BENARES, 
93 
their marriage, and to have been practised without fear 
of offence to the deities, for their belief is, that the 
souls of those daughters who were thus destroyed were 
eventually returned to them in the persons of sons; and 
when this did not appear to be borne out by the birth 
of a male child, it only followed that Siva was dis- 
pleased, and conciliation was resorted to, until a son 
should really be born to them. In these cases it was 
usual to seek propitiation by placing the next female 
infant in the hands of the Brahmins, to be solemnly 
sacrificed in the temple of Genesa, whereby that god 
might be moved to compassion for the babe, and be 
induced to intercede with Siva for the future birth of 
male children to the parents. It is easy to perceive 
whence this delusion had its commencement, since a 
handsome douceur to the immolating priests was an 
indispensable part of the ceremony, which in all re- 
spects differed from the method of destruction privately 
used. In the latter place the operation was performed 
with very little form or expense, by what the Hindoos 
call drinking milk. No sooner had the sex of the 
infant been ascertained, than a cauldron of warm milk 
was brought into the apartment where the mother lay, 
and after prayers for the child’s return in the form of a 
son, the little innocent was immersed in the milk, and 
held down until life became extinct, and then it was 
earned to the Ganges and thrown into the stream. 
When, however, the deed was committed to the Brah- 
mins to be executed by way of sacrifice to Genesa, the 
