The Fire-worshippers believe in one Supreme Being. They pay the
greatest reverence to the four elements, and especially to the
element of fire, and to the sun, because they look upon them as
emblems of the Supreme Being. Every morning they watch for the
rising sun, and hasten out of their houses, and even outside of the
town, to greet it immediately with prayers. Besides the elements,
the cow is considered sacred by them.
Soon after my arrival, I went one morning upon the esplanade of the
town for the purpose of seeing the great number of Parsees {227}
who, as I had read, assembled themselves there waiting for the first
rays of the sun, on the appearance of which, as if at a given
signal, they throw themselves on the ground, and raise a loud cry of
joy. I, however, merely saw several Parsees, not in groups, but
standing separately here and there, reading silently from a book, or
murmuring a prayer to themselves. These did not even come at the
same time, for many arrived as late as 9 o'clock.
It was precisely the same with the corpses which are stated to be
exposed upon the roofs for the birds of prey to feed upon.
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