242 



PHYSICAL HISTORY OF MAN. 



In one wealthy Parsee family, the father bequeathed his estate to 

 four sons and a daughter, with instructions, " in case they should not 

 agree, to divide it when the youngest became of age." Since the 

 latter event, seven years had elapsed at the time of my visit, and the 

 property remained intact. The Parsee, who visited England, and 

 who has published in English an account of his travels, is one of the 

 brothers of this family. 



At the country-seat of a wealthy Parsee, I was shown the apart- 

 ment of the proprietor's father, who had been dead " for eighteen 

 years." This apartment was kept precisely as if he were still living ; 

 his bed was made every day, and at the same time, a vase by its side 

 was supplied with fresh flowers. No religious ideas were connected 

 with these attentions, the design being solely and literally, to cherish 

 the memory of the departed. 



Charity, forms a leading principle in the Parsee institutions; and 

 according to English testimony, the habitual discriminative exercise 

 of this virtue, " renders the Parsees a blessing to those districts in 

 which they establish themselves." In fact, the closing scene of life, 

 is with them a deed of charity ; in the consignment of their bodies to 

 the vultures. 



The Parsee cemetery, on a height near Bombay, was found to con- 

 sist of several low round towers, open above, and built of stone. The 

 bodies are deposited on an interior ledge which slopes towards a cen- 

 tral pit; and the remains of the men, women, and children, are scru- 

 pulously kept separate in three concentric rows. There was a sepa- 

 rate tower for the children of Parsees by women of other religions : 

 the half-casts being admitted into the sect, but not their mothers. 



The complexion of a few of the Bombay Parsees, does not materi- 

 ally differ from that of Europeans; and as their forefathers all came 

 originally from the north, this was doubtless once the national hue. 

 Sometimes I thought I could distinguish a European cast of features, 

 not seen in other Orientals; and one individual, in his personal ap- 

 pearance and manners, offered an unexpected counterpart to a Scot- 

 tish friend of mine. Other Bombay Parsees, were as dark or darker 

 than Malays ; owing doubtless, to repeated intermarriages with the 

 women of their adopted country. 



The Parsees shave the head ; and wear a round inner cap, like that 

 of the Arabs. They usually preserve the mustache, but they always 

 shave the chin. Sometimes a portion of the hair is left on the sides 

 of the head, in continuation of the whiskers ; in accordance in some 



