hundred thousand, and represent a large portion of
the wealth of the city, being also by far the most intelligent and
enterprising natives of India. They sympathize entirely with the English
government, which gives them freedom of opinion and protection for life
and property, neither of which could be assured under native auspices.
They keep entirely aloof, socially, from other races, and strictly
preserve their well-defined individuality. Their dress is peculiar,
partly Oriental, partly European, and they are still like their fathers,
after thousands of years, the consistent followers of Zoroaster.

The Parsees settled here more than eight centuries ago, after their
expulsion from Persia. Their temples contain no images, nothing but the
altar bearing the sacred fire, which their fathers brought with them
when they landed here so long ago, and which has never for one instant
been extinguished. They worship the sun as the representative of God,
and fire in all its forms, as well as the ocean, which would seem to be
an antagonistic agent; but as their religion recognizes one Good and one
Evil Principle, who are ever contending for the mastery of the universe,
perhaps these emblems are no paradox. One of the first places we visited
in Bombay was Malabar Hill, a lofty piece of ground just outside of the
city, upon the apex of which are the five famous "Towers of Silence,"
constituting the cemetery of the Parsees. Beautiful gardens, kept ever
in bloom and loveliness by the most assiduous care, surround these
towers, which are the subjects of such sad associations. The oldest of
these structures is between two and three centuries in age, and one is
solely designed for the bodies of criminals whose bones are not
permitted to mingle with those of the just. When a death occurs among
the Parsees, the body is brought here to a small temple, containing the
sacred fire, within the grounds. Here a certain formula is gone through
with, and a solemn chant without words is performed by the assembled
mourners. Presently the corpse is carried upon a stretcher through a
door of one of the towers, and is placed upon a grating raised a few
feet from the ground, where it is completely exposed. The bearers
instantly retire, the door is closed and locked. These towers are open
at the top, on the cornice of which hundreds of vultures are always
waiting in full view of every one, and as soon as the body is left they
swoop down to their awful meal