A little after seven o'clock the train stopped at Mokameh station, and the conductor or guard came to tell the strangers that they would find breakfast there if they wished it, and could have a more substantial meal at Dinapoor, three hours farther on. Accordingly they took their _chota hazree_ at Mokameh, "just to hold themselves together," as the Doctor expressed it, and when they reached Dinapoor they had good appetites, that quickened their steps to the table. [Illustration: SCENE ON THE RIVER.] Occasionally the course of the railway took them near the Ganges, and at some of the points where they reached it the river was full of animation. Boats were moving on the water or tied up to the banks, and in the latter case the boatmen were gathered in picturesque groups along the shore. Some surrounded the cooking-pots, and others were assembled in front of the little shops where rice for their use was retailed. All were lightly dressed, and it was evident to the boys that the outlay of a Ganges boatman for clothing was not very heavy. [Illustration: BOATMEN ASHORE.] The boats were of a pattern different from any the boys had yet seen. They were sharp at the ends, rising out of the water at an angle of forty-five degrees, and the most of them had the bow and stern exactly alike. A house of woven palm-leaves and with a thatched roof was built over the centre of each boat, partly for protection to the cargo and partly as a sleeping-place for the crew in bad weather. The sails were of coarse cloth or matting, and when a boat was in motion the ends of the cords that controlled the position of the sail were held by a man who sat near the steersman. Some of the boats had railings around the roof, to keep the men from falling overboard, while others were without that protection. It is dangerous to fall into the river, as the crocodiles are numerous, and have a fondness for breakfasting on a slightly-dressed Hindoo. [Illustration: COOKING BREAKFAST.] As they passed the town of Arrah the Doctor called the attention of the boys to a wonderful defence that was made by a few Europeans and fifty Sikh soldiers during the Mutiny of 1857. As the rebels advanced, the party, numbering less than sixty, took refuge in a storehouse, and for a week they successfully defended themselves against more than 3000 sepoys, who were armed with muskets and two small cannon. A steady fire was kept up night and day, and it is a remarkable fact that not a man of the defending party was killed, and only one seriously wounded. At the end of the week the rebels were driven away by a column of troops from Calcutta. Near this town the river has changed its course; it formerly flowed in front of Arrah, but is now twelve miles away from it.