BENARES. 
125 
CHAPTER X. 
BENARES. MUSJID.— -DEVOTEES. 
From Ghazipoor we soon reached Benares, the 
most holy city of Hindostan, the seat at once of Bra- 
minical learning and of Braminical superstition,, the 
great sanctuary of the religion of Brama, the centre 
of all that is sacred,, the focus of all that is wise., the 
fountain of all that is good ; — so say the veracious 
Hindoos in that most populous and enlightened coun- 
try of Central Asia, which has at once given them 
“ A local habitation and a name.” 
Benares takes its name from two rivers, the Benar 
and the Assee, which flow into the Ganges, the one 
above and the other below the city. They are about 
three miles apart, and betwixt them stands the cele- 
brated capital of a populous and extensive district. 
The intermediate space is filled with temples, houses, 
gauts, the latter of which are prodigious flights of 
steps descending from the walls of those buildings 
which here occupy the banks of the Ganges to the 
margin of the river ,* and, as the banks at this spot are 
extremely high, those flights are composed of a great 
number of steps, exhibiting the most magnificent ma- 
sonry and formed of very durable granite. Here 
m 3 
