'My mother, wife, cousin, myself, and little brother, all carried one pair each.'
'This little boy could not surely carry a pair of baskets all the way?'
'No, sir, we had a pair of small baskets made especially for him; and when within about three miles of the temple he got down from his little pony, took up his baskets, and carried them to the god. Up to within three miles of the temple the baskets were carried by a Brahman servant, whom we had taken with us to cook our food. We had with us another Brahman, to whom we had to pay only a trifle, as his principal wages were made up of fees from families in the town of Jubbulpore, who had made similar vows, and gave him so much a bottle for the water he carried in their several names to the god.'
'Did you give all your water to the Baijnāth temple, or carry some with you to Jagannāth?'
'No water is ever offered to Jagannāth, sir; he is an incarnation of Vishnu.'[4]
'And does Vishnu never drink?'
'He drinks, sir, no doubt; but he gets nothing but offerings of food and money.'
'From this to Bindāchal on the Ganges, two hundred and thirty miles; thence to Baijnāth, a hundred and fifty miles; and thence to Jagannāth, some four or five hundred miles more.'[5]
'And your mother and wife walked all the way with their baskets?'
'All the way, sir, except when either of them got sick, when she mounted the pony with my little brother till she felt well again.'