Benares contains 300,000 inhabitants, of which scarcely 150 are Europeans.
The town is handsome, especially when seen from the river side, where its defects are not observed.

Magnificent rows of steps, built of colossal stones, lead up to the houses and palaces, and artistically built gateways.

In the best part of the town, they form a continuous line two miles in length.

These steps cost enormous sums of money, and a large town might have been built with the stones employed for them.
The handsome part of the town contains a great number of antique palaces, in the Moorish, Gothic, and Hindoo styles, many of which are six stories high.

The gates are most magnificent, and the fronts of the palaces and houses are covered with masterly arabesques and sculptured work; the different stories are richly ornamented with fine colonnades, verandahs, balconies, and friezes.
The windows alone did not please me; they were low, small, and seldom regularly arranged.