He had disappeared suddenly
twelve years before, became a disciple of the high priest of a
distant temple, and visited almost every celebrated temple in India,
from Kedarnath in the eternal snows to Sita Baldi Ramesar, opposite
the island of Ceylon.[7] He remained with the family for nearly a
year, delighting them and all the country around with his narratives.
At last, he seemed to lose his spirits, his usual rest and appetite;
and one night he again disappeared. He had been absent for some years
when I last saw the family, and I know not whether he ever returned.
The real members of these monastic orders are not generally bad men;
but there are a great many men of all kinds who put on their
disguises, and under their cloak commit all kinds of atrocities.[8]
The security and convenience which the real pilgrims enjoy upon our
roads, and the entire freedom from all taxation, both upon these
roads and at the different temples they visit, tend greatly to attach
them to our rule, and through that attachment, a tone of good feeling
towards it is generally disseminated over all India. They come from
the native states, and become acquainted with the superior advantages
the people under us enjoy, in the greater security of property, the
greater freedom with which it is enjoyed and displayed; the greater
exemption from taxation, and the odious right of search which it
involves, the greater facilities for travelling in good roads and
bridges; the greater respectability and integrity of public servants,
arising from the greater security in their tenure of office and more
adequate rate of avowed salaries; the entire freedom of the
navigation of our great rivers, on which thousands and tens of
thousands of laden vessels now pass from one end to the other without
any one to question whence they come or whither they go.
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