New-York tribune., 1901-07-28

work. entitled "Zoroaster, the Prophet of An
cent Iran" has been translated into the Guja-
rad dialect He brought home with him many
photographs OF the temples. the people the per-
formances Of their religious rites and the incin-
grafton OF the plague victims.
DR.. Jackson, In speaking of his trip. said yes
terday:
sailed from NewYork in January for India,
the purpose of the tourney being TO study the
customs and manners of the Hindoos and the
Parsees- followers of Brahma. Buddha and 10
roaster. The tour was especially made in refer
ence to Illustrating the literature and the re
lgion of that ancient country. Bombay was my
destination | made this the first stop. in order
to familiarize myself with the habits Of the
Parsees or modern followers of the ancient
prophet Zoroaster, as | am especially interested
in that branch of ancient literature and hstori-
cal research.
A fortnight was spent at Bombay. where l
had every facility of obtaining valuable informa-
ton through the kindness of the officials,
priests and other members of this community,
who are enormously called fire worshipperS. En-
ceitional opportunities were given to witness
the rites and ceremonies of the Zoroastrian Par
sees. which are rarely allowed 10 he viewed by
Christian. Their Dasturs or priests, gave me a
special illustrations of their religious worship
and rites One interesting ritual was somewhat
similar 10 our confirmation
/ witnessed two Parsee weddings. One was
that of niece of Sir Jamshedji Jeejeebhoy.
baronet the head of the Zoroastrian community.
The costumes of the Parsce women were par
tcularly picturesque, owing to the great variety
ol colofS III lneT deHCately shaded SILK VeilS,
which were artistically worn the head
not, however, to hide the face and eyes
An exceptionally interesting occasion to
was the visit TO the famous Parsee Dakhmas, or
towers of silence" on Malabar Hill sur
rounded with palm gardens and tropical Vegeta-
ton. II is in these towers that the Zoroa MS
expose the bodies of the dead, to be stripped of
the flesh by the Vultures, which are constantly
circling about their tops These flesh eating
birds are known as the heaven sent birds of
OrmaZd." The people keep to the letter of the
doctrines of the Avesta, their ancient sacred
Scriptures. which prohibit the burning of the
body burying it in Mother Earth or casting II
into the waves of the sea, lest the sacredness of
natures elements be polluted.
We witnessed two funerals of these people
The bodies, covered with white cloth, were
borne on litters and carried to the top of the
tower which is open to the sky, so that the rays
of the sun may not be obstructed. The bodies
are deposited a circular disk in a niche cut
out of the stone slab the dimensions of hui
man body. There the dead are left the prey for
the vultures. Generally in less than hour the
carnivorous birds strip the body entirely of the
flesh, and nothing is left but the skeletons of
the human form that had been deposited but
short time before. The skeletons are permitted
TO rest the slabs from two weeks TO month,
to become bleached by the intense heat of the
Oriental sun, and then gathered together
by "nasasalars.' body bearers, who wear
gloves and use iron tongs for this purpose. The
bones are deposited in a we'll In the centre of
the tower.
our Journey was continued to Jaypore. noted
for it's sacred bulls and pigeons and also to the
city of Ujjain. famed the literary centre of
early India and the home for time of the
renowned Kalidasa, the Hindoo Shakespeare.
Here oppol tunity was given me of collecting