March, 1848. SCENERY ON BANKS OF GANGES. 79 



especially where the great affluents debouche ; and there 

 generally are formed vast expanses of sand, small "Saharas," 

 studded with stalking pillars of sand, raised seventy or 

 eighty feet high by gusts of wind, erect, stately, grave- 

 looking columns, all shaft, with neither basement nor 

 capital, the genii of the "Arabian Nights." The river is 

 always dotted with boats of all shapes, mine being perhaps 

 of the most common description ; the great square, 

 Yankee-like steamers, towing their accommodation-boats 

 (as the passengers' floating hotels are called), are the rarest. 

 Trees are few on the banks, except near villages, and there 

 is hardly a palm to be seen above Patna. Towns are un- 

 frequent, such as there are being mere collections of huts, 

 with the ghat and boats at the bottom of the bank ; and 

 at a respectful distance from the bazaar, stand the neat 

 bungalows of the European residents, with their smiling 

 gardens, hedgings and fencings, and loitering servants at 

 the door. A rotting charpoy (or bedstead) on the banks 

 is a common sight, — the " sola reliquia " of some poor 

 Hindoo, who departs this life by the side of the stream, to 

 which his body is afterwards committed. 



Shoals of small goggled-eyed fish are seen, that spring 

 clear out of the water, and are preyed upon by terns and 

 other birds ; a few insects skim the surface ; turtle and 

 porpoises tumble along, all forming a very busy contrast to 

 the lazy alligator, sunning his green and scaly back near 

 the shore, with his ichthyosaurian snout raised high above 

 the water. Birds are numerous, especially early and late 

 in the day. Along the silent shore the hungry Pariah dog 

 may be seen tearing his meal from some stranded corpse, 

 whilst the adjutant-bird, with his head sunk on his body 

 and one leg tucked up, patiently awaits his turn. At 

 night the beautiful Brahminee geese alight, one by one, and 



