From this vantage-point a noble view of the city, it
is said, may be obtained; but few persons, we should think, have heads
cool enough to enjoy it. With all Madame Pfeiffer's adventurousness, she
did not essay this perilous experiment.
The Observatory, constructed for the great Mohammedan emperor Akbar, is
also an object of interest. It is not furnished, like a European
observatory, with the usual astronomical instruments, telescopes, rain-
gauges, anemometers, and the like, the handiwork of cunning artificers in
glass and metal; but everything is of stone--solid, durable stone. On a
raised terrace stand circular tables, semicircular and quadratic curves,
all of stone, and all inscribed with mystic signs and characters.
Benares is celebrated for its bazaars, in which are exhibited some of the
rarest productions of the East; but its principal attraction is its
sanctity, and crowds of pilgrims resort to its temples, and cleanse
themselves of their sins by bathing in the fast-flowing Ganges. To die
at Benares is regarded as a passport to heaven; and one of the most
frequent sights is the burning of a corpse on the river-bank, with
ceremonies proportioned to the rank and wealth of the deceased--the ashes
being afterwards committed to the holy waters. Benares is also famous
for its palaces. Of these the most splendid is that which the rajah
inhabits.
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