HINDOSTAN ILLUSTRATED.

above the sea-level, the Bhagarati, or true Ganges, issuing from beneath a low arch atthe base of a vast mass of frozen snow, nearly three hundred feet in height, and composedof different layers, each several feet in thickness, and in all probability the accumulationof ages. Neither here, nor at Gungootree, is there anything resembling a cow’s mouth,to support the popular fable, which must have been invented by persons utterlyunacquainted with the true features of the scene in which the sacred river gladdensearth with its ever-bounteous waters.

A pilgrimage to Gungootree is accounted one of the most meritorious actions whicha Hindoo can perform; and in commemoration of his visit to this holy place, a Ghoorltachieftain has left a memorial of his conquests and his piety, in a small pagoda, erectedin honour of the goddess on a platform of rock, about twenty feet higher than the bedof the river. The brahmins who have the care of this temple are accommodated withhabitations in its close vicinity, and there are a few sheds for the temporary residenceof pilgrims, many of whom, however, are content with such shelter as the neighbouringcaves afford. The usual ceremonies of bathing, praying, and marking the forehead, aregone through at this place, the officiating brahmin taking care that the fees shall beduly paid. Notwithstanding the stern and sullen nature of his retreat, at some periodsof the year he may be said to lead a busy life, conversing with devout pilgrims, andcarriers of water to distant lands, who require his seal to authenticate their burdens;and making the most out of all his visitors, whatever their country or their creed maybe. Though dispensing with his orisons, we paid him for his services; and it seemed amatter of indifference to him on what account he received the cash.

THE SNOWY RANGE, EROM LANDOUR.

The plains of India may with justice be deemed one vast prison, in which the sun,aided at one period of the year by the hot winds, acts the part of jailor. It is onlyduring a brief interval in the morning and evening that exercise can be taken withimpunity, except during the cold season, and even then we require a carriage or ahorse. Emancipation, therefore, from these restraints, the power of wandering at willin the open air, and the invigorating influence of the bracing atmosphere upon ourframes, rendered the party on their arrival at Mussooree like captives newly liberatedfrom a dungeon, or schoolboys breaking loose from their desks.

A road has been cut at the elevation of seven thousand feet above the level of thesea, which completely encircles the height chosen for the sanitarium of Landour, permit-ting the residents to make an easy excursion of four miles, either on horseback or on foot,every step of the way being fraught with objects of beauty and interest. Here we findmingled with the standard apricot, which grows in great abundance over the hills, the