"The Hindus have some places which are venerated for reasons connected with their law and religion, e.g. Benares. For their anchorites wander to it and stay there forever, as the dwellers of the Ka’ba stay forever in Mekka. They want to live there to the end of their lives, that their reward after death should be the better for it. They say that a murderer is held responsible for his crime and punished with a punishment due to his guilt, except in case he enters the city of Benares, where he obtains pardon."