c
human tide flowed on for hours, rich and poor showing a childlike
pleasure in the street decorations and the variegated crowd. And in the
midst of all this turmoil native parties from out of town squatted on
the deserted tiers of seats, ate their suppers with relish and then
calmly composed themselves to sleep, wrapped in their robes, as though
they were in the privacy of their own homes. It was a spectacle such as
could be seen only in an Oriental city with a people who live in public
with the placid unconsciousness of animals.

RELIGION AND CUSTOMS OF THE BOMBAY PARSEES

The Parsees of Bombay--a mere handful of exiles among millions of
aliens--have so exerted their power as to change the life of a great
city. Proscribed and persecuted, they have developed so powerfully their
aptitude for commercial life that they represent the wealth of Bombay.
Living up to the tenets of their creed, they have given far more
liberally to charity and education than any other race. Some idea of the
respect in which the Parsee is held may be gained from the fact that
customs officers never search the baggage of one of these people; they
take the Parsee's word that he has no dutiable goods. The commercial
success and the high level of private life among the Parsees is due
directly to their religion, which was founded by Zoroaster in ancient
Persia three thousand years ago. As Max-Muller has well said, if Darius
had overthrown Alexander of Greece, the modern world would probably have
inherited the faith of Zoroaster, which does not differ in most of its
essentials from the creed of Christ.

The popular idea of a Parsee is that he worships the sun. This is a
misconception, due probably to the fact that the Parsee when saying his
prayers always faces the sun or, in default of this, prays before a
sacred fire in his temples; but he does not worship the sun, nor any
gods or idols. His temples are bare, only the sacred fire of sandalwood
burning in one corner. The Parsee recognizes an overruling god,
Ahura-Mazda, the creator of the universe; he believes that Nature with
its remarkable laws could not have come into being without a great first
cause. But he believes that the universe created by Ahura-Mazda was
invaded by a spirit of evil, Angra-Mainyush, which invites men to wicked
deeds, falsehood and ignorance. Over against this evil spirit is the
good spirit, Spenta-Mainyush, which represents God and stands for truth,
goodness and knowl