But amidst the most singular customs which have ever been witnessed among mankind, is the conduct of these people in the disposal of their dead. They are neither in terred not burned, but exposed to be devoured by beasts of prey. Perhaps there is no custom of the present day, how ever extraordinary, that we cannot trace in the records of antiquity ; and few which were practised in the most re mote ages, are altogether extirpated among modern na tions. lierodotus, and after him Strabo, acquaint us that the Magi, who were the original race now described in tilese pages, did not inter the bodies of their dead, but ex posed them to beasts of prey. The Hyreanians, or natives cl Irak, as we denominate it, had dogs trained, if they could require any training, to devour the dead ; and the Bactrians were so tenacious of this fashion, that when Nicanor, gover nor for Alexander, wished to abolish it, he was very nearly losing the whole province. According to Justin, the Par thians exposed the dead to be devoured by dogs and birds, and afterwards buried the naked bones. The ancient inha bitants of India left the bodies of their deceased relatives to be devoured by vultures, which were possibly viewed as sacred birds. £lian speaks of a nation or tribe, the Baremi, which burnt those who died by the course of nature, but others who fell in battle were exposed to be devoured by a ultures. because these birds were held to be sacred. The modern Gabres, or Parsecs, the worshippers of lire, expose their deceased relatives as a prey to vultures, whether in Persia or in India. When a person is about to expire, a prayer is whispered in his ear, and a clog presented before him ; but it is important that the animal should look in his face, which is obtained by placing some meat in that di ection. Two clogs must be brought for a pregnant woman ; or if no dcgs can be procured, means should be used to attract the attention of the bird that is to prey on the body. It zip in ars that this part of the ceremony may be postponed until ra!ling forth the body to be deposited in the sepulchre, which is either done in silence, attended bv:a numerous as semblage, or while worraan chaunt a kind of requiem. The repository of the dead is a circular edifice, or low tower, open above, with a stone floor, elevated from the ground to receive the bodies, and inclining towards the centre. By the letter of the law, this sepulchre, which is called Dakh me, should stand only on a hill, and be demolished evei y 50 years, to expose the earth to the light of the sun ; but probably neither of these conditions are fulfilled, and we only know that they are apart from towns. Several are seen at Bombay and Surat ; the largest about 55 feet in di ameter, and 25 feet in height, built up to within five feet of the top, and having a well or sink of 15 feet diameter in the centre. There arc three concentric grooves or com partments around the sink for receiving the bodies, which are loosely wrapped in cloth, the outer for the men, the next for women, and the interior compartment for the bodies of children, all with connecting channels to drain off the fluids, into which they are partly resolving by the pro gress of decay. Nothing can be more horrible than the spectacle presented here, whether in the various stages of putrefaction in its most unsightly form, in the disjointed and and mangled fragments of the human frame, the overpow ering fcetor emanating from the corpses, the presence of the vultures greedily devouring their prey, or glutted with human flesh scarcely able to take wing, altogether forming such a combination, as the strength of living man can with difficulty resist. But the natives have no such feelings ; on
the contrary, they look for auspicious omens in the very eye which snail be first torn from its socket. After a certain interval, the bones arc collected towards the sink with iron rakes, and the communication of subterraneous channels prevent it from being choked up. The body first interred in a new-constructed Dakhme ought to be that of an infant, the child of a priest.
The Gabres nourish a strong predilection for some ani mals, and entertain a corresponding aversion for others. Cows and dogs are in great estimation. They have an anti pathy to cats, insects, and reptiles, from believing- them created by Ariman, the source of evil ; and Tavernier says, that in Persia the women destroy all the frogs on a certain day, because a prophet whom they principally venerate, was once disturbed by these animals. But the zeal of this au thor for the Catholic faith has led him, according to his own acknowledgement, to expose only what is most absurd in the religion of the Gabres ; hence his accounts, which in some things are manifestly erroneous, must be read with caution.
This sect seems to exist in must greater purity in India than in Persia. Their ceremonies, even some of the most important, are extremely different ; and those of the Per sian Gabres are compounded of the principles of the Chris tians and :Mahometans along with their own. The earlier doctrines of Christianity, and many points of Jewish history, are especially to be recognised in the baptism of their chil dren, the history of their prophets, the escape of the sacred fire in the semblance of a white dove, and the like. Pro bably these have been introduced by the decline of learning, and from the influence of their priests being unable to pre serve their original faith in its purity. But the reverse has succeeded in India, where the Gabres practise their wor ship undisturbed, and have preserved some of their books of the law, written in a peculiar character, until the present era.
The moral character of these people is universally es teemed. They are quiet, inoffensive, and industrious. At Bombay and Surat, but especially the former, where they are best known, they are highly respected, and one of the most wealth y some years ago charitably maintained 2000 persons of all different tribes at his own expense, during a time of famine. They arc among the richest inhabitants of the island, and are accustomed to give the most magnifi cent entertainments to Europeans, while no one of their own sect is left destitute, so much arc they distinguished for munificence and liberality.
See Hyde Religio Veterum Persarum.Zend-rIvesta, torn. ii. iii.; Moore's .Narrative of Little's Detachment, p. 383 ; Ovington's Voyage to Surat ; Hanway's Travels, vol. i. p. 263 ; Abu Tuleb's Travels, vol. ii. p. 386 ; APDonald Kin neir's Geographical Memoir of Persia ; Justin, lib. xli. ; 'Elkin, lib. x. cap. 22. (c)