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

104 HISTORY OF THE PARSIS. [CHAP. II.

Mahomedan wife would only require one or two saris a year for her covering as a dress, each not costing more than three rupees. As for the children, they go almost naked till they get to the age of ten. The poorest Parsi woman would want at least two silk saris a year, costing at least ten rupees each, besides trousers, shirts, shoes, etce., with proper covering for the children. How can a Parsi, then, become a soldier on seven rupees a month ?

If, however, a few Parsis could be induced to take service as soldiers, however poor the remuneration might be, a bright future would after a time open out for them. They would have the opportunity of proving what good soldiers they could make. We venture to predict that the State would also benefit by their service in the army. Educated, energetic, and consistently loyal, they would surely infuse a most wholesome spirit into any regiment. Some of them would soon rise to the position of non-commissioned officers, and when opportunities offered they would, by their coolness, courage, and discipline, show that they were not unworthy descendants of the men who at one time gained, by their heroic valour under their own kings, an empire from the Hellespont to the Indus. This much accomplished, it could not then be long before they would earn commissions in the army; for, if a German or a Kuropean of another nationality can secure a commis-