PARSEE BURIAL TOWERS. 103 



to extricate his person from the deadly contact, rush from 

 the tower, regain his horse and gallop furiously back to the 

 camp. The effects, however, of this drunken and foolhardy 

 adventure proved fatal to him; he never recovered from 

 the fever brought on by the shock and excitement he had 

 undergone, and died at last of sheer exhaustion, bitterly 

 lamenting his own madness and folly. The Parsees, who 

 subsequently discovered this desecration of their burial- 

 place, attributed his death to the anger of their deity, the 

 sun, and regarded it as a wholesome warning to others, 

 whom curiosity or folly might induce to act in a similar 

 manner. 



A description of a Parsee ducahn, or shop, may not be 

 uninteresting. On each side of the open door are placed 

 benches, upon which repose two fat Parsees, the shop- 

 keeper and his cashier. The shop is very spacious, and sur- 

 rounded with glass-cases, filled with every imaginable Euro- 

 pean article, china, jewellery, saddlery, preserved fruits, 

 sauces, pickles, hams, salmon, and other edibles, besides French 

 clocks, bijouterie, and all sorts of knickknacks; and in go- 

 downs, or rooms attached to the building, large stores of 

 wines, spirits, beer, and liquors of all descriptions are kept 

 for sale, and upon which those shrewd and crafty traders 

 realize an immense profit. No people in the world are more 

 keenly alive to, or better acquainted with, the various chan- 

 nels v by which capital may be accumulated than the Parsee 

 trader of Bombay. 



Nothing can be more agreeable than the rides and drives 

 in the vicinity of Bombay which communicate with the 

 Island of Salsette. The view is as splendid as can be con- 

 ceived, the mighty range of the Ghauts towering in the 

 clouds, and extending as far as the eye can reach. The bold 

 views on the continent, the various objects of interest on the 

 island, the remnants and ruins of old religious establish- 



