822 Observations upon the past and present [Oct. 



rounds of the holy places. These cicerones (Oudij brahmans*) sit 

 at the ghats expecting their prey. They require from any brahman 

 or respectable person whom they have escorted, a certificate to that 

 effect in which they are very particular in inserting the name, family, 

 habitation, &c. of the visitor. He who can shew the greatest and most 

 respectable budget of these documents takes a sort of lead amongst 

 his fellows ; — hsec dignitas, hse vires. When a well dressed Hindu 

 stranger approaches the ghats the guides press round him, " take me I 

 have read" cries one, " I have been here for 30 years and know every 

 corner" pleads another, while a third holds aloft a dirty piece of paper, 

 and shouts in his ear, I escorted Shastri so and so, here's his certifi- 

 cate. These pious men then pushf, bawl and abuse, while the puzzled 

 visitor alarmed at the hubbub, with difficulty extricates himself from 

 their clutches, and must wonder in silence at this first specimen of 

 the holiness of Oujein. A little to the south of Siddh Ndth, the river 

 as will be seen in the sketch, takes a turn to the right : in the bend 

 and on the right bank is the ghat of Mangaleswar, a place of olden 

 fame. 



The present buildings, at which on every Tuesday there may be 

 witnessed a crowded mela, a handsome solid ghat, a temple, and 

 Dharmsdla, are due to the piety of the excellent Ahalya Bai', to 

 record whose liberality no pompous inscription will be found, though 

 gratitude cherishes, with affection, the memory of her benefits. 



Keeping to the right bank of the Sipra, and following a path which 

 leads towards the city, you pass a rudely fashioned image of Dharma Raja, 

 all besmeared with black paint, a call and ling at his side. Connected 

 with and close to it, stands a small white- washed European-looking 

 room, (unworthily dignified with the name of Dharmsdla,) the walls 

 and ceiling of which are polluted with the most indecent pictures that 

 can be conceived. The indelicate figures that so often defile the tem- 



* These are the more numerous, but poor brahmans of other Guzerati classes 

 are found, as the Nagar, Audeembir, &c. Maharashtra brahmans also may be met 

 ■with : my guide was of this jat, a very ignorant old man (I chose him for his 

 ■wrinkles) who could do nothing but mutter mantras, and when asked a question 

 kept his teeth closed and shook his head. 



"T As long as there is no gold or silver before them (says Lucian in the Visher- 

 nou, of some similar hypocrites) they are very good friends ; but shew them a 

 single farthing and the peace is broken immediately ; there is no longer any 

 order or agreement amongst them : they are just like the dogs ; throw but a 

 bone, they all sally out, bite one another, and bark at him that carries it off — 

 Franklin's Translation. 



