The Red Cloud chief., 1888-09-21
FOOD FOR VULTUREa

FOOD FOR vULTUREA
A1sthodiss Missionary Describes
. Strange Burial Rite.
0oW he Purses Dispose q he 0od3eo q
31siP DssA-Eevses for the Easth and
000oo DC he Alf-Th0 8oaso q
Prayer md b PrseseD.
Methodist missionary who twenty&hree
0eofs ego sailed from these shores 1or
GnAiA. says the Philadelphia Aua. Tia
0Ehsr day he visited Laurel Hi, and there,
hmohg the monuments and graves, he told
about the sacred burial-place Of the Parsee
6sad upon the heights Of Mslahar Hill, some
distance out Of Bombay.
"I::had heard % much shout the Towers
q Silence" he said, "that my curiosity
Oas aroused 70 know what Il was Ike. But
1soon found that it was impossible for one
not . follower OF the great prophet 70
eoaster to ever gain admittance inside Of
these towers.
"Thiss strange sect. the Parsees," he con-
6nued, "are 50 scr1pulous in their cere.
moniAls and customs, and 30 strict In tho
Observance OF their rites, that you can
readily see how reluctant they would be 70
allow IN outsider, especially ono who Wa
eeaching tho doctrines Of Christ, to observe
de ritual they prachcal
81 he'd been the means Of rendering Q
favor to an intelligent and well educated
earsee gentleman living In Bombay, b.
tween whom and myself there sprang up
quite a feeling Of friendship When I
Thought could safely make my requestI
made known 70 him my desire to visit the
sTowers.' He said he would 80 whether
he could obtain permissioo Tor me from tho
priests who guarded the sacred portals.
There the matter dropped. I did not hear
from him for some weeks, until one day he
came to me saying that permission had
been granted. and that We must b ready 70
start the e morning.
Il shan never forget" continued he, 'the
bot, cloudless day that ~ drove IN our
olooely curtainsd vehicle, or gharry, out Of
he dusty, noisy streets Of Bombay to tho
cal and shaded and silent place Of Malabar
BILL. The whole place seemed o veritable
garden Of the dead. hero jasmine crimson
eybtecus and beautiful roses werc spread in
6ewtldering peofusion about the walks
Leading 10 the entrance. The heavy,
lAnguid air was filed with the most
fragrant odors and tho sweetest per
fumes. I could hardly believe that I
Nas in . buryinC-ground. After aliehting
nom the gharry va ascended the low, stone
eoePs: which led 70 . closed iron gate. Ny
83ood showed our permission to tho old and
0DmARDhN0 RnR0AA ~hA th~nv~ A~na AAA -A
md within . few Moments We wore within
Ne sac1cd precincts. One Of the first things
that I noticed q . I gazed around wa some
I'VE or stx solid-iookinS circular buildings,
Pefhape eighteen or twenty feet in height
1ho walls Of these structures were built Of
heavy blocks Of stone and covered with .
n OF white cement or plaster. The build.
tngs themselves stood in o shallow moa&,
surrounded By tail palm trees, heavy bushes
q various kinds, and hcrbacc growing wild
did uncultvated. These, then, were tho
famous Towers Of Silence Truly. they
Wcre wen named. Save for the cliokine OF
ouf shoes OF the smooth stone, tho ftful
sssayinS 70 AID fro Of the branches Of tho
tsl palms, and the occasional Tapping Of
wings BY crows and vultures on the troes,
not ssound was heard in the languid, breath.
less air. The hot tropical sun beat heavily
dbwn On the baro white walls, and every.
where stiffness and silence reigped So
pEeme."
"How do the Psrsees bury their dcada"
"When yOu reach the top Of the Tower
vou win find that the entire circular surface
. divided into three smaller circles, and b.
tween each circle is . narrow pathway. The
circles are again divided into . great number |
q Small, shallow spaces, or receptacles, q
mn 3Un AmyIAA than A0aA ~AnN~ntAA hn
narrow pathways for the bearers ofthe body
70 pass. Tho top of the Tower is sur |
rounded BY . sort Of parapet, which hides |
the surface from outside view. Now comes !
the strange part Of the Parsee burial Gus
tom. 1t va tho teaching Of our great
prophet and MASTER said my companion, !
. that the dead should not de6le the earth.
Accordingly, no dead Parsee is laid in the
earth, but his body is exposed to all the
fowls Of the air, to moro quickly return to
the dust and tho elements from which it
Here in the center Of our Tower
you see . deep well, down which wo put to-
gether the dry bones of all the dcad-meu,
women and children, rich and poor, great
and small. For the dead there can only be
equality
We mex. vent to what is known as the
house Of Praycr-a low, stonc-arched build :
ing with c3lonnades all around. This IS the
house wher6 the friends Of the deceased re-
main whilo the body is placed on the Tow
er.' 1t is here hat The sacred fire burns
dag and night, year in and year OFT, always
BY faithful priest whose duty is
10 feed the flames with precious woods. The
mir in this House of Prayer is thus redolent
the pungent aroma of sandal wood.
The corpse-bcarers live separate from the
outer residence, and after each funeral they
90 to the clearinghouse, change their gar
Dents, and purify themselves from the de-
element of having touched the dead. Just
y VIC were OF the point Of taking u leave
saw q small procession Of white-robcd fig
lrcs marching over the narrow stone bridge
one Of the Towers and disappear In the
mall square opening in the wall.
my companion must have seen the pro-
,ession, for I noticed that his whole de-
neanor ~perceptibly changed as with bowed
,ead he told me that . burial would take
only at sunrise or at sunset. Sudden
" the place seemed to be astir with life
md motion. The tall palms shook as under
| gust of wind. Tho black bodies IN tho
trces, hitherto motionless, raised their
.e.ds- snrcad out their wings, and, With q