THE PARSIS 



for any worthy object. They attain their position 

 by hard work and good business faculties, persever- 

 ance being one of their strong points. Parsis do not 

 now allow infant marriages ; on the occasion of their 

 children's wedding, the parents give large parties 

 and invite many people to join in the rejoicings. 

 While in Zanzibar we had two invitations to a 

 Parsi wedding. At first I wondered why two cards, 

 then on looking closer I discovered the name of both 

 families was the same, the happy pair were cousins, 

 and we had a printed card in English fashion from 

 the parents of each. 



We were asked to attend at 5.45 p.m., and the 

 wedding was held in a public garden and house 

 used for those sort of occasions. On arriving we 

 shook hands with the two fathers of the happy pair, 

 who alone were receiving their guests. On these 

 occasions the men wear their own national full dress, 

 which is very quaint : over their white trousers they 

 wear a long double-breasted coat of white cotton, 

 hanging from the waist to the ankles like a full 

 housemaid's skirt ; round their waist they wear a long 

 piece of cloth about a yard wide and several yards 

 in length ; this they fold carefully and wrap round 

 and round. This dress they only wear at funerals 

 and weddings or on state occasions. The women 

 wear their best and most gorgeous dresses and their 

 jewels. Some of the dresses are very pretty indeed, 

 mostly cream silk. 



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