It was my good fortune to arrive here the first evening of the new year, and the commencement of the Hindu festival Tumashee, in which the Parsees unite in a general illumination of the bazaars and private residences, with shade lamps of variegated glasses, and a large display of Chinese and other paintings, the shops being open and occupied by the people of all races, Mahrattas, Parsees, and Hindoos of every caste, but no Moormans, or Mussulmans, the latter having had a religious contest with the Parsees, in which several houses were destroyed and pillaged. The Mussulmans being followers of Mahomet, have a strong aversion to the Parsees, or fire worshippers, as well as the Hindoos, or worshippers of idols. About five thousand of the former had collected at the mosques, and threatened to exterminate the Parsees, causing great anxiety. The Governor ordered out a large special constabulary police, and the troops were in readiness at given signals; the corners of streets and public places were placarded with orders in different languages to close all spirit and opium shops, and restrictions against carrying or selling arms. The great variety of picturesque costumes during this festival exceeded those of any city I had yet found. The display of bandys, drawn by oxen with ribbons of silver and gold-gilt, and filled with women and children, literally loaded with bracelets, nose and ear-rings, amulets, &c., in which the wealth of many consists, surpassed what I had seen at Calcutta. Among my introductory letters I had one to a Parsee house, from which I received much civility, and which gave me an opportunity of informing myself about this peculiar people, who are called fire-worshippers, and of whom so little is known. It is a small sect in comparison with others, and its members are a commercial and trading people; many live in good style, and drive fine equipages, and one of their number was knighted by the Queen for his many noble acts. The bequests of Sir Jamtsejee Jejeebhoy to many charitable institutions rank him as one of the most benevolent individuals of the age. The Parsees are the followers of Zoroaster, who lived about 389 B.C., and who was their lawgiver; his doctrine teaches them to believe in one God. They worship no other Being or symbol like him, and believe in a future state of existence.
They say they take the sun, moon, and fire as emblems of purity, and as the most powerful and obvious evidence of the supreme government, and in performing their five prayers daily they face any of these mighty elements. They are the descendants of the ancient rulers of Persia, from which country they were driven away in the seventh century, being unwilling to embrace Islamism, when eleven thousand were compelled to become Mahometans within twenty-four hours, under the penalty of death. The refugees were received by a lenient Hindoo prince, who gave them shelter and protection provided they would agree to certain stipulations. First, To throw away fire-arms. Second, To lay aside the original costume and adopt the peculiar one which they now wear. Third, not to kill or eat a cow, that animal being one of the favorite idols of the Hindoos. Pressed by necessity, they adopted these and other restrictions, and offered a solemn pledge, to which they still adhere. They wear a white garment and girdle around the waist, composed of seventy threads, about as large as a lady’s stay-lace. These are worn as insignia of religion. Children after seven years old wear it, and parents are morally responsible for them till they are ten years of age. If they die before ten, they are considered innocent, and are supposed to go to heaven. They feed and clothe their poor in a liberal manner. They drink wine and eat animal food, with the exception of beef, veal, and pork; have one wife, and are betrothed in infancy; the males marry at fourteen, and the females at twelve, and the marriage festival and procession costs some thousands where it can be afforded.
My Parsee friend will marry his son of fifteen to his bride of twelve in a few months. They cannot eat with us or drink out of the same vessel that we do. I accept civilities among the Parsees, but we eat at separate tables, and I have noticed among the most devoted a prayer murmured over me, and a glance of kindness. The Hindoos cannot assign any reason why the body should be burned, the Mahometan why it should be interred, nor the Parsee why it should be placed in a circular, high-walled, amphitheatrical cemetery, where the bodies of men, women, and children are placed in separate exposures for decay, and destruction by birds of prey; and they deny the assertion made by their enemies that the condition of future existence is denoted by the part of the body first attacked by the birds. I saw one public and one private cemetery of the kind on high hills; no one was permitted to enter. The position of Bombay, in Lat. 18° north, at nearly the head of the Indian Ocean, with a good harbor and sea-breezes, with its suburbs and fine dwellings, and forests of cocoa and date trees along good drives, makes it more agreeable and less hot than Calcutta. Within the inclosure of the old fortified town stands the arsenal, mint, cathedral, and other public edifices. I attended the cathedral last Sunday, but found few worshippers, although every appliance for comfort and ease. I counted fourteen long punkahs suspended from the ceiling, and as many men employed outside pulling the cords. Open rail pews, bamboo seats with arms, marble pavement, and a free circulation of air, but poor preaching and bad delivery, had driven the congregation away. The dock-yard here is the finest in the East, and is resorted to by all vessels for repairs; I noticed in it a frigate of the Imaum of Muscat, built of teak thirty years old. The mint for coining—the chief coins are rupees, nearly the size of half-dollars—is admirably well arranged, and would do credit to any country. They had nine presses at work, and were turning off one hundred and fifty thousand daily, out of the sycee silver, which comes from China, in payment for opium.
