CHAPTER LI.
Let me make the superstitions of a nation and I care not who makes its laws or its songs either.
-- Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar.
Yes, the city of Benares is in effect just a big church, a religious hive, whose every cell is a temple, a shrine or a mosque, and whose every conceivable earthly and heavenly good is procurable under one roof, so to speak--a sort of Army and Navy Stores, theologically stocked.
I will make out a little itinerary for the pilgrim; then you will see how handy the system is, how convenient, how comprehensive.

If you go to Benares with a serious desire to spiritually benefit yourself, you will find it valuable.

I got some of the facts from conversations with the Rev.Mr.Parker and the others from his Guide to Benares; they are therefore trustworthy.
1.Purification.

At sunrise you must go down to the Ganges and bathe, pray, and drink some of the water.

This is for your general purification.
2.