26th December.  The custom of exposing dying people on the banks of the Ganges, does not appear to be so general as some travellers state.  We sailed on the river for fourteen days, during which time we passed many thickly populated towns and villages, and did not meet with a single case until today.  The dying man lay close to the water, and several men, probably his relations, were seated round him, awaiting his decease.  One dipped water and mud out of the river with his hands, and put them to the nose and mouth of the dying man.  The Hindoos believe that if they die at the river with their mouths full of the holy water, they are quite certain to go to heaven.  His relations or friends remain by the dying man till sunset, when they go home, and leave him to his fate.  He generally falls a prey to crocodiles.  I very seldom saw any floating corpses; only two during the whole journey.  Most of the corpses are burnt.

27th December.  Ghazipoor is an important place, and is remarkable at a distance for its handsome ghauts.  Here stands a pretty monument erected to the memory of Lord Cornwallis, who conquered Tippoo Saib in 1790.  Very near is a large establishment for training horses, which is said to turn out remarkably fine ones.  But Ghazipoor is most remarkable for its enormous rose-fields, and the rose-water and attar prepared here.  The latter is obtained in the following manner:—­

Upon forty pounds of roses, with the calixes, sixty pounds of water are poured, and the whole is distilled over a slow fire.  From this, about thirty pounds of rose-water are obtained.  Another forty pounds of roses are again added to this, and, at the utmost, twenty pounds of water distilled off.  This is then exposed during the night to the cold air in pans, and in the morning the oil is found swimming upon the surface and is skimmed off.  Not more than an ounce and a half of attar, at the utmost, is obtained from eighty pounds of roses.  An ounce of true attar costs, even at Ghazipoor, 40 rupees (4 pounds).

At 10 o’clock on the morning of the 28th, we at length reached the holy town of Benares.  We anchored near Radschgaht, where coolies and camels were ready to receive us.

Before taking leave of the Ganges, I must remark that, during the whole journey of about a thousand miles, I did not meet with a single spot remarkable for its especial beauty, or one picturesque view.  The banks are either flat or bounded by layers of earth ten or twenty feet in height, and, further inland, sandy plains alternate with plantations or dried-up meadows and miserable jungles.  There are, indeed, a great number of towns and villages, but, with the exception of occasional handsome houses and the ghauts, they are composed of a collection of huts.  The river itself is frequently divided into several branches, and is sometimes so broad that it resembles a sea rather than a river, for the banks are scarcely visible.