Ten steps below that place stood a crowd of men, women, and comely young maidens waist deep in the water-and they were scooping it up in their hands and drinking it.

Faith can certainly do wonders, and this is an instance of it.

Those people were not drinking that fearful stuff to assuage thirst, but in order to purify their souls and the interior of their bodies.

According to their creed, the Ganges water makes everything pure that it touches--instantly and utterly pure.

The sewer water was not an offence to them, the corpse did not revolt them; the sacred water had touched both, and both were now snow-pure, and could defile no one.