after my arrival, I went one morning upon the esplanade of the
town for the purpose of seeing the great number of Parsees {227}
who, as I had read, assembled themselves there waiting for the first
rays of the sun, on the appearance of which, as if at a given
signal, they throw themselves on the ground, and raise a loud cry of
joy. I, however, merely saw several Parsees, not in groups, but
standing separately here and there, reading silently from a book, or
murmuring a prayer to themselves. These did not even come at the
same time, for many arrived as late as 9 o'clock.

It was precisely the same with the corpses which are stated to be
exposed upon the roofs for the birds of prey to feed upon. I saw
not a single one. In Calcutta, Mr. V---, who had but recently come
from Bombay, assured me that he had himself seen many. I cannot
believe that the English government would permit such a barbarous
proceeding, and one so prejudicial to health. But I must resume my
narrative. My first question, after I had been introduced to
Manuckjee, was as to the manner in which the Parsees bury their
dead. He conducted me to a hill outside the town, and pointed out a
wall, four-and-twenty feet high, enclosing a round space of about
sixty feet in diameter. He told me that within this wall there was
a bier, with three partitions, built up, and near to it a large pit
excavated. The bodies of the deceased are placed upon the bier, the
men on the first, the women on the second, and children on the third
compartment, and are fastened down with iron bands; and, according
to the commands of their religion, are left exposed to the action of
the element of air. The birds of prey, which always gather in large
swarms round such places, fall upon the bodies ravenously, and in a
few minutes devour the flesh and skin; the bones are gathered up and
thrown into the cave. When this becomes full, the place is
abandoned and another erected.

Many wealthy people have private burial-places, over which they have
fine wire gauze stretched, so that the deceased members of their
family may not be stripped of their flesh by birds of prey.

No one is allowed to enter the burial-ground except the priests, who
carry the bodies; even the door is rapidly closed, for only one
glance into it would be a sin. The priests, or rather bearers, are
considered so impure that they are excluded from all other society,
and form a separate caste. Whoever has the misfo