SURVEY OF THE GANGES. 457 



forehead, and by a string of I w/j.9/' beads round the neck. The Uddsis 

 are the followers of Na'nac, the founder of the Sikh se6t ; and address 

 their prayers to the prophet, wliom they term Guru. They are known 

 by the conical cap, with a fringe, which they wear on all solemn occa- 

 sions. The Jogis or Cuiip'hjfas are the disciples of Siva, as the Gvsains; 

 but, as the term Cdnp'luita implies, they have a io)igitudinal ^lit in the 

 cartilage of the ear, through which a ring, or plate, of horn, wood or 

 silver, about the size of a crown piece, is suspended. Another custom ob- 

 tains among the Gosains and Jdgis, which is uncommon among the other 

 Hindus, that of burying their dead. All these casts engage in husbandry 

 and commerce; but the profession of arms is pecuhar to the Go.9^7>/5 or 

 Samiyasis; some of them never shave, but allow the hair on the head to 

 grow to an enormous length, binding it/round the forehead, in small 

 tresses, like a turban. 



No particular ceremony is observed at the bathing, which consists 

 entirely in the simple immersion. Those who are rigidly pious, or may 

 have any apprehension in going into the water, are introduced by a couple 

 of Brdhmens; who, having dipped the penitent in the holy stream, recon- 

 duct him to the shore. Few, however, require this assistance ; and, as the 

 water is not above four feet deep, the women even plunge in without hesita- 

 tion, and both sexes intermix indiscriminately. After the ablution is per- 

 formed, the men whose fathers are dead, and widows, undergo the opera- 

 tion of tonsure ; and many of them strew the hair in some frequented 

 path, with the superstitious idea that good or bad fortune is indicated by 

 the person or animal that first chances to tread upon it. An elephant is 

 considered peculiarly fortunate. 



Besides the Har-ca-Pairiy there are several other places of religious 



R 5 



