j a . ' T R A V E L S IN
his attention to' the public accommodation, built many,, from
the extremity of Bengal to Lahore. 'There is a noble building',
of- this kind remaining at Rajemahel, built by Sultan
Sujah, when Subah of Bengal. The form: is a fquare of
equal,tides j the entrance from the Bengal road is= through a
large and highly-ornamented gate, which allb poffeffes military
ftrength no lefs than beauty. Round the four tides is a
wall about twenty feet h ig h ; attached to the wall round the
tides are feparate apartments, covered on the top, and. open to
the center of the area within. In thefe places the traveller
lodges'’his goods,' and tleeps; the area within the fquare is
for the beads, . Attendant on thefe ferais are poor people,,
who fumith a fmall bedtlead for the traveller to tleep on, and
■ \yhp am rewarded by a trifling fuirf, amounting %o perhaps a
penny Englith. The hjahomedan is, in general, a generogs
man compared with the Hindoo on thefe occafions. j Opposite
the Bengal gate is another in this Serai j which, however,
is notliing more than merely an opening through the wall.
F rom Mongheir I embarked, and returned by water ,to:
Calcutta; and here I had an opportunity of obferving .ade-s
ries of feenery perfectly new the different boats of the .cou^H
try, and the varied; Shores of the Ganges. - This immenfe current
of water fuggelts rather the idea of an ocean than of a
river, the general breadth of it being from two to five miles,
and in fome places more. The largeft boats failing up or
palling down, appear, when in the middle of the Stream, as
ü D I A. 33
mere points, and the .eastern Shore only as a dark line marking
the horizon. The rivers; I have .Seen itriEurope, even the
-Rhine, appear as rivulets in comp'arifon with this» enormous
mafs of water. I do not! know "a more pjeafant amufement
than failing down the; Ganges in thç warm feafon the air,
paging over the great, reaches' of the river, many\ miles in
length, is fo tempered .as ,to r feel delightfully refreshing.
After fùn-fet- the, boats are generally moored clofd to the
banks, where the Shore is, bold,-and near a gunge or market,
the accommodation of, the i-peqple1.'. It is,, comimpn,1 on
the banks,iof the- river, ,to fee fmall Hiridoof temples, with
gauts,, or pâflages-, and flights of -Steps’- to the. river. In the
mornings, at or .after fun-riSb, the women bathe in the river s
and the younger part-, in particular, continue a considerable
time in the water, Sporting and playing like Naiads or Syrens.
T o a painter’s .mind; .the. fine antique .figures .never fail to
prefent themfelveSi■ when he obferyes a beautiful female form
:afcending thefe Steps from the-river, with Wet drapery, which
perfectly difplays the whole perfon» and with vafes on their
heads, carrying water to the temples. . Ajfight no lets novel
or extraordinary, is.the Bramins at their oraifons ; perfectly
abstracted, for the timê, tO:eveiy paSling object, .however at-,
tractive. Thefe devotees' are1 generally naked, except a .fmall
piece of drapery round the middle. A furprizing fpirit of
cleanlinefs is to be obferved ahiong the Hindoos: the Streets
of their villages are commonly fwept and watered, and fand
is frequeiMy Strewed before the doors of the hoiries ,1. The
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