l'art III. travels into I N D ](eS! 6$ 
CHAP. XXXIX. 
Of the Province ^/Halabas, and of the Faquirs 
of the Indies. 
THe Province of Halabas was heretofore called Turop : In it arecompre- ^he Province 
liended Nawar and Mevat^ which have Bengala to the South. The of Halabas. 
chief Town lying upon the lide of the Ganges , at the mouth of the River Narvar. 
Gemini , bears the name of the Province -, for a long time it was one of the ^^'^^f' 
Bulwarks of the Kingdom of the Patans, and is the lame Town which P/iw/ 
c^lls Chryfobacya. It tell under the power of the Great Mogul Ecbar, after chryfibacra. 
he had fubdued the Kingdom of Bengala : He caufed the ftrong Citadel to 
be built there,wh{ch ftands upon a tongue of Landjbegirt with three Walls, 
whereof the laft (I mean the outmoft Wall ) was of very hard red Stone. 
That Caftle is adorned with a very ancient Obelisk -, it is above fixty Foot 
high from the ground, and has many Infcriptions upon it ; but the Letters 
of it are fo worn out, that one cannot fo much as diftinguifti the Charader. 
The Kings Palace is alfo a fair pile of Building-, and underneath it there 
are places Arched, where the Pagods are carefully kept , which the Peo- 
ple of the Countrey attribute to ^cJam and Eve , whofe Religion they pre- Mam, Eve. 
tend to follow : Thither comes at certain times an incredible concours of 
People, in Pilgrimage from all parts of the Indies -, and they are drawn thi-" 
ther by the belief they have, that Adam and E-t/ewere created there : But be- 
fore they approach that place (which they look upon to be holy)they throw 
themfelves Irark naked into the Ganges to be purified , and they raife their The Indians 
Beards and Hair , that they may merit the Honour of being introduced. Purification in 
That Province hatha great many good Towns, of which number are Nar- Ganges, 
•val and Gehud -, but the People there are fo extravagant in point of Religi- Nar^vaifiehnd- 
on, that hardly any thing is to be underftood of it : They are taken with Towns, 
every thing they fee , and approve all the Adions of thoic that make any 
lliew of Devotion, never minding whether it be true or falfe. It many times ' 
happens that a Banian will give a Faquir conliderable Sums of Money , be- 
cauCe he has the boldnefs to place himfelf near his Shop, and to proteft that Faqnirs, 
he'll kill himfelf if he be not fupplied with what he demands : Tl^ie Banian 
promifes fair, and brings it him -, but becaufe the fantaftical Faquir under- 
ftands that lèverai have contributed to that Charity , he openly refufes it, 
and goes about to execute what he hath threatned , if the Banian alone fur- 
nilh not the Sum -, and the Banian knowing that fome Faquirs have been lb 
defperate as to kill themfelves upon the like occa(ion,is fo much a fool as to 
give it oat of his own Purfc , and to give the others back again what they 
had contributed. 
Thefe Faquirs (who give themfelves out to be of a Religious Order)have 
commonly no place to retreat unto , unlefs it be lome Pagods -, and they 
cannot be better compared (if you'll fet afide the Penances they do) than to 
Gjp/ïes, for their way of Living is like theirs -, and I believe their Profeffion Gypfes, Fa- 
has the fame Original , which is Libertinifme. Hov/ever, they attribute it ?«'>^- 
to a Prince m.mcaRe'van , who had a Qiarrel with Ram ., and who being Prince R.e'vmn. 
overcome and ftript of all, by an Ape called Herman , fpent the reft of his 
Life in rambling over the World , having no other fubliftence for himfelf 
and his followers but what was given him in Charity. 
They are many times to be feen in Troops at Halabas ^whcre they AfTem- 
ble for "Celebrating of fome Feafts (for which they are obliged to wall\ them- 
felves in the Ganges ) and to perform certain Ceremonies. Such of them as 
' do 
