arsees see nothing
offensive in exposing their dead to these birds nor apparently does it
shock them that alien hands should bare the bodies of their beloved
dead; but to a foreigner both these aspects of Parsee burial are
repellant and no argument has any weight to counteract this sentiment.

Many sensational accounts of these Parsee burial rites have been
printed. Nearly every writer lays stress on the fact that pieces of the
dead bodies are dropped by the vultures within the grounds or in the
streets outside. This is an absurdity, as the vulture never rises on the
wing with any carrion--he eats it on the spot and he will not leave
until he is gorged to repletion. An effort was made several years ago to
remove these towers of silence on Malabar hill because of complaints
that fragments of corpses were found in the neighborhood. When two
competent medical experts investigated the matter they reported that
there was no foundation for the complaints. So the towers have remained
and thousands of Parsees have been borne to them for the last rites of
their creed.

[Illustration: PLATE XLI

One of the Main Gates to Government
House, Calcutta. This Gate is of Beautiful Proportions
and Has a Fine Lion. Government House is
Situated in a Fine Park of Six Acres]

[Illustration: PLATE XLII

A Street Scene in
Calcutta. The New
Building at the Right
Has a Staging of Bamboo.
On the Left is
the Burka Bazaar, One
of the Sights of India,
Each Dealer Having
a Small Shop of His
Own. The Goods Are
Classified As in An
American Department
Store]

[Illustration: PLATE XLIII

The Great Burning Ghat at Benares.
Here Are Four Funeral Pyres Arranged for Burning, the
Heads of the Corpses May Be Detected Among the
Wood. The Pyre in the Middle Foreground is
Partly Burned. Relatives Watch the Cremation
From the Temple Above]

[Illustration: PLATE XLIV

View of the Bathing
Ghats at Benares. Here
May Be Seen Natives
Bathing in Mother
Ganges, While Above
Are the Line of
Splendid Palaces and
Temples Built by the
Maharaja Princes]

[Illustration: PLATE XLV

A Holy Man of
Benares Under His
Umbrella. Each of
the Fakers at Benares
Has His Own Clientage,
But No One
Bathes Without
Yielding Tribute to
Some Holy Man]

[Illustrat