APPENDIX. 337 



the disposition that the Hindoos make of their dead all over 

 India, and here, after they are consumed, their ashes, or a portion 

 of them, are thrown upon the bosom of the sacred river to float 

 away to the Hindoo paradise, whither they believe its waters 

 proceed ; and ever after, at stated periods, wreaths of flowers are 

 thrown into the river as offerings to the spirits of the departed 

 dead. Here was an opportunity to see cremation practically illus- 

 trated, and, landing from the boat, I stood by while the cere- 

 mony proceeded. Some of the funeral pyres were just dying 

 out, others were in full blaze, others were just being formed, the 

 method of which is to first place several layers of dry wood in 

 such a way that it will bum freely and at the same time afford a 

 resting-place for the body, which is wrapped in several folds of 

 cotton-cloth, and carefully laid upon its wooden bed ; over it are 

 again placed several layers of wood, and the torch is applied by 

 the oldest surviving male of the family, the members of which 

 stand by and watch the flames curling up through the pile. 

 There does not seem to be much sentiment involved in this cere- 

 mony, and we saw no manifestation of emotion. Indeed, the 

 hired attendants seemed to look at it in much the same business 

 light that our sextons do, for, as the piles burned down and the 

 bodies were partially consumed, they pounded them into the 

 embers with long sticks in the most unfeeling way. I never 

 realized the force of " Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou 

 return " so forcibly as when I saw one of these calcined skulls 

 crumble into ashes. But, after all, my impression was that this 

 is a very sensible way to dispose of the dead, and my opinion of 

 cremation is decidedly better than it was before. 



From Benares I proceeded to Agra, one of the capitals of 

 the Mogul emperors, and which, three hundred years ago, was 

 said to be a beautiful city. Now the native city is composed of a 

 ''collection of squalid, dirty mud-huts, while the European portion 

 contains a considerable number of substantial private bungalows, 

 together with a few tolerably good public buildings. In the 

 suburbs, however, within a circle of five miles or more, are the 

 structures which have made Agra, as well as the reign of the 

 Mogul emperors, famous. Of these the " Taj Mahal," or Tomb 

 of Banoo Begum, Sultana of the Emperor Shah Jehan, is the 

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