Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1873-07-03
The Fire-WOrshiperS.

In an interesting letter from India to
the Syracuse Courier, a correspondent,
signing the initials ''N. F. c." says
GO You have all heard of the Parsees.
They are the Jews of Bombay. They
are race hat was excludedEfrom Persia
as the Jews have been from many coun-
tries. Here they located. They are
very industrious, and are a peculiar
people. They are the traders. They
buy and sell the cotton. They are the
brokers, the money-lenders, and shavers.
They never mingle with others. They
have their own schools, and in their
way are highly educated. They take
care of their own poor. They have
great wealth, and have elegant villas on
Malober 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. I never saw
children so elegantly dressed anywhere
else. Many of the young ladies are
very beautiful, but are never allowed to
receive visits from any but their own
race, They are fond of amusements,
and have theater of their own. They
are fre-worshipers. When the labors
of 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 cemetery is
more peculiar still. It is different from
all others. We made visit to their
cemetery, not knowing at the time that
no one was admitted. 1t is large tract
| IL l. e LII
very valuable now, but was purchased
many years ago. We made application
at the gate for admission, and were re-
fused. We appealed to young Parsee,
who happened to be passing. He was
dressed in silk and very gentlemanly in
appearance. He said that no Europeans
were admitted We told him that WE
were not Europeans, but Americans
He said he would be very happy tc
obhge Americans, but could not, but
did consent that we should go up the
road outside the inner wall, and have {
view of the city and bay. The sentine
took us along the winding road, and .
rupee given to him acted like charm
1t opened all the gates and passed thu
police. There were no Parsees in sigh
to stand in our way, and we entered tn
prohibited Enclosures. These ground
are surrounded by wall twenty fee
high, and have been used for a grea
number of years by this strange people
, There are no monuments in the GENE
terry. There are three round tower
about fifty feet in diameter, and fifty
, sixty feet high. On the top of thes
J towers there is an iron CRATE. The dea
t are brought to the gate and delivered t
: the priests, and the friends depart. Th
t priests prepare the corpse and lay it O
: the CRATE, and it is devoured by th
e vultures, and the bones drop throug
e the CRATE into the charnel house below
. These towers or vaults are called til
: "Towers of Silena" We saw hundred
of vultures sitting on these towers, an
4 the sentinel told us that they would tai
= all the flesh from the bones of corps
in an hour We asked why these tower
9 The sentinel, pointing to one, sal,
!. "Parsee with plenty of money p1
. there;" to another, Parsee with b.
). little money put there, and the othe
# "Parsee with no money put there
, The sentinel said, when corpse
: placed on the CRATE, the strife and tt
noise of the vultures is frightful, al
). could be heard for long distance. Y
y saw these "Towers of Silena," and {
= not care ever to be any nearer.