Having visited the hospital and benevolent institutions, to see what was doing for humanity in this part of the world, I was induced to visit the most extraordinary institution I had ever heard of: a hospital for diseased animals, established by the Parsees. I found there not only hundreds of horses, oxen, buffaloes, goats, and other cattle, but dogs and cats, which are never killed, but are allowed to enter the hospital gratis, and are kept until they recover or die. The great curiosity is the caves of elephants, on an island opposite Bombay. Taking supplies, we started early, in a covered boat; the tide being down, we were carried a long distance on men’s shoulders, to the shore, and around the mountain side through the trees to the bungalow of the Sepoy guard, and then entered the cave to see the Hindoo idols. The entrance is fifty-three feet wide, the height of the ceiling eighteen feet, and the depth one hundred and forty-three feet; it is nearly as wide as deep, and is supported by massive pillars, carved out of solid dark trap rock.
In the recess in the rear is seen a gigantic tri-formed god. Brahma is in the middle as creator, with placid face and jewelled cap. Vishnu, the presiding deity, is represented with a beautiful face, and with the sacred lotus flower in his hand. Siva, who fills up the other side of the tri-formed gods, holds a cobra serpent; he frowns, being the destroyer. From the chin to the crown of the head is six feet, the caps are three feet more. There are steps behind the bust where a Brahmin might have hidden for priestly imposition. The courts of death are at the right and left, as are also pilasters and figures fourteen feet high. There are various chambers and large colossal figures of divinities within the cave, which to me were interesting, being of a different style of sculpture from either the Egyptian or Chinese idols, and were once very beautiful, though they have been much defaced by the Portuguese in the early possession of the country. A few miles from town, on Malabar Point, is the place of pilgrimage for the Hindoos. It is a village with a community of some five hundred persons or more, subsisting upon charity. It is situated upon the side hill, inclosed by walls, and descending towards the ocean, with a water-tank, or large reservoir, some hundred feet long and square, and about twenty ghauts or stone platforms, to descend, and is surrounded with houses and temples. The front verandas are filled with bells of all sizes, and the idols of various deities. The half-naked priests, with painted faces and long hair and beards, were sitting in groups, quarrelling for the division of the spoils.
I had a good opportunity of seeing the mode of worship here, notwithstanding that the jealousy of the people allowed me to go no further than the threshold. One family came covered with jewelry, and had their own priest. Vessels filled with water were suspended over the stone of fertility, which constantly drips upon the flowers placed upon it; and the devotees touched each other’s hands, and went through various acts of devotion before the idols of the five different gods, while offerings were made.
LXX.
Alexandria, Egypt, Nov. 24, 1851.
I have felt more like writing you since I left Bombay, where I confidently expected advices from friends, which I have been deprived of for some months; and having heard indirectly, without particulars, of the death of a beloved sister, I was anxious to arrive at this place, where I am put in possession of that which is so highly valued by the traveller—letters from home. From Bombay I embarked with the Achilles down the Indian Ocean to Aden, some one thousand six hundred and forty miles, situated near the entrance of the Straits of Babelmandel, and recognised in her an old acquaintance, having made a passage by her from Glasgow to Liverpool, some years since.
Aden is the coal depot of the Peninsular and Oriental Company’s line of steamers, and here we were obliged to wait during three days for the arrival of the steamer Erin, which replaced the Precursor, that had been caught in a violent hurricane and disabled, at the mouth of the river, below Calcutta. The Erin is the steamer that sunk the Pasha, by collision off the coast of Malabar, some time ago. I feel thankful in having escaped typhoons, hurricanes, and accidents, of which many have occurred while I have been in the East, and hope to be favored for the future in my peregrinations, until I once more return to my friends and native land. Aden is a strongly fortified place, called the “Gibraltar of the East.” It was constructed by the East India Company, in order to resist the encroachments of the Arabs, and is situated in a desert country, without a sign of vegetation, a portion of it being in an extinct volcano. It is one of the most disagreeable spots in the world for a long sojourn, with no attractions aside from the camp, and all necessaries come from abroad when the Arabs do not choose to supply them. The heat at times has been almost insupportable; the Red Sea is considered the Tophet of the East by travellers. Not unfrequently in summer, passengers become perfectly exhausted, and some sudden deaths occur. The shores in general are barren and arid, with high volcanic mountains at intervals, with exceptions, of course, as we sighted Mocha, which is forty miles above the entrance of the Straits, and is celebrated for its choice coffee. We passed the usual landing-place for Mahometans proceeding to Mecca. We had about forty passengers from Bombay, and northern India, mostly officers on leave, or retired pensioners; among the number were several ladies, and twelve children, going home to be educated, so we were not at a loss for juvenile music. We made the passage up the Red Sea in five days and a half, and found, as we advanced towards Suez, that the weather became cooler.