GANGES VALLEY. Chap. I I I . Ap r i i , 1848. BHAGULPOEE. 81
The inhabitants are reported to be sad drunkards, and
the abundance of toddy palms was quite remarkable.
In the morning of the following day I went to the hot
springs of Seeta-koond (wells of Seeta), a few miles
south of the town.
MONGHYR ON THE GANGES, WITH THE CURRDCKFORE HILLS IN THE DISTANCE.
Unlike the Soorujkoond hot-springs, these rise in a
plain, and were once covered by a handsome temple.
All the water is collected in a tank, some yards square,
with steps leading down to it. I t is clear and tasteless
(temp. 104°), and so pure as to be exported copiously ;
whilst at Monghyr itself they manufacture from it
soda-water, which presents the anomaly of owing its
purity to Seeta’s ablutions.
On my passage down the river I passed the picturesque
rocks of Sultangunj ; they are similar to those
of Monghyr, but very much larger and loftiér. One, a
round-headed mass, stands on the bank, capped with a
triple-domed Mahommedan tomb, palms, and figs. The
other, which is far more striking, rises isolated in thè
bed of the river, and is crowned with a Hindoo temple,
its pyramidal cone surmounted with a curious pile of
weathercocks, and two little banners. The temple is
dedicated to Naragur, and inhabited by Fakirs; it' is
the most holy on the Ganges.
At Bhagulpore, where I arrived on the 5th, I took up
my quarters with my friend Dr. Grant, till he should
arrange my dawk for Sikkim.
The town has been supposed to be the much-sought
Palibothra, and a dirty stream hard by (the Chundum),
the Eranoboas ; but Mr. Ravenshaw has now brought
all existing proofs to bear on Patna and the Soane. I t
is, like most hilly places in India, S. of the Himalaya,
the seat of much Jain worship; and the temples on
Mount Manden, a few miles off, are said to have been
540 in number. At the assumed summer-palaces of
the kings of Palibothra the ground is covered with
agates, brought from the neighbouring hills, which
were, in a rough state, let into the walls of the buildings.
Again, near the hills, the features of interest are very
numerous. The neighbouring mountains of Curruck-
pore, which are a portion of the Rajmahal and Paras-
nath range, are peopled by tribes representing the
earliest races of India, prior to the invasion of young
Rama, prince of Oude, who, according to the legend,
E 3