CHAPTER YIII. 



BENARES, CALCUTTA, AND MADRAS. 



The Monkey Temple. — Sacred Animals; — Tlie Fakir. — The Hindoos as Beast 

 Worshippers. — A Beastial Religion. — From Benares to Calcutta. — The Hot 

 Season. — "Punkahs and Tatties." — Departure for Madras. — The Hoogly 

 River. — Sailor Anatomists. — The Hoogly Channel. — Madras. — A Seaport 

 without a Harbor. — Two Years of Drought. — A Famine-stricken City. — A 

 Paternal Government. — The Madras Museum. — Another Language and 

 another Servant. 



On the way to Calcutta I stopped for a day at the holy city of 

 Benares, the Hindoo Mecca and the headquarters of Brahminism. 

 Crossing the Ganges by the bridge of boats, I soon found a baboo 

 who spoke English and was willing to be my guide for a consid- 

 eration. We drove to the Golden Temple, to the minarets, and to 

 the bathing ghauts, and finally to the place I came particularly to 

 see, the Doorga Khond, or Monkey Temple, situated justtoutside 

 the native town. Along the road leading to the temple there were 

 monkeys chasing each other up and down, sitting on the stone 

 walls and climbing about in the trees, their numbers increasing 

 until we reached the temple itself. So far as its architecture is 

 concerned, this temple amounts to almost nothing. In the centre 

 of a paved yard stands a small stone pagoda no larger than a sen- 

 try-box, in which is a stone image of a hideous black goddess 

 (Doorga), hung with WTeaths of marigolds, beside which a stuflfed 

 monkey would seem divinely beautiful. Surrounding this open 

 yard is a high stone wall like the walls of a house, furnished aU 

 around with shelves and niches for the accommodation of the 

 monkeys. Adjoining this enclosure is a fine tank ; a wide-spread- 

 ing banyan overshadows the place, and that is all there is of this 

 divine monkey-house. 



Buying half a gallon of gram from a priest at the entrance, we 

 stepped within the enclosure, and then another priest who was with 

 us cried out, " Ah ! Ah ! Ah ! " Directly there was a grand rush 



