To perform their ablutions in its waters, to die on its brink, to be thrown after death into its waves, are the supreme happiness of
the disciples of Vishnu and of Brahma. The dying carcasses are generally abandoned to the current of the wave.
The most famous of their places of worship is that point of the peninsula, where the Ganges, suddenly abandoning the mountains, is precipitated down the plains of Hindostan. A temple is elevated in the middle of the waters, and surmounted by two cupolas.
Here are constantly assembled a large crowd of pilgrims, and a willing contribution is paid to the Brahmins. The two sexes bathe together, while the most rigid of the devotees walk to the bath escorted by two Brahmins.
"How sweetly Ganga smiles and glides
Luxuriant o'er her broad Autumnal bed!
Her waves perpetual verdure spread,
Whilst health and plenty deck her golden sides:
As when an eagle, child of light,