DESCKIPTION 4o r
devï Road and Abdur Rahntan Street'stand the modern temple and tank
of :Muntbâdevï, the guardian goddess of the island. 'I'o the north of
l'âydhuni there are two interesting buildings, namely, the city jail in
IJmarkhâdi built iu r8o4 under the administration of Jonathan Duncan;
and the Jewish synagogue called ` l'he Gate of Mercy.' The latter was
built by a member of the Bani-Israil community wameci T+,zerkiel, ~vho
served in the Bombay army during the campaign against 'l'ipt~ Sultân.
Having been câptured, he was about to be executed with other prisoners,
when the mother of TipCi begged that his life might be <.:pared, and her
request was seccmded by the chief Munshi, who declared that Ezeckiel
belonged to a race known as ` the chosen of C=od.' He was accordingly
taken into 'l'iptt's service ; but he managed at length to escape to
Bombay, where, in gratitude for his deliverance, he bui11: the synagogue.
Leaving the 'l'~dvâdi and Mazagaon sections, which contain several
features of interest, as for example the Victoria Gardens in the- former
and the temple of C=horupdeo in the latter, and journeying northward,
ône reaches the historic locality of l'arel. It was here and in the neigh-
bouring villages of Naigaon, Vadala, and M~tunga that I3hïma Raja and
his followers settled on their arrival from the lleccan about rzg4. In
later times Parel was the favourite quarter of the European inhabitants,
and contained the official residence of the Governor of Itombay. It has
now yielded place as a fashionable European quarter to Malabar Hill and
Cumballa Hill (a continuation of the former), both of which are covered
with handsome houses and bungalows. 'The views obtainable from the
ridge of Malabar Hill and the summit of the Altamont Road, which
winds up Cumballa Hill, are magnificent. Standing by night upon the
ridge, one looks down upon the palm-groves of C;haupâti, and acrôss
the sweep of Back Bay to the R~jâbai Clock-tower, the :secretariat, and
the Lighthouse at Colvba Point, the whole curve of land being jewelled
with an unbroken chain of lights, which have earned the appropriate title
of ` The Queen's Necklace.' From Cumballa Hill the view to the east
includes the entire native town, the hill of Mazagaon, upon which, in
early days, a whitewashed house shod as a guide for vessels entering
the harbour, and beyond them the harbour, islands, and mainland of
the North I onkan. l'o the left lies the industrial area, with its high
chimney-stacks and mill roofs, and the coast section of ;~iwri, in which
may still be seen relics of the old fortress built upon a projecting spit of
land. Siwri in these days contains the European cemet~°ry, which was
originally the garden of the horticultural Society of Bombay. On the
west side Cumballa Hill slopes down to the shore, where, close to the
Hornby Vellard, the Mahâlakshmi temples command attention. The
present shrines are comparatïvely modern ; but they are stated to stand
upon the site of three very old temples which were destroyed during the
period of Mluhammadan domination. 'l he temples form the northern
VIII. ll d
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