"Very naturally, we were most interested in the girls; they were from eight to twelve years old, and had keen, intelligent faces. Nearly all were pretty as pinks--brown-hued pinks, we may say, as the most of the complexions had a brunette tinge. Each head was covered with a gold-embroidered cap, and the rest of the costume was quite Oriental, as it consisted of loose trousers, with a white or embroidered frock. The recitations and songs were given in a manner highly creditable to the tiny ladies, and with almost perfect coolness and self-possession. As each little miss--we don't know the Parsee word for miss--came forward to receive her prize she bowed gracefully, and marched off to her seat with all the dignity of a princess. And we call these people ignorant heathen! "On leaving the school, we were invited to visit the 'Towers of Silence' on Malabar Hill, where the Parsees dispose of their dead: it was arranged that we should be at the gate of the cemetery at seven o'clock on the following morning, when one of the prominent Parsees to whom we had been introduced would meet us. We were there at the appointed time, and so was the gentleman who was to accompany us through the place. "The Parsees do not bury their dead, but expose the bodies to be eaten by birds. The gentleman explained why they did this, and we cannot do better than use his own words, as nearly as we remember them. "'This mode of sepulture,' said he, 'was adopted because it was thought the most appropriate and satisfactory. Hindoos burn their dead, but we consider fire sacred, and would not use it for any ignoble office. The earth is the mother of mankind, the producer of the fruits and vegetables on which we live, and the burial of the dead in it is a defilement and an injury. Cemeteries are acknowledged everywhere to be unhealthy, and I believe you have much discussion concerning them in Europe and America. When a body is exposed here it is quickly devoured, and there are none of the gases that arise from cremation or decomposition, nor is the earth defiled in any way. So we regard this as the best way of disposing of our dead.' "This explanation was made while we were standing in a building near the entrance of the grounds, where the sacred fire is kept burning on an altar; a part of the building forms a temple, to which funeral parties come to say their prayers, and there are several rooms where the priests and attendants bathe and change their apparel. From the windows there is a fine view of the bay and the country surrounding the city, and a neat garden shows that the attendants of the place are not idlers. [Illustration: A PARSEE TOWER OF SILENCE, NEAR TEHERAN.]