, 1876-05-20
llTe Rpart from tho rest OF tht community, and
mr. ofrr,, trItf ,,nl,t -

v
ate, therefore, highly paid.
"1,efoto they rH,nove the body from tho house
whers The relatives nru assembled, funeral
pnycrs nrc rcetcd anil tho corpse ts exposed to
an%a M FIJI. as sss Y ssreaoy en- sss sai
aTl,cn the body, swnthca In a white sl,eet, Ia
placed OH curved metal trDngl,, nTcn ut both
wl'its garments, proceed with IT tosarl tl,u
towers. They aro followed by tho n,uurncrs
t,r at H.; DISTANCE Of et et ls&st l 80 fect, 4
chief between them. The particular funcra I
witnessed wns that Of cliill. Wllrn the Two
! corpsc-b -bcaress reached the path leading by II
stcep incline tu thr door Of the tower,
honscs. 'Tl,cre,t said tho accrciary, 'illoy
repeat certain Gail,ns, aud .rray That the
spirit Of the deCeasel inAy be eafcly transported
ol' tho fourth day after death to It's final resting
"Tha tower selected for the present funeral
wns ono in which other members Of the same
family llad beforc been lahl. Two bcartrs
Tic body oi Tic child fnto the inferior, md,
unseen by any one, lat,l IL uncovered In 0nc Ut
the open stone reccptnctrs ncnrest the central
well. In two minutes they Eenppoared With the
empty bier and white cloth; n1il scarcely Ind
, ,rsp!aly followed y M others ,,a T. aye , ni%: f.
back anl lazity arttle down again upnn the para
building ellapcd like huge barrel. There,
- tho aerretary informed ine,, they changed
their clothes aud washed themselves.
out IN, 'ltapo' dopost ti,ett ''!a sast-o& frai @
garments ou n stone receptacle ncar, ut hand:
Not thread leaves the garden. lest Il should
curry dchcIhcnt Into tho city. Perfectly new
ga51n;sn,t4s aIu supplied Ct each ;unerHl. lna
bearers return, and with glovel hands, aud
Implements resembling topgs plaec thu
dry skeleton In tho central well. There
thc bones ant. their laas resting and there
nllngiing Is lett lntllsturbcl fur cct,tutics.
Tic rcvoltinE sight Of tic gorge.l yulturcs
made no turn. my baek oil the, towers
With tlleoncealed afihorcnec. ! asked The
c!led to sueh usage. lis reply wa nearly In
the following words: Our Prophet, Zoruastcr,
WHO lived 0,o0o years ago, taught 'ls to reeurd
the eletac1lta as sylneo,s Of thc Deity. Earti,
1s ay tssanse. Masss hs s' i ISs@t e. @ @Ts1 Sv eSr e
tact with pu.rcfying, besh: Naked, llr
we ought to lcAvc 1t. But tho dceayng partl
clcs OF our bodies should b. lisapateti Us rnpIl-
should be contaminated ii tho slightest
degree. In 1act, our Prupslct wns tile
greatest Of health officers, and, following his
ssnltary leW.s We bqil.l our towers On tic t%ps
spare no xpcnse IN constructing them Of the
)iartlest materials, und wu cyIUse nur pntrcs-
cent bodies IN opGn stohc reccptacles, rest1'4,
T. + t. feet bo III t srunsts not sscs's IT
to br disalpatel iu The speedlest possible
manner, md without the possibility q pollutlns
tho cartE q communicating alnglu living bctui;
dwelling thcrcon. God Indeed sends the yul-
tutcs, and, ~ matter OF fact, these birds do
their arpointcd work much more expe.littously
than millions Of Insects would do II We COM
mittcd our bodies. to tho ground. In
more perfect than our plan. Even tic
rain-water which washcs our skeletons is con-
Quoted BY chanucls Into purifying charcoal:
the rarsecs tlat hayo lived In Bombay for the
last 200 years. Wo form united body IN life,
and VIC arc united In death. Even our
leader, Sir :, Jatnactice Hikes to feel that
when c he l., dies he will % reduced to per:
the Purses co,nh,unity.'
"Whun the Secretary had finished his de-
fensc Of the Towers OF Silence, l could not
help thinking that however much such n system
niay shock our European feelings aud t'ieas,
from. u Parsee point of view, may possibly be
equally revolving to Pnrscu scnsthilities.
Tho exposure Of tllo dccuying body to tho
assaults Of finnumerable worms may have no ter
rors for us, because our survivors 10 not see tho
nssnllantsi but let 1t DO borne In mind TINT
nc!tllot arc tho Parseo survivors permitted TO
look ut the swoop Of the ucnYc1i-sunt birds.
Why then, should nc be surprised II they pre-
fer tho more rapid u tho tnorc lingering opera
tIouf and which OF the two syatetns, they may
reasonably ask, is moro dcfcnslbie On sanitary