Bombay has the sea also, besides the groves, and at a little distance,
high mountains, which look beautiful, and which it is delightful to
visit. There are no such mountains near Calcutta or Madras.

These are the chief English cities. I must now speak of the favorite city
of the Hindoos.

It is Benares on the Ganges.

You might go from Calcutta in a boat, and after sailing four hundred
miles, you would reach Benares. The Hindoos say that it was built by
their god Sheeva, of gold and precious stones; but that, as we are living
in a bad time, it _appears_ to be made of bricks and mud, though really
very different. They say that Benares is eighty thousand steps nearer
heaven than any other city, and that whoever dies there (even though he
eat BEEF!) will go to heaven.

A missionary once reported a Hindoo for telling lies. The answer was,
"Why, what of that? do I not live at Benares?" The man thought he was
quite safe, however wicked he might be.

In walking about Benares a stranger might be surprised to meet every now
and then a white bull, with a hump on its back, without a driver or a
rider, or any one to keep it in order. You must know that a white bull is
said to belong to the chief god of Benares, and it is considered a sacred
animal, and is allowed to do as it pleases.

And how does it behave?