CHAPTER VII
THE PILGRIMS OF THE PHALGOU RIVER
WHAT is now called Behar was in former days the em- pire of Magadha. In the time of the Buddhists it was sacred territory, and is still covered with temples and mon- asteries. But, for many centuries, the Brahmins have oc- cupied the place of the priests of Buddha. They have taken possession of the viharas or temples, and, turning them to their own account, live on the produce of the wor- ship they teach. The faithful flock thither from all parts, and in these sacred places the Brahmins compete with the holy waters of the Ganges, the pilgrimages to Benares, the ceremonies of Juggernaut; in fact, one may say the country belongs to them.
The soil is rich, there are immense rice-fields of emerald green, and vast plantations of poppies. There are numerous villages, buried in luxuriant verdure, and shaded by palms, mangoes, and date-trees, over which nature has thrown, like a net, a tangled web of creeping plants.
Steam House passed along roads which were embowered in foliage, and beneath the leafy arches the air was cool and fresh. We followed the chart of our route, and had no fear of losing our way.
The snorting and trumpeting of our elephant mingled with the deafening screams of the winged tribes and the discordant chatterings and scoldings of apes and monkeys, and the golden fruit of the bananas shone like stars through light clouds, as smoke and steam rolled in volumes among the trees. The delicate rice-birds rose in flocks as Behemoth passed along, their white plumage almost concealed as they flew through the spiral wreaths of steam.
But the heat! the moist air scarcely made its way through the tatties of our windows. The hot winds, charged with caloric as they passed over the surface of the great western plains, enveloped the land in their fiery embrace. One longs for the month of June, when this state of the atmosphere will be modified. Death threatens those who seek to brave the stroke of this flaming sun.
The fields are deserted. Even the ryots themselves, in- ured as they are to the burning heat, cannot continue their agricultural labors. The shady roadway alone is prac-168
