The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1873-07-19

In an interesting letter from India to the
racuse Courier, a correspondent, signing
initials N. F. g." says: you have all
ard of the Parsees. They are the Jews of
10 mbay. They are the race that was eXclud-
ed from Persia, as the Jews have been from
many countries. Here they located They
are very industrious, and are peculiar PEG
pie They are the traders. They buy and
sell the cotton They are the brokers, the
money lenders, and shayers. They never
mingie with others. They have their own
schools, and in their way are highly educa-
ted. They take care of their own poor They
have great wealth, and have elegant villas on
Malaber Hill, the most fashionable part of
the city They drive splendid horses and
ride in elegant carriages. If the ladies and
children appear on the street, they are dressed
in silk | never saw children so elegantly
dressed anywhere else. Many Of the young
ladies are very beautiful, but are never al
lowed to receive visits from any but their own
race They are fond Of amusements, and
have a thcater of their own. They are fire
worshippers. When the labors or the day
are over they are seen along the shores Of the
sea, facing the setting sun, with their hands
clasped, repeating their prayers. They have
very peculiar notions of life, but their GENE
terry is more peculiar still 1t is different
from all others We made a visit to their
cemetery, not knowing at the time that no
one was admitted 1t is a large tract on the
best part of Malaber Hill 1t is very valuable
now, but was purchased many years ago.
We made application at the gate for admis
sion, and were refused. We appealed to a
young Harsee, who happened to be passing.
He was dressed in silk and very gentlcmanly
in appearance. He said that no Europeans
were admitted. We told him that we were
hDt trnnripapS He said bc
would be very happy to Obligc Americans,
but could not, but did consent that we should
90 UP the road outside the inner wall, and
have view of the city and bay. The senti-
mel took us along the winding road, and a
rupee given to him acted like a charm. lt
opened all the gates and passed the police.
There were no Parsccs i'll sight to stand in our
way, and we entered the prohibited Enclosures.
These grounds are surrounded by wall 20
feet high, and have been used for great
number of years by this strange people.
There are no monuments in the cemetery
There are three round towers about Do feet
in diameter, and 80 to 60 feet high. On the
top of these towers is an iron CRATE. The dead
are brought to the gate and delivered to the
priests, and the friends depart. The priests
prepare the corpse and lay it on the CRATE,
and it is dcvoured 10y the yulturcS, and the
bones drop through the CRATE into the Charncl
house below These towers or vaults are
called the flowers of Sicna" We saw hun
drcds of vulturcs sitting on these towers, and
the sentinel told us that they would take all
the flesh from the bones of Il corpse in an
hour We asked why these towers? The
sentinel, pointing to one, said, "Parsec with
plenty of money put there" to another, Par
see with but little money put there and the
other. "Parsee with no money put there.
The sentinel said when a corpse is placed on
the CRATE, the strife and the noise of the vul-
lures is frighttul and could be heard for a
long distance We saw those flowers of
Silcna, and do not care ever to be any nearer.