GHAZIPORE. 
51 
sleep upon a bedstead, the earth being his proper 
couch. Secondly, that none of the inhabitants of the 
country should attempt to strike a Mussulman under 
penalty of perdition. Thirdly, that no farmer, or 
keeper of cows, should ever adulterate the milk sup- 
plied for the consumption of the true believers. And 
as these rules were to be observed towards Mussul- 
mans, so were they to be most religiously conformed 
with by all other men for ever, as a mark of respect 
to the memory of the conquerors. The laws live in 
the mouths of the people continually, but I can 
speak from experience that they are daily infringed. 
A feigned observance of the first decree is certainly 
common, wherever the name of Ghazi is worshipped. 
The circumstance escaped my notice, until I met 
with mention of it in the writings of some traveller ; 
but it will be found that the sacred law is thus remem- 
bered and evaded. The people make use of a bed- 
stead of boards, pretending that Ghazi’s prohibition 
extended only to bedsteads strung with tape or cord, 
such as are generally used throughout Bengal. 
Ghazipore stands upon the north bank of the 
Ganges, about seventy miles, by water, below Benares. 
It is not a very extensive town, but is justly cele- 
brated as the Gul-istan, the rose-bed, of Bengal. In 
the spring of the year an extent of miles around the 
town presents to the eye a continued garden of roses, 
than which, nothing can be more beautiful and fra- 
grant. The sight is perfectly dazzling ; the plain, as 
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