not do for anybody to hang back on an
occasion like this ; and, for the nonce, both
the civilians and the military were of one
mind, and actually met on an amicable and
pleasant footing, to talk the matter over, and
to decide upon what was to be done. After
a friendly debate, which lasted for four hours,
it was resolved that Sir Gunter and Lady
Gallopaway should be invited to a ball and
supper, and not to a dinner. It was further
determined that the entertainment should
take place, not at Government-house (that
would be too Civil)— not at any mess-room
(that would be too Military)— but at a
good-sized hall, called the Metcalfe Institution,
this being perfectly neutral ground. My
friend, the civilian with whom I had been
staying, had a perfect contempt for these local
squabbles — although he was really compelled
to take a part therein ; and, after the meeting
was over, he sat down and wrote a metrical
squib, ridiculing the whole affair, and sent it
for publication to one of the newspapers, the
Delhi Gazette. For this squib — seeing that
it sneered at both the civilians and the
military— I unfortunately got the credit, and
the consequence was, that, when I made my
appearance at the ball, several of the heads
of the society who had formerly received me
with extreme cordiality, answered me only
in monosyllables when I addressed them.
Indeed, I learnt afterwards, from my friend's
wife, that a meeting had actually been called
to consider the propriety of not inviting me,
and that I had very narrowly escaped that
punishment ; for, had it not been for the vote
of her husband, my name would have been
omitted, as there were ten for and ten against
me, when he held up his hand in my favour.

But to the ball. There were present some
twenty civilians, all dressed in black, with
white cravats ; and each had brought with
him his wife, or a sister, or a daughter. Of
military men (all in full-dress uniform) there
were about forty-five or fifty ; and the ladies
who came with them may have numbered
thirty. In all, say that there were present—
including visitors and stragglers like myself
—one hundred and forty. I was rather late,
and, on entering the room, beheld one of the
oddest sights that I ever witnessed : all the
black coats were huddled together, and so
were all the reds. They had been unanimous
only so far as giving the entertainment was
concerned ; and it seemed to be distinctly
understood by each party that there was to
be no mixing ; and so the civilians formed
quadrilles and danced