no 
to settle m his dominions, and to build a temple for their sacred 
fire, on their compliance with certain conditions; particularly, that 
they should never put an ox or a cow to death, nor on any consi- 
deration taste the flesh; a covenant, which both themselves and 
their descendants have kept inviolable to this day. 
As their families increased, the Parsees dispersed, and settled 
at Bombay, Surat, Baroche, and other northern towns on the 
western coast of India. Active and industrious, they applied 
themselves to domestic and foreign commerce; and many of the 
principal merchants and owners of ships at Bombay and Surat, 
are Parsees: others learned the mechanic arts, and engaged in the 
varied manufactures of the loom: the best carpenters and ship- 
wrights in India are of this tribe. 
Their number at Bombay is considerable, and at Surat they 
amount to twenty thousand families: hitherto they have not at- 
tempted to establish a government of their own; and an unfortu- 
nate schism in their religious tenets has divided them into two 
separate factions. 
The Parsees are all worshippers of fire; and in every temple is 
a sacred flame, lighted at first from that originally brought from 
Persia, which is still preserved with great reverence at Oodwarra, 
near Nunsarree. These fires are attended day and night by the 
andaroos, or priests, and are never permitted to expire. They are 
preserved in a large chafing-dish, carefully supplied with fuel, 
perfumed by a small quantity of sandal-wood, or other aromatics. 
The vulgar and illiterate worship this sacred flame, as also the sun, 
moon, and stars, without regard to the invisible Creator; but the 
learned and judicious adore only the Almighty Fountain of Light, 
