THE ARABIAN RACE. 



241 



P A R S E E S. 



The Parsees are the living representatives, and remnant of the 

 Persians of antiquity. And they continue, as in former times, to 

 reject image-worship, and to pay their adorations to the elements, 

 holding that of fire in more special reverence. They agree even in 

 various minor particulars which are related by Herodotus of their 

 forefathers;* as in "their names ending without exception alike; 

 in those words which are expressive of personal or of any other dis- 

 tinction, terminating in the Doric san, which is the same with the 

 Ionic sigma; and in their dead being never interred (placed in the 

 cemetery) till some bird or dog has discovered a propensity to prey on 

 them." When compared with the Parthians, of a somewhat later 

 period, the points of resemblance will be found to be yet more nu- 

 merous. 



Resident Parsees, were spoken of at Singapore ; but I first met 

 with individuals at Aden, Their settlement here, was in conse- 

 quence of the English establishment ; and unlike the Banians, they 

 are not found in other parts of Arabia. At Zanzibar, indeed, I met 

 with two or three Parsee artisans, who had been engaged by the 

 Imaum, for temporary employment. The servants in some of the 

 Bombay steamboats, were Parsees ; and one of them seen in full cos- 

 tume on the road to Cairo, reminded me of the strangely different 

 auspices, under which this people after the lapse of ages, were revisit- 

 ing the valley of the Nile. 



The present head-quarters of the Parsees, is at Bombay ; where, al- 

 though possessing a less amount of wealth than the Banians, they 

 have become the most prominent class among the native population. 

 They vie with their English rulers, in their country-seats, and 

 showy equipages ; and some of their houses have a profusion of 

 costly furniture. Their commercial relations, extend on the east to 

 China, and of late years, they have even exported to Europe the pro- 

 duce of India. They excel also in ship-building ; having constructed 

 most of the vessels belonging to the Imaum of Muscat ; and some 

 ships of the line, built by Parsees for the English government, are 

 ranked as master-pieces. 



* Herodotus, Clio 131 to 140, &c. 

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