ganges are held peculiarly sacred. What tends to increase 

 the veneration which is paid to the Ganges is, that its impetuous 

 force, by which it has opened a passage through mount Himmeleh 

 and re-appears, amidst impending rocks, which the natives consider 

 as forming a strong resemblance to the head of a cow, expanded to 

 an immense size, an animal whicli is as highly esteemed by the Hin- 

 doos as the apis or sacred ox was in ancient times among the Egyp- 

 tians. No river in the world imparts greater benefits to the regions 

 through which it passes; for by annually overflowing its banks like 

 the Nile, it waters and manures the country to an extent of an him. 

 dred miles. The Hindoos having deified this river, make it an act of 

 religion to go in pilgrimage to it; they suppose the waters to purify 

 from defilement such as bathe in them, and they bury their dead in 

 its slimy shore. It is, moreover, customary with them to remove 

 those who are on the point of death to the banks of the Ganges, or 

 of some creek which runs into it ; for, if an Indian die* in his own 

 house, it is rased to the ground. The Hindoos do not always bury 

 their dead, but as frequently burn the corpse, when the ashes are 

 carefully collected by the bramin, who presides at the ceremony, and 

 thrown into the sea or nearest river. Those who can afford the 

 expence, have such ashes put into an urn, which is soldered up, and 

 carried to be thrown into the water of the Ganges. Rude simpli- 

 city is ever prone to mistake the blessings of the Deity for the Deity 

 himself *. 



There is a very excellent paper upon the course of the Ganges and Burram- 

 pooter from the pen of Major R-nneil, in the Philosophical Transactions, Vol. 

 LXXI. art. ix, but too long for insertion in the present work. The reader who 

 is desirous of pursuing the subject further, may turn to it with great advantage. 



EDITOR. 



