Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1895-01-03

we passed on up through gates into
the garden that surrounds the place
where the Parsees dispose of then
dead. This garden was given by Jam
shidji Jijibhai and is beautiful with
flowers Of all hue and foliage of all
styles OF vein and notch and stature.
There is on all sides great opulence oil
| fern and cypress. The garden is loo
feet above the level of the sea. Not
far from the entrance is building
where the mourners Of the funeral pro-
cession so in to pray A light is here
kept burning year in and year out.
We ascend the garden by some eight
stone steps The body of deceased
aged woman was being carried in to-
ward the chief tower o. silence Y
There are five of these towers. Several
OF them have not been used for long
while. Four persons, whose business it
it is to do this, carry the corpse. They
are followed by two men with long
boards. The tower OF silence to which
they come cost $3.50, 600 and is 25 feet
high and PIG feet around and without
roof. The four carriers of the dead
and the two bearded men come to the
door of the tower, enter and leave the
dead. There are three rows Of places
for the dead-the outer row for the
men, the middle row for the wome4., the
inside row for the children. The life
less bodies are leftexposed as far down
as the waist. As soon as the employees
retire from the tower of silence the
vultures, now one, now two. now many.
swoop upon the lifeless form. These
vnltures fill the air with their discord-
ant voices We saw them in long rows
on the top of the whitewashed wall of
the tower of silence. In few minutes
they have taken the last particle of
flesh from the bones. There had evil
IDENTIFY been other opportunities for
them that day, and some flew away, as
though surfeited. They sometimes
carry away with them parts of a body,
ans it is no unusual thing for the gem
tlemen in their country seats to have
dropped into their dooryards a bone
from the tower of silence.
In the center of this tower is we'll.
into which the bones are thrown after
they are bleached. The hot sun and
the rainy season and charcoal do their
work Of disintegration and disinfec-
ton, and then there are sluices that
carry into the sea what remains of the
dead. The wealthy people OF AIalabar
hill have made strenuous efforts to
have these strange towers removed as
a nuisance, but they remain and will
no doubt for ages remain.
No such thing as caste among the
dead. Philosopher and boor, the atflu-
ent and the destitute must go through
the same tower of silence, lie down
side by side with other occupants
have their bodies dropped into the
same abyss and be carried out through
the same canal and float away on the
same sea. No splendor of Metropolis.
No sculpturing of mausoleum. No
pomp Of dome or obelisk. Zoroasters
teaching resulted in these towers of |
silence" He wrote Naked yon came
into the world, and naked you must
go out"
As stood at the close of day in this
garden on Malabar hill and heard the
flap OF the vultures wings coming from
their repast, the funeral custom of the
Parsec seemed horrible beyond com
pare, and vet the dissolution of the hui
man body by any mode is awful, and
the beaks of these fowl are probably
no more repulsive than the worms of
the body devouring the sacred human
form in cemeteries. Nothing but the
day can undo the awfni
work of death, whether it now be put
out Of sight by cutting spade or flying
wing.
Starting homeward, we soon were in
she heart of the city and saw build.
ng all affash with lights and resound-
ng with merry voices 1t was Parsee
in building erected especial
Y for the marriage ceremony. We came
% the door and proposed to 90 in, but
It first were not permitted. They saw
We were not Parsees, and that we were
loteven natives. So, very politely. they
,alted us on the doorsteps. This temple
# nuptials was chiefly occupied by
their ears and necks and hands
flame with jewels or limitations of
ewels. BY pantomime and ges-
ure as we had no use of their vocabu
airy, we told them we were strangers
nd were curious to see by what pro-
ess Parsees were married. Gradually
We worked our way inside the door.
he building and the surroundings
rere ilIumined by hundreds of candles
n glasses and lanterns in unique and
holdings. Conversation ran
Ugh, and laughter dubbed over, and
II was gay. Then there was sound
I an advancing band of music I
ut the instruments for the
lost part were strange to our
ars and eyes. Louder and louder :
vere the outside voices and the wind
nd stringed instruments, until the !
recession halted at the door of the
smple and the bridegroom mounted
re steps. Then the music ceases, and !
Il the voices were still. The mother $
t the bridegroom, with platter load
| with aromatics and articles of food, a
,nfronted her son and began to !
1dress him. Then she took from
le platter a bottle of perfume j
nd sprinkled his face with the redol- Q
nee. All the while speaking ip