Page:Narrative of a journey through the upper provinces of India etc. (Volume I.).djvu/513

Rh tance. The Himalaya range may, as I was told, be sometimes seen, but nothing of the sort was now visible, nor any mountains at all in a horizon of great extent. The ground, however, of this part of Hindostan is not without inequalities, and though it is certainly one immense plain, it is such a plain as one sees in miniature in England or on the Continent of Europe, not such a mere dead level as Bengal. The bank on which Benares itself stands, is of some height, and there were several ridges of hills as at Chunar and other places within sight, which would fully rank on a level with Hawkstone.

The whole country seems in cultivation, but less with rice than wheat. The villages are numerous and large, but the scattered dwellings few, and there is but little wood. Fuel is, consequently, extremely dear, and to this circumstance is imputed the number of bodies thrown into the river without burning. Suttees are less numerous in Benares than many parts of India, but self-immolation by drowning is very common. Many scores, every year, of pilgrims from all parts of India, come hither expressly to end their days and secure their salvation. They purchase two large Kedgeree pots between which they tie themselves, and when empty these support their weight in the water. Thus equipped, they paddle into the stream, then fill the pots with the water which surrounds them, and thus sink into eternity. Government have sometimes attempted to prevent this practice, but with no other effect than driving the volun-