The Dolores star., 1905-08-11
r ood for vultures
(sleeial corssspoads.es.l

HlsA above Dombay. On The ffsest
an1 0ost airy spot of the city, and
~ test above the level of the -, 10
sitnats1 the most peculiar cemetery
h the World-the burial placs q The
Rassesa. II h called he Tower of
0lleueo.~
The Rarseee q persians. eane -
lndia centuries ago. They number
sbout - o,o0o-l4,000 Of whom reside
IN The city Of Bombay. where they
form . marked aristocrncy among the
oolored population, and enjoy social
standing equal to that Of EuropeanA
At almost every step one II brought
face to face with death, in Bombay.
The pest which never sleeps; the still
breathing bodies near the walls-mute
evidences Of the terrible suffering;
the four ragged coolies. passing hur-
riedly round the corner with the nude
body to the crematory Of the Hindoos
everywhere death presents itself IN
most hideous form.
But In the midst Of this variegated
throng, that evidences Of misery in all
its forms, appears peculiar process
sion. A crowd of women and chill
dren arrayed in white. and with .
wreath Of flowers over their should
ers. follow bier. The body Of the
corpse Is covered with white linen.
on the top Of which are placed highly
fragrant Bengal roses.
Dignined and solemn, the procession
follows. two by two, each cne holding
the end Of some white fabric-the
symbol Of unity. Silently II moves
through the main streets OF the city.
up to the nearby elevation. It IL the
walk Of an hour from the center Of the
city to the last resting-place Of the
Parsee-The Tower Of Silence.
In Pathway of Beauty.
The procession enters . splendid
garden Of palms. On either side Of
the grand walk II Z luxury Of tropical
flowers -A veritable many-colored
natural carpet, shaded by the giant
palms. The procession halts at ..
place where . walk turns on to the
aide, and through the foliage . white
wall becomes visible. Here one reads,
In Persian and In English, the signif-
lcant words:
"PLEAsE STOP HERE"
The priests-nassasalors-place the
bier upon the ground and repeat .
short prayer. after which four Of the
lower priests. khandias, carry the
corpse toward the white wall. disap-
pesring behind the mighty palms.
Two BY two the white-robed procession
leaves the garden. still holding be-
tween them the white cloth.
In about fifteen minutes We hear the
sound Of powerful wings. These are
the vultures, which now appear from
their hiding place among the palms:
they circle over the Tower OF Silence,
swoop down and disappear.
An hour later these vultures may be
seen ON the wall OF the tower. They
are drowsy, and ~ quiet ~ though
they were hewn In stone by some
sculptor. Close together they sit. wing
to wing Finally they begin to circle
around the tower, hrst one by one,
then great numbers together, until at
last they disappear under the palms.
No human eyes except the khandias'
have looked upon the dead Parsee.
after he has disappeared through the
door Of the Tower of silence.
The khandias are . separate caste,
more rigidly segregated from all 9TH
ers than any caste in India. When
the son Of khandia reaches the age
OF Is he visits the Tower Of Silence
for the first time. Only the son Of q
khandia can become = khandia, and
he can marry only the daughter Of q
khandia.
rsachins o. zorcastsr.
According to the teaching Of Zorro
aater. nre, air. water and earth are