[Sidenote: 12. Dasashwamedh Ghat, Benares.] [Sidenote: 13. Manikarnika Ghat, Benares.] The population of Benares numbers some two hundred thousand, of whom the great majority are of the Hindu faith, and no fewer than thirty thousand are Brahmans, the priestly caste. It is said that more than a million pilgrims visit the city every year. In the early morning they descend the ghats to bathe in the river and to drink the sacred water. Here we have the scene at one of these ghats, with the conical towers of a temple, and the great sun umbrellas. Another scene of a similar character follows at another ghat, the most sacred in Benares. [Sidenote: 14. Burning Ghat, Benares.] [Sidenote: 15. Another Burning Ghat, Benares.] Some of the ghats are used for the burning of dead bodies. Wrapped in a white shroud, the corpse is dipped into the river, then laid on a pile of faggots, and other faggots are built around, and a light is set to the pile. The ashes are thrown into the river. These rites are performed by the nearest relatives. We have here the body of a woman of the poorer classes nearly consumed, and the few relatives looking on. Here preparations are in progress for another cremation. The corpse may be seen, with its feet in the water, resting aslant at the foot of the ghat. The bodies of the higher castes are burnt at the Raja Ghat on costly fires of sandal-wood. At night, from the water, the city, with its thousands of lights and the tall flames at the Burning Ghats, is deeply impressive. [Sidenote: 16. The Observatory, Benares.] [Sidenote: 17. The Samrat Yantra in the Observatory.] [Sidenote: 18. Eclipse Festival, Benares.] Perhaps the most interesting of all the buildings at Benares is the Observatory, a lofty structure placed on the river brink and commanding a wide view. Within are instruments of stone on a great scale for the observation of the movements of the heavenly bodies. This is the Samrat Yantra, used for observing the declination and right ascension of the stars. Astronomy plays no inconsiderable part in the rites of Benares. The pilgrimages are thronged at the time of eclipse of the sun, and there are certain ghats of special resort during the occurrence of eclipses.