178 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
mies of his divinities, when he was in the very act of 
offering himself up a voluntary sacrifice. 
Thus determined, the devotee at length persuaded 
himself that he had been sufficiently long at Benares 
for all spiritual purposes, and that he might conse- 
quently as well return to the south, where he could 
visit a certain spot in the small island of Ramiseram, 
long celebrated for Hindoo pilgrimages. 
About this time it was rumoured in the city of 
Benares that a wealthy Mohammedan had lately 
arrived at Juanpoor from the Malabar coast, where 
he had taken the wife of a Brahmin from her home, 
caused her to abjure her creed, and converted her to 
his own. It at once struck the grief-worn peni- 
tentiary that his consort, upon whom he had cast 
such foul suspicions, might have been the victim of 
force, and not a voluntary agent in the act which 
deprived him of an object to which his heart was 
riveted. Without a moment’s delay he set out for 
the abode of the supposed destroyer of his peace. 
The town of Juanpoor is about twenty coss, or 
forty miles, from Benares, and stands upon the banks 
of the river Goomty. The fort is of vast strength, 
being built of solid masonry, and rises to a consider- 
able height above the level of the surrounding plain, 
over which many magnificent ruins are scattered. 
“ A suburb or clay-built hut leads to a large serai, 
formed of the same materials, through which there is 
a bridge of considerable extent, divided into two 
parts, one of which consists of ten arches, and is over 
the boundary of the river during the dry season. This 
bridge has stood two hundred and fifty years, having 
