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time extend themselves beyond the island of Bombay, and the 

 precincts of Surat and Baroche, which are at present almost the 

 only places where they reside in any considerable number. In- 

 stead of emigrating to foreign powers, and distant situations, this 

 industrious tribe would form a flourishing colony nearer home, 

 carrying w ith them arts and manufactures of various kinds. As 

 carpenters, in house and ship building, they are extremely expert; 

 especially the latter, and to them the naval architecture at Surat 

 and Bombay is chiefly confined. If thus induced to settle on 

 Salsette, indulged with temples for their sacred fire, open sepul- 

 chres for their dead, farms, manufactories, and cottages for the 

 middle and lower classes, and gardens and villas for the opulent, 

 I cannot easily conceive a better or a happier colony. 



Few people more justly appreciate the blessings of liberty and 

 property than the Parsees; they enjoy the envied bliss, and con- 

 trast it with the oppressive governments around them. When last 

 at Bombay, I frequently conversed with Muncher Jevan, and 

 other sensible Parsees. Unshackled by the religious prejudices 

 and superstitious deprivations of the Hindoos and Mahomedans, 

 and possessing more useful knowledge and liberal sentiments than 

 either, 1 was highly gratified by their opinion on subjects in gene- 

 ral history, politics, and religion. Their reasoning on the separa- 

 tion of the American colonies and the ruinous war then just ter- 

 minated, on the blended and separate interests of the Kind's and 

 Company's governments in India, and the diversity of religious 

 opinions and modes of worship in the Christian church, were I 

 to detail them would surprise many European readers. 



The Parsees at Bombay possess considerable landed property, 



