Manchurian Books

The temples of the Hindoos, the Ghauts (flights of steps, halls, and
gateways) on the Ganges, like the mosques of the Mahomedans, always
look a great deal better at a distance than they do on a nearer
inspection. The only objects worthy of notice which I saw here,
were a few bell-shaped mausoleums, like those in Ceylon, which they
greatly surpassed in size, although not in artistic beauty; they
were certainly more than 200 feet in circumference, and eighty feet
in height. Excessively narrow entrances, with simple doors, conduct
into the interior. On the outside, two small flights of steps,
forming a semicircle, lead up to the top. The doors were not opened
for us, and we were obliged to content ourselves with the assurance
that, with the exception of a small, plain sarcophagus there was
nothing inside.
Patna is a place of great importance, from the trade in opium, by
which many of the natives acquire large fortunes. As a general
rule, they make no display of their riches, either as regards their
clothes, or in any other public kind of luxury.


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