not to speak of increasing British trade--which they
are only too anxious to do, if a chance is given them--in conjunction
with the representatives of their race in Bombay--the most Anglicised,
except in religion, of all our subject races of India. There was formerly
a British Vice-Consul in Yezd, but for some reason known to the
Government, while Russia finds it expedient to establish Consular agents
in all the principal centres of Persia, we have actually withdrawn our
representative even from so important a city as Yezd!

The Parsee communities of Yezd and Bombay are in constant communication
with each other, and it is well known what marvellous prosperity these
fugitives of Fars have now attained in Bombay, through their honesty and
hard work, especially since their connection with the British, whose
civilisation, with the exception of religion and the hat, they have
entirely adopted. Most of them speak perfect English, and many of the
sons of the wealthier Parsees have been educated at universities in
England. We find them working banking houses on a large scale, and cotton
mills, running lines of steamers and shipbuilding yards. They trade
considerably with the Far East and Far West, and with every nook in Asia.
Even as far as Samarkand, Bokhara, Siberia, Nijni-Novgorod, and St.
Petersburg, Parsee traders are to be found, and in Japan, China, the
United States, and Canada. With England they carry on a very extensive
trade, and through them as intermediaries much of the import trade into
India finds its way into neighbouring markets more difficult of access to
the direct British exporter.

One of the most noticeable traits of the flourishing Parsees of Bombay is
their extreme generosity, often hampered by petty, stupid, Anglo-Indian
officialdom, which they seem to stand with amazing patience and
good-nature. We find well appointed hospitals erected by them; schools,
clubs, and only lately one of the richest of all Parsees, Mr. Jamsetsji
Tata, has given the city of Bombay no less a gift than a quarter of a
million pounds for the erection of a university on the most modern lines
in that city.

CHAPTER XL

_Badjirs_--Below the sand level--Chappar service between Yezd and
Kerman--The elasticity of a farsakh--Sar-i-Yezd--An escort--Where
three provinces meet--Etiquette--Robbers' impunity--A capital
story--Zen-u-din--The Serde Kuh range--Desert--Sand
accumulations--Kermanshah--The Dare