The History of India, from the Earliest Period to the Close of Lord Dalhousie's Administration, Vol. 3 (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from The History of India, From the Earliest Period to the Close of Lord Dalhousie's Administration, Vol. 3
The rich scent of these superb blossoms, together with that of the banbool, fills the air with perfume, and gratifies at once both sight and smell.
There are two halting-places in the Keeree Pass: one, the Molina Chokee, at the entrance; the other, the Shoupore Chokee, within the pass, which extends to a length of upwards of six miles. A party of tourists, when consisting of several persons, having with them a numerous cortege - comprising horses, elephants, and bullocks, for the conveyance of baggage - presents an imposing appearance; and the usual encampment at the Mohun Chokee becomes extensive and picturesque, when animated by groups of attendants, assembled round their fires - the horses and elephants picketed under the trees, and the bullocks reposing on the ground.
Advancing from this spot, the traveller approaches the low hills, which compose, as it were, the outworks of the Himalaya. Of these, the elevation varies from 500 to 900 feet above the plains, and about 2,500 above the level of the sea. The thick forest and brushwood with which they are clothed are full of peacocks; and, amidst game of less importance, the tiger is found; while hares, and the black and grey partridge, literally swarm around. There are, however, parts of the woody ranges beyond Keeree, so strongly infected with poisonous exhalations, that at the worst season they are deserted even by the brute creation; monkeys, tigers, every species of quadruped, and even the birds, urged by some instinctive warning, quit the deadly spot, and seek a resting-place in distant and more healthy neighbourhoods.
The Ganges, Entering the Plains Near Hurdwar.
Emerging from the Keeree Pass, the road proceeds in the direction of Hurdwar (Hari-dwar, the Gate of Vishnu), near the point at which the sacred waters of the Ganges enter the plains of Hindoostan. The scenery around Hurdwar affords some of the most splendid landscapes which are to be found on the bright and beautiful river whose majestic course is diversified by so many interesting objects. The town stands at the base of a steep mountain, on the verge of a slip of land reclaimed from the forest, and surrounded on all sides by thick jungle. The leafy fastnesses of the Deyrah Dhoon appear immediately above the pass; and below, the uncultivated wastes of the Terraic stretch their wildernesses for many miles. The locality about Hurdwar has for ages been held in high veneration by the worshippers of Vishnu, and the town itself is one of the most frequented resorts of Hindoo pilgrims, who flock thither from all parts of India, to perform their devotions in the mystic stream at the moment of its emancipation from the untrodden recesses of the vast Himalaya, in whose profound solitudes the infant waters spring from their everlasting fount.
To behold the Ganges at the moment in which its faith-inspiring current bursts into freedom from its mountain boundary, and glides in one broad stream along the plain, is to the exhausted devotee who has endured weeks, perhaps months, of fatigue and privation consequent upon a painful and hazardous journey, an ample recompense for all his toil and suffering. He gazes enraptured on the holy river, and, gathering up his failing strength to the task, presses onward, but too happy to yield up life with the first plunge of his body in the hallowed wave. Guided by faith in the doctrine of his race, the worshippers of Bramah believe that a blessed immortality is secured to the person who shall thus end his earthly career; and, consequently, many who are wearied of life, or are anxious to enter scenes of purer enjoyment, will cheerfully commit suicide, or, if too weak to perform the act themselves, will prevail on their nearest friends to accelerate the progress of dissolution by leaving their bodies to float down the sacred stream, ...