Anna Lombard, page 129 by Victoria Cross
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e.
Toward the end of the month a great fete was to be given in the commissioner's gardens, for both Europeans and natives. Now, these mixed fetes are naively supposed by the complacent Indian Government to bring the two classes together. They are a concession to that section of the community that thinks the native should be brought up to the level of and treated as a white; and to the uninitiated, to those who have never been to one, this form of diversion seems as if it might bring about a delightfully social and friendly intercourse at least for that particular afternoon or evening. The reality, however, hardly impresses one that way. What happens is this. The gates of a magnificent public or private garden a trifle of two hundred acres or so are thrown open to black and white alike, but not the house of the host; that is for the whites alone. The natives come in and pour over the grounds, looking exceedingly picturesque and beautiful in their Oriental dress, and crowned with flowers, as the Greeks of old time. A little later the whites begin to arrive. The natives loll and Lunge about and stare at them, but they are not allowed, on pain of arrest, to speak to them or as the Government calls it to "annoy them." Nor could the whites, except a few of the men in official positions, understand a word of their many languages, if they did. Refreshments are served from the house, but not to the natives. They have to buy theirs, at little native stalls at the gates. There is a band playing; but all seats, stands, and inclosures are reserved for the whites. The natives can stand outside or hang over the rails if they can get near enough. For the rest, wherever seen, however occupied or idle, standing, walking, or sitting, the native is hustled out of the way by a policeman, should a white or whites be coming down the same path or approaching the same bench. And the whites move about as if absolutely unconscious that such a thing as natives existed. He looks through them and over them, walks by the aid of a preced