244 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
CHAPTER XXL 
GOUR. MUSQUITOES. A WILD SOW SHOT. 
From Bode Gyah we made the best of our way to 
Patna,, where our budgerow was waiting for us., and 
thence dropped down the river to Rajemah’l. Here 
we crossed the Ganges, and proceeded in our palan- 
keens to the ruins of Gour, once the capital of Bengal, 
and about thirty miles from Rajemah’l. The city of 
Gour was formerly of vast extent, as is evident from 
the ruins now remaining, which occupy a space of 
twenty square miles. Several villages stand upon its 
site ; and what may be called the modern town, in 
which there are eight tolerably good bazaars, contains a 
population of somewhere about thirty thousand souls. 
Nothing scarcely remains of the old city, except 
a few solemn ruins. One of the gateways is still 
a magnificent object ; it is a noble piece of archi- 
tecture and majestic even in decay. It originally 
formed one of the principal entrances into the town. 
The arch is upwards of fifty feet high, and the wall 
of immense thickness. The ravages of time are in- 
deed fearfully visible upon it, but it nevertheless 
appears likely to stand for centuries. This neighbour- 
hood swarms with vermin and reptiles of all kinds, 
and only two days before our arrival, a boa snake, 
