History of the Parsis : including their manners, customs, religion and present position : with coloured and other illustrations : in two volumes

88 HISTORY OF THE PARSTS. [CHAP. II.

near Malacca. Hverything in China was very dear at the time, so much so that it baffled description. On the 3d December we took the pilot, and on the 5th at midnight we safely landed at Calcutta.”

After a short stay at Calcutta Jamshedji returned to Bombay. Shrewd, sagacious, and observant, with a natural bent of mind for commercial pursuits, the experience that he acquired during his repeated visits to China, and the knowledge he possessed of the chief traders in that country, proved of incalculable value to him. This experience he brought to bear on the extensive transactions which he subsequently had with China, Europe, and other parts of the world. In his commercial transactions he was always guided by strict integrity, industry, and punctuality, and his example contributed to raise the reputation of the Bombay merchant in the most distant markets. His whole life was a practical illustration of the truth of the proverb that “honesty is the best policy,” and fortune smiled upon him and favoured him abundantly in all his successive commercial ventures. It is not surprising that he became in consequence very wealthy.

But it was not the mere possession of wealth that made his name memorable. It was the distribution of that wealth with unparalleled benevolence and an enlightened desire to attain the height of usefulness, which was equally rare, that rendered him