BOMBAY (City) occupies the entire breadth of the s. end of the island. bordering at once on the harbor inside, and on Back bay outside. Next to 01(1 'Woman's isle, which, along with Colaba, may be regarded as a suburb, is the European town; about a mile to the n. is the much larger Black town; and between them is the esplanade with the bar racks and the railway terminus. The pop., which is exceedingly heterogeneous and dense—as many as 31 persons, on an average,_ inhabiting each house—ainottuted, in 1872, to 644,403. The Hindus form the larocst section; the Parsecs number about 50,000; and the rest are 31ussiilmans, native Christians, Europeans, Indo-Portuguese, Jews, etc. Amid these various classes, the Parsees or Persians, descendants of fire worshipers driven from their homes by Mohammedan bigotry, rank next to the English, grade for grade, in respectability and influence. 'Ulm late sir Jamsetjec Jecjeelthoy, in fact, stands forth, to say nothing of fabulous 'wealth, as the faultless model of a mer chant-prince in enterprise and integrity, in munificence and patriotism; and ever sinci the introduction of the ship-building business in 1735, the Lowji family. assisted chiefly by operatives of the same race, has been at the very head of this, one of the most impor tant interests of the city—not merely the Indian navy, to be noticed more at large under the next subdivision, but likewise several imperial men-of-war, both frigates and line-of battle ships, having been almost exclusively the work of Parsecs. Besides the dock yard, which covers about 200 acres, at the s.e of the European town, the objects most worthy of note are the town-hall, the library of the Asiatic society, the mint, cathedral, and custom-house; the post-office, and public works office; the missionary houses, the Elphinstone institution, the Grant medical college. the university, and Sassoon's high
school; the Jamsetjee hospital, and the Jamsetjee obstetric hospital. Tha city also pos sesses a einunber of commerce, offices of the Agra bank, government savings-bank. 13. steam-navigation company, and several insurance companies. Always favorably situ ated for foreign trade, 13. has profited largely by the reopening of the ancient thorough fare throngli Egypt, as saving more distance in proportion than any other emporium in the eat, and also as being on the direct line between Madras and Calcutta on the one side, and Aden on the other. 'When the c:vil war in the United Slates caused a sudden cessation of the American supplies, cotton begat] to be exported from II. in vast quan tity; and although the reopening of the southern ports soon checked the extraordinary activity of trade, B. was permanently benefited by the stimulus its commerce then received. • It now presses Calcutta closely as the commercial capital of India Its exports in 1875 amounted to £25,294,992; its imports to £16,501,002. The chief articles of export are cotton, shawls, opium, coffee, pepper, ivory, and gums; tit, chief imports, piece-goods, thread, yarn, metals, wine, beer, tea. and silk. The chief mail line to India is now by Suez, Aden, and 13.; and from B., letters are sent to Calcutta, 3ladras, etc.