1 publish a Supplement to this work, in order to supply the
2 deficiencies, and therein state any occurrences of interest which
3 may happen.
4 Having passed the months of July and August in Cashmere,
5 I left that beautiful country, on my way to Europe, in the
6 month of September, taking, with toe a quantity of Gaslunerenu
7 produce. After calling at Lahore, where J staid till the etui
8 oi October, l passed the Sutlej, and went, via Ferozeporc,
9 Louisiana, llmballa, Saharunpore, and Raj pore, again to the
10 hills, viz. to - Mussoorie, in order to visit rny two daughters,
11 whom I had placed at an educational institution tliere, which
12 is under the directum of some French ladies. I spent three
13 days at that place, and then continued iny journey, passing
14 from Meerut to Goonnuckteesnr. on the Gauges; where I
15 had previously engaged a small vessel to convey me to
16 Calcutta. The voyage down the Ganges wax an exceedingly
17 pleasant one, in many respects, and lasted two months. Among
18 the incidents which excited rny attention on the river, the
19 relation of which may interest the reader, was that, as we
20 approached Bengal, I observed, on both banks of the Ganges,
21 f gradually increasing number of cane-mats, coverlets, drinking
22 vessels, &c. and also many sick persons lying upon mats, &c.
23 On inquiring the cause, I found that it was the custom of the
24 country, among the poorer classes, that When a patient was
25 supposed to he past all hope of recovery, his relations con¬
26 veyed him to the banks of the Ganges, »o that he might
27 die in the vicinity of the sacred river. The relations or
28 friends of iho patients, visit the spot, to ascertain whether
29 they it re stilt living; when death ensues, they purchase a
30 sufficiency of wood to make a funeral-pile, and commit the
31 body to the flames; when their means do not afford the
32 expense of doing this, they merely burn a portion of the
33 face, and then push the body into the sacral river. When u
34 patient, thus situated, happens to recover, he considers that
35 he has, as it were, acquired a new life, and thenceforth all