BAKU. 



269 



a mineral well here, the waters of which were 

 useu to supply baths, which were in repute prior 

 to the year 924. At this time the town was 

 founded hy Edward the Elder, though, from vari- 

 ous remains discovered at different periods, it has 

 been supposed that this was anciently a Roman 

 station. At the Conquest the manor was granted 

 to the family of Peveril, from whom it passed to 

 the Gernons, who sold it in the reign of Henry 

 VII. to the Vernons, from whom it descended to 

 its present possessors the dukes of Rutland. The 

 water is chalybeate, and a fine set of baths have 

 been recently established. The principal bath is 

 constantly supplied by a stream of fresh water, 

 which has the temperature of 60, and emits a 

 considerable quantity of carbonic acid gas. There 

 are also warm and shower baths with suitable 

 accommodation. In the same establishment are a 

 museum and news-room. The inhabitants are 

 partly employed in the neighbouring quarries of 

 black and gray marble, and partly in a cotton mill. 

 Population oi town and parish in 1831, 11,401; and 

 in 1841, 10,363. 



BAKU; the little promontory of Absheron on 

 the Caspian Sea is one of the most singular regions 

 in the world. It is situated in Georgia, and was 

 once considered a part of Asia ; but since it has 

 become a province of Russia, it has been reckoned 

 as forming a portion of Europe. The surface of 

 the promontory is barren, almost destitute of 

 water, and utterly bare of trees. Its soil is sa- 

 turated with naphtha, a very inflammable bitumin- 

 ous oil, which in some parts rises to the surface of 

 the earth spontaneously, and may be found by dig- 

 ging almost every where. In many places enor- 

 mous quantities of gas, similar in nature to our 

 coal or oil gas, issue from orifices in the earth ; 

 this gas the inhabitants employ to light their 

 houses, by conducting it through tubes, similar in 

 principle to our gas-pipes, though more clumsy in 

 construction. They use it also as fuel to dress 

 their food, to warm their dwellings, and for many 

 other purposes. The centre of action of this fiery 

 matter is near the town of Baku, the chief place 

 in the territory. 



The ancient Persians were worshippers of fire: 

 they adored the sun as its source, and. in his ab- 

 sence they kept up perpetual fires as his represen- 

 tative. The advance of the Mahommedan reli- 

 gion extinguished, in a great measure, the faith of 

 the Fire- worshippers; but some remains of the 

 ancient believers are still found scattered in Per- 

 sia, and many of their body have been long settled 

 in India, particularly at Bombay, where they con- 

 stitute a very respectable and influential portion of 

 the population. The perpetual tire of Baku would 

 naturally be an object of attraction to these peo- 

 ple ; and we accordingly find that they have, from 

 a remote period, had an establishment there. 

 They have enclosed with a high wall a spot of 

 ground, from which a vast quantity of gas issues, 

 which they always keep burning. This place has 

 been described by several travellers, the most re- 

 cent of whom, a Russian, whose journal was pub- 

 lished in 1833, arrived on the spot by night. " We 

 saw the flame," he says, " at a considerable dis- 

 tance before our arrival. It was a singular spec- 

 tacle ; four principal jets of flame were first visi- 

 ble, and as we got nearer, a considerable number 

 of smaller ones began to show themselves spring- 

 ing from the ground. The four jets rose to a 

 gicat height, and illuminated all the surrounding 



country, which is barren and desert. At last we 

 saw a high wall of white stone, above which rose 

 four great tubes like chimneys ; from these tubes 

 issued the columns of flame we had first seen. We 

 thought ourselves in the neighbourhood of a palace 

 of fairies." 



The Fire-worshippers at Baku generally reside 

 at that unhealthy spot a longer or shorter time, 

 according to the fervour of their faith. The short- 

 est residence is five years ; many stay there eight ; 

 and a very few, who are considered in the light of 

 saints, remain there until death. As the Russian 

 writer calls them Hindoos, they are probably all 

 from India. They live solely on vegetables, cul- 

 tivated by their own hands, and each man dresses 

 and eats his food alone in his cell. Their main- 

 tenance is derived chiefly from the charity of their 

 fellow-worshippers. The owners of vessels navi- 

 gating the Caspian Sea also frequently send them 

 considerable presents, as a sort of payment for the 

 benefit received from the fire maintained in the 

 four lofty chimneys before-mentioned, which con- 

 stitutes an excellent lighthouse. 



Our traveller describes the appearance of the 

 interior of the inclosure as very imposing. " We 

 were struck with astonishment," he says, " at the 

 sight before us. We found ourselves in a vast 

 square perfectly light, and in the midst we saw a 

 building, from which issued four large and lofty 

 tubes vomiting flame. The light from this fire is 

 not less surprising to strangers than it is dazzling. 

 The cells of the Hindoos are placed all round the 

 walls The Hindoos, with no other cover- 

 ing than a girdle and a turban, came out of their 

 cells. The dark colour of their skin, their loose 

 hair (for as many of them had no turban, it hung 

 at full length in disorder), and the leanness of their 

 bodies, which showed nothing but bones, produced 

 on us very singular sensations. The first who 

 accosted us introduced us into his cell : the only 

 furniture was a miserable carpet and two pitchers ; 

 but a beautiful rose-bush stood outside the door. 

 .... The cells were mostly small ; flames were 

 spouting out in nearly all of them, either directly 

 from holes in the floor, or from clay tubes driven 

 into the ground, which answer the purpose of 

 candles." 



In the midst of the enclosure is the place where 

 these people burn their dead. It is a cave dug in 

 the earth, about six feet square and three deep, 

 and is covered with broad flat stones. This vault, 

 like every other opening made in the ground, is 

 always filled with gas. When a Fire-worshipper 

 dies, the survivors smear his body with butter, and 

 place it over the vault : they then set fire to the 

 gas, which comes through the interstices between 

 the stones, and the body is thus consumed. They 

 afterwards carefully gather up all the ashes which 

 have fallen through into the vault, and throw 

 them to the winds. Thus ends the ceremony. 



The gas is evidently of a similar nature to what 

 we use, though, as it is said to be without smell, 

 and to have no effect on the breath, it is probably 

 purer than that which our establishments produce. 

 Its flame is of a yellowish white, and very brilliant. 

 This shows that it cannot be pure hydrogen, which 

 burns with a faint blue flame. The heat it gives 

 out in burning is very great, sufficient to calcine 

 lime ; and it is largely used for this purpose by the 

 people of the country. When mixed with com- 

 mon air, it becomes explosive. The first discovery 

 of this property was unlucky for the poor Firt 



