182 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
CHAPTER XIV. 
CHUNAR. BANYAN-TREE. MAHOMEDAN TOMBS. 
From Benares we proceeded to Chunar, the fort to 
which Mr. Hastings retired after the insurrection of 
Cheit Singh in 1781. It is a strong fortress, built 
upon a vast rock of free-stone, higher than St. Paul’s, 
rising abruptly from the plain and extending a good 
way into the river, of which the batteries completely 
command the navigation. No boat was at that time 
allowed to pass the fort without a strict examination, 
but of late years I believe this rigid scrutiny has 
been discontinued. The prospect from the summit of 
this fortified hill is very extensive, overlooking per- 
naps one of the best cultivated districts in India. 
The town presents nothing attractive to the travel- 
ler’s eye, being composed of clusters of native huts 
and European bungalows, built without the slightest 
regard either to order or beauty. There is a canton- 
ment for sepoys outside the fortress, which is fortified 
with walls and towers built successively one behind 
the other, so that at the time of Cheit Singh’s rebel- 
lion it was considered a place of great strength. These 
sturdy walls and towers present a singular contrast 
to the mud hovels and frail thatched bungalows of 
the modern town. The place is excessively unhealthy 
