412 



the influence usually depending on such an acquisition. The 

 Parsees not only acquire wealth, but enjoy the comforts and luxu- 

 ries naturally accompanying it; as is evident in their own domes- 

 tic economy, and especially in the entertainments they sometimes 

 make for their English friends at Bombay and Surat, where Asiatic 

 splendour and hospitality are agreeably blended with European 

 taste and comfort. Subject to little spiritual or temporal influence 

 of their priests, and liable to few restrictions in food, fasting, puri- 

 fications, and religious mortifications, compared with the Hindoos, 

 and even the Mahomedans, they know how to appreciate and 

 enjoy the blessings by which they are surrounded. 



Surat at that time contained only the shadow of a Mogul 

 court; an extensive commerce, of far more importance to its ag- 

 grandizement, rendered it the first emporium in India, and the 

 resort of merchants from every quarter of the globe. It was also 

 the residence of several eminent and learned Mahomedans from 

 Persia and the northern provinces of Hindostan, where Mogul 

 literature, art, and science, no longer met with encouragement. I 

 occasionally associated with these literati, as also with many Arme- 

 nians and Turks, at the villa of Mulna Facroodeen, a rich Mogul, 

 partial to English society. 



At these visits, and similar opportunities during three months' 

 leisure in this extensive and opulent city, I was at some pains to 

 investigate the progress of art and science, and the extent of lite- 

 rary acquirements. Incompetent myself, from an insufficient 

 knowledge of the language, to form a conclusion, I do not offer a 

 decisive opinion upon the subject; but if not misinformed by those 

 more able to make a proper estimate, it may be safely affirmed, 



