SCENES IN INDIA. 
CHAPTER I. 
SINGULAR TEMPLE. THE RHINOCEROS. SERIN AGUR. 
Upon quitting Hurdwar, as I have stated in the 
conclusion of the former volume, we proceeded towards 
the mountains. A short distance from that venerated 
spot where ablutions in the Ganges are considered so 
especially efficacious to spiritual purgation, there is a 
remarkable banyan tree. It is consecrated to the 
worship of the Hindoo godhead, and its sanctuary is 
constantly visited by devout pilgrims from the neigh- 
bouring countries. The stem, of vast circumference, 
is surrounded by a terrace. It is hollowed out into a 
chamber of considerable dimensions, which has been 
converted into a temple by the pious zeal of the de- 
votees who visit it daily, merely entering on one side 
and passing out at the other, where they pay tri- 
bute, after the manner of all true believers, in the 
current mintage of the land ; by which they acquire 
a mystical purification. Being aliens from the pri- 
vileged stock, we were not allowed to enter the adytum 
of this forest sanctuary, lest we should desecrate its 
B 
