The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1853-07-14

bears his name, the cauSWay from BON
bay Island to Salsette, (called Lady
Jamsetjee's Causeway,) and the aqueduct
for supplying the City of Poonah with
water, He is now verging upon his
eightieth year, and very infrm. His
eldest son, Cursetjee, inherits his enter
prise and boldness, and possesses large
fortune of his own making. Another Of
his sons has distinguished himself as a
Persian scholar, and has published a
work on the Era of Zoroaster.
DIR. Bhawoo Dajee, distinguished Hin
doc physician, Of whom shall have more
to say, kindly accompanied me to Sir
Jamsetee's town residence, large and
elegant mansion within the fort. The
old gentleman was absent but we were
received by his son Sorabjee, who inquir
ed after Mr.. Chas. Morton, of Cambridge,
and showed me a North american ReUiegO,
containing Mr.. Ms biography of Sir
Jamsetjee. The residence is very elegant
ly furnished, in style combining Euro
pean comfort with Oriental display
Portraits of the different members of the
family occupied the walls, and in the cen
tre of the principal saloon stood splen-
did testimonial, in wrought silver, three
feet high, presented to Sir Jamsetjee by
three of the Bombay merchants.
The Parsees settled on the Malabar
Coast about eight centuries ago, after their
expulsion from Persia. They are, as is
well known, followers of Zoroaster, recog-
nizing one good and one Evil Principle,
who contend for the mastery of the Uni
verse. They worship the sun, as the rep
resentative of God, fire, in all It's forms,
and the sea. Their temples contain no
images, but only the sacred fire, and
though they have fixed days for the per-
formance of various rites, they repeat
their prayers every morning, soon after
sunrise. The dead are neither buried
nor burned, but exposed to the air within
a walled enclosure, on the summit Of
hill The bodies of the rich are protec-
ted by a wire screen, until wasted away,
but those of the poor are soon devoured
by birds of prey. The children are gen
orally married at from two to five years
of age to assume the duties of married
life. Most of the marriages are celebra
ted at this time of the year, and the
streets continually resound with the mu
sic of the bridal possessions. First comes
string of pallanquins and carriages, fl
led with children of both scxes-and We
ry beautiful are all the Parsee children
clad in silk, bcspangled with gold, and
with pearl and emerald ornaments in their
ears. Then band of native musicians,
generally playing "Lucy Long, or Gar
ry me back" &C.; after them the bridal
dowry, covered with massive extinguish
ers of silver, and the procession is closed
by concourse of women, whose splendid
mantels of scarlet, crimson, orange, yel
low and purple silk, gleam in the sun
Like tulip beds, of different dyes,
Bending beneath the west-wind's sighs."
My friend Cursetjee Merwanjee, accom-
panied me the other day, in drive a
round the environs of Bombay. After
passing the esplanade, which is thickly
dotted with the tents of the military and
the bamboo cottages of the officers, we
entered the outer tower, inhabited entire
ly by the natives The houses are two or
three stories in height, with open wooden
verandahs in front, many of which have
dark, mellow old look, from the curious
ly carved posts and railing of blaokwood
which adorn them. Mixed with the hous-
es are groups of the beautiful cocoa-palm,
which rise above their roofs and hang
their feathery crowns above the crowded
highway. Outside of the town all is shade
and the splendor of tropical bloom. The
roads are admirable, and we rolled
smoothly along in the cool twilight of en-
powered cocoa, brab and date palms be-
tween whose pillard trunks the afternoon
sun poured streams of broad golden light.
The crimson sagittaria Haunted its flame
! like leaves on the terraces; variety Of
the acacia hung thick with milky pendu-
lous blossoms, and every gateway dis
closed an avenue of urns leading up to
the verandah of some superbanpalace, all
overladen with gorgeous southern flowers.
We rode thus for miles around and over
Malabar Hill, and along the shores of
! GuG OCCduJ I'LL IuC hlllo VI DdIoCI-
tie, empurpled by the sunset, shone in the
distance like the mountains of fairy land.
| had thoughttho Government of Egypt
despotic, for taxing the poor Nubians a
piaStre and half (7a cents annually for
each of their date trees. but the East In
dia Company exacts from one to three
rupees $50 cents to 81 5O) on each tree
according to its quality. As the princi-
pal produce of the trees is tar1, a kind
of palm wine, used only by the natives.
Such a tax appears enormous, and gives
color to what [ have already heard, that
the resources Of the country are merci-
lessly drained by the company, for the
purpose of carrying out its expensive sys-
tenn of annexation, and at the same time
paying the regularly yearly dividend
to the share holders. However, let me
not PREJUDICE the company or its servants.
India should be better under the security
of English rule, than under It's former
horde of petty sovereigns aud their de-