A BUNDER-BOAT.
"From the 'Towers of Silence' we went to see the hospital for animals, which is a Parsee institution for sheltering all domestic animals that are in need of help. The theory of the charity is an excellent one, but the practice did not strike us favorably. There were many animals closely penned together, and the places where they were kept were not at all clean. There were dozens and dozens of dogs, the most of them ill-conditioned curs, in all stages of canine diseases. They receive no animal food, which would be contrary to Parsee principles, and evidently they do not relish boiled rice. Sheds and stalls were crowded with horses, cows, oxen, sheep, and other domestic animals, some of them suffering from incurable disease or injury. There were twice as many occupants of the place as could be comfortably accommodated. The hospital was founded on principles of humanity and kindness, but its practical working leaves much to be desired.
"Every visitor to Bombay hears of the benevolence of one of its Parsee merchants, who accumulated an immense fortune in the China trade, and used a large part of it for the benefit of the public. He built and endowed two large hospitals; constructed at his own expense the stone bridge that connects Bombay with the island of Salsette; contributed very liberally to the fund for the relief of the sick and wounded soldiers during the Crimean war, and was famous for many other charities. So great was his liberality and public spirit, that the Queen recognized his merits by conferring on him the honors of knighthood, and afterward raising him to the rank of a baronet. His name, Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, is rather difficult for American lips to pronounce; but it is familiar as a household word in the mouth of every old resident of Bombay. There is a statue to his memory in one of the public places of Bombay, but his greatest monument is in the hospitals he endowed and the public works he created.
"A study of Bombay would be incomplete without a visit to the famous Caves of Elephanta. Formerly it was necessary to go to them in a bunder-boat, as they are situated on an island seven miles from the bund or landing-place; and as the wind could not be depended on, the excursion was of uncertain length. At present you can hire a steam-launch for about seven dollars, and it will easily accommodate four persons, with their guide, and this is what we did. Steam seems to be driving sails out of use everywhere, even in unprogressive India, and the bunder-boat gives way to the launch, just as the clipper-ship does to the ocean steamer.
THE CAVES OF ELEPHANTA.
"We had a pleasant run across the harbor, and in due time reached the end of the stone causeway that leads up to the caves. The island takes its name from the statue of an elephant that formerly stood nearly half-way from the landing to the caves; it is about five miles in circumference, and is occupied by a hundred inhabitants or so, who raise sheep and poultry to sell in Bombay. The caves are about 250 yards from the water, and consist of a series of temples hewn from the solid rock, or rather of one large temple, with smaller ones at each side. From the entrance to the rear of the cavern it is 123 feet, and the width of the whole is said to be 130 feet. We do not know by whom they were made, but the general belief is that they were excavated about a thousand years ago.