Many sensational accounts of these Parsee burial rites have been printed. Nearly every writer lays stress on the fact that pieces of the dead bodies are dropped by the vultures within the grounds or in the streets outside. This is an absurdity, as the vulture never rises on the wing with any carrion--he eats it on the spot and he will not leave until he is gorged to repletion. An effort was made several years ago to remove these towers of silence on Malabar hill because of complaints that fragments of corpses were found in the neighborhood. When two competent medical experts investigated the matter they reported that there was no foundation for the complaints. So the towers have remained and thousands of Parsees have been borne to them for the last rites of their creed.
One of the Main Gates to Government House, Calcutta. This Gate is of Beautiful Proportions and Has a Fine Lion. Government House is Situated in a Fine Park of Six Acres]
A Street Scene in Calcutta. The New Building at the Right Has a Staging of Bamboo. On the Left is the Burka Bazaar, One of the Sights of India, Each Dealer Having a Small Shop of His Own. The Goods Are Classified As in An American Department Store]
The Great Burning Ghat at Benares. Here Are Four Funeral Pyres Arranged for Burning, the Heads of the Corpses May Be Detected Among the Wood. The Pyre in the Middle Foreground is Partly Burned. Relatives Watch the Cremation From the Temple Above]
View of the Bathing Ghats at Benares. Here May Be Seen Natives Bathing in Mother Ganges, While Above Are the Line of Splendid Palaces and Temples Built by the Maharaja Princes]
A Holy Man of Benares Under His Umbrella. Each of the Fakers at Benares Has His Own Clientage, But No One Bathes Without Yielding Tribute to Some Holy Man]
The Residency at Lucknow. This, the Most Impressive Relic of the British Mutiny In India, Is Now Only a Beautiful Ruin, But it Recalls the Heroic Defense Made By a Handful of English Against Hundreds Of Natives. In Front Is a Memorial Erected by Lord Northbrook to Loyal Native Soldiers]
Tomb of Itmad-ul-Daulet at Agra. This Tomb Was Erected in Honor of the Prime Minister of the Emperor Jahangir. It Is of Carved and Inlaid Marble and Overlooks the Jumna River]