RHOTAS GUR. 
201 
CHAPTER XVII. 
RHOTAS GUR. A SHEEP-EATER. 
On quitting Benares, which we did after a halt of 
a few days, we directed our steps to Rhotas Gur, one 
of the most romantic spots south of the Himalaya 
mountains. At a village, about eighteen miles from 
Benares, where we halted for the day, we were visited 
by a gaunt, grim-looking Hindoo, of some celebrity in 
the neighbourhood, which he had acquired, as well as 
the admiration of his caste, by his capability of de- 
vouring a sheep at a single meal. He was a tall, 
bony person, somewhat past the prime of life, with 
a thin, wiry frame, and a countenance of the most 
imperturbable equanimity, though as ugly as a sheep- 
eater might be expected to be. He was of the Sudra 
caste, and his companions seemed to entertain a high 
idea of his singular accomplishment as a most vora- 
cious eaten. He offered, for a few rupees, to devour 
an entire sheep, if we would pay for the animal as well 
as for the different accessories of the meal. There 
was something so extraordinary in the proposal that 
we readily acquiesced. We accordingly prepared to 
witness this marvellous feat of manducation, by pur- 
chasing the largest sheep * we could find, which 
* Sheep in India are generally very small and lean. 
