WEALTH OF BOMBAY. 53 



of a high order ; TJttar and Pawn were brought 

 in, and taking our leave we returned to the 

 Elchee ha Bungalotv. 



The mercantile importance of Bombay is 

 enormous, and appears to be every day increas- 

 ing ; in fact, we may consider it the grand 

 commercial emporium of the East, as command- 

 ing the entire trade of the Persian Gulf, with 

 much of that from Central Asia and the coun- 

 tries bordering on the Indus, besides all that of 

 the north-west coast ; and the railway and 

 other imj^roved communications with the in- 

 terior, must contribute largely to the prosperity 

 of this port. Bombay, from its geographical 

 position and local advantages, could hardly fail 

 to be prosperous under any circumstances, but 

 the main source of its prosperity seems to be 

 the enterprising character of its merchants. 

 For example, the late Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, 

 Bart., who died not long since, leaving a for- 

 tune of £850,000, had during his life dis- 

 tributed from eighty to a hundred thousand 

 pounds amongst his relations, besides expend- 

 ing about an equal sum in charities and works 

 of public benefit ; yet this enormously wealtliy 

 merchant, whose charities were really bound- 



