They  would  carry  it  far  and  wide  in  India  and  sell
it.  Tavemier,  the  French  traveler  (seventeenth  cen-
tury), notes  that  Ganges  water  is  often  given  at
weddings,  "each  guest  receiving  a  cup  or  two,  accord-
ing to  the  liberality  of  the  host;  sometimes  two  or^
three  thousand  rupees*  worth  of  it  is  consumed  at
a  wedding."

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FOLLOWING    THE    EQUATOR

The  Fort  is  a  huge  old  structure,  and  has  had  a
large  experience  in  religions.  In  its  great  court
stands  a  monolith  which  was  placed  there  more
than  two  thousand  years  ago  to  preach  Buddhism  by
its  pious  inscription;  the  Fort  was  built  three  cen-
turies ago  by  a  Mohammedan  Emperor — a  resancti-
fication  of  the  place  in  the  interest  of  that  religion.
There  is  a  Hindu  temple,  too,  with  subterranean
ramifications  stocked  with  shrines  and  idols;  and
now  the  Fort  belongs  to  the  English,  it  contains  a
Christian  Church.     Insured  in  aU'  the  companies.
From  the  lofty  ramparts  one  has  a  fine  view  of
the  sacred  rivers.  They  join  at  that  point — ^the
pale-blue  Jumna,  apparently  dean  and  dear,  and
the  muddy  Ganges,  dull  yellow  and  not  clean.  On
a  long  curved  spit  between  the  riversj  towns  of  tents
were  visible,  with  a  multitude  of  fluttering  pennons,
and  a  mighty  swarm  of  pilgrims.  It  was  a  trouble-
some place  to  get  down  to,  and  not  a  quiet  place
when  you  arrived;  but  it  was  interesting.  There
was  a  world  of  activity  and  turmoil  and  noise,  partly
religious,  partly  commerdal;  for  the  Mohammedans
were  there  to  curse  and  sell,  and  the  Hindus  to  buy
and  pray.  It  is  a  fair  as  well  as  a  religious  festival.
