"The other structures in the enclosure are the famous Towers, nine in number, about twelve feet in height and thirty in diameter. In the side of each tower is a double door of iron, where the bearers enter with the bodies of the dead; through these doors no person, not even a Parsee, with the exception of the attendants, is permitted to look; and if any one passes within twenty yards of a tower he is required to bathe and change his clothing before leaving the grounds. This is not a superstitious notion, but is intended to prevent the spread of contagious diseases; and so great is the precaution, that the bearers and priests are required to go through the ceremony of purification after each funeral. "On the tops of two or three towers, those most in use, a lot of vultures were sitting and waiting the arrival of the funeral processions: they are so eager to perform their work that they sometimes attack the bearers, and the latter always carry stout sticks for defending themselves. Our conductor told us that within an hour after the closing of the doors on a body nothing remains but the bones, and these are swept into a well in the centre of the tower, where they gradually decay. "We took a walk among the towers, being careful not to go inside the prohibited limit, and then returned to the entrance. Before we left the grounds our guide showed us a model of one of the towers, and as he did so he told us that the system was not invented by the Parsees of Bombay, but was brought from Persia by their ancestors. The towers in Persia are entered over the top by means of ladders placed against the sides, and not through doors, as in the present instance. The funerals take place at sunrise or sunset--never in the night, and rarely in the middle of the day. "The subject is not a pleasant one; but so much has been said about the Parsees and their mode of sepulture, that we feel justified for what we have written. From all we have been able to observe, the Parsees are not fanatical on any religious subject, but they carefully preserve their dress and original customs, and are evidently very earnest in their respect for themselves and their ancestry. There are no more intelligent men in Asia than the Parsees. At least, that is what those who know them best are ready to say.