58 THE COW'S MOUTH. 



snow down to its base, and its glittering 

 summit piercing the very skies, rising 21,000 

 feet above the level of the sea. The chasm 

 in the glacier, through which the sacred 

 stream rushes forth into the light of day, is 

 named the Cow's Mouth, and is held in the 

 deepest reverence by all Hindoos ; and the 

 regions of eternal frost in its vicinity are the 

 scenes of many of their most sacred mys- 

 teries. The Ganges enters the world no puny 

 stream, but bursts forth from its icy womb, a 

 river thirty or forty yards in breadth, of 

 great depth, and very rapid. A burrell was 

 killed by a lucky shot across the river just at 

 the mouth ; it fell backwards into the torrent, 

 and was no more seen. Extensive as my 

 travels since this day have been through 

 these beautiful mountams, and amidst all 

 the splendid scenery I have looked on, I can 

 recall none so strikingly magnificent as the 

 glacier of the Ganges. 



Having breakfasted near the Cow's Mouth, 

 and made the sacred stream yield its tribute 

 to our teapot, Wilson and I went on the 



