4g6 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1813. 



the smoke are so constructed as to 

 exclude his rays. The atsh-baha- 

 ram must be composed of five dif- 

 ferent kinds of fire, among which 

 I was surprised to hear the dustoor 

 mention that of a funeral pile, as 

 the Guebres expose their dead ; 

 but he told me that it was former- 

 ly lawful to return the body to any 

 of the four elements ; that is, to 

 bury it in the earth or in the 

 water, to burn, or to expose it, but 

 that the latter only is now prac- 

 tised ; consequently, if the atsh- 

 baharam goes out, they must tra- 

 vel to such nations as burn their 

 dead, to procure the necessary in- 

 gredient to rekindle it. M' lien the 

 last atsh-khaneh was built in Bom- 

 bay, a portion of the sacred fire 

 was brought from the altar at 

 Yezd, in a golden censer, by land, 

 that it might not be exposed to 

 the perils of the sea. 



The sun and the sea partake 

 with fire in the adoration of the 

 Guebres, Their prayers, called 

 zemzeme, are repeated in a low 

 murmuring tone, with the face 

 turned towards the rising or the 

 settmg sun, and obeisance is made 

 to the sea and to the full moon. 

 The Parsee year is divided into 

 twelve lunar months, with inter- 

 calary days, but there is no divi- 

 sion of time into weeks. The fes- 

 tivals are the nowroze, or day of 

 the new year, and six following 

 days; the first of every month, 

 and the day on which the name of 

 the day and that of the month 

 agree, when the same ferishta pre- 

 sides over both. 



A Parsee marries but one wife, 

 excepting when he has no chil- 

 dren; then, with the consent of 

 the first, he may take a second. 

 An adopted child inherits equally 



with legitimate children, but, if 

 there be none, before all other re- 

 lations. The death of a father is 

 observed as an annual festival. The 

 body must not touch wood after 

 death ; it is accordingly laid upon 

 an iron bier, to be conveyed to the 

 repository for the dead, where it is 

 left exposed to the air till it is con- 

 sumed. In Bombay these reposi- 

 tories are square enclosures, sur- 

 rounded by high walls : the vulgar 

 Parsees superstitiously watch the 

 corpse, to see which eye is first 

 devoured by the birds, and hence 

 augur the happiness or misery of 

 the soul. 



The sacred books are in the 

 Zend and Pehlavi languages, both 

 ancient dialects of Persia. The 

 fragments of these which escaped 

 during the troubles that followed 

 the Mahomedan conquest of Per- 

 sia, are all that the Guebres have 

 to direct either their practice or 

 their faith ; and, where these are 

 found insufficient, the dustoors 

 supply rules from their own judg- 

 ment. The chief doctrines of the 

 remaining books respect future 

 rewards and punishments, injunc- 

 tions to honour parents, and to 

 marry early, that the chain of be- 

 ing be not ipterrupted, and pro- 

 hibitions of murder, theft, and 

 adultery. 



When the Guebres were driven 

 from their own country by the 

 Mussulmans, a considerable body 

 of them i"esolved to seek a new- 

 land, and accordingly put to sea, 

 where they suffered great hard- 

 ships. After attempting to settle 

 in various places, they at length 

 reached Sunjura in Guzerat, and 

 sent their chief dustoor, Abah, on 

 shore, to ask an asylum. This was 

 granted by the Rajah on certain 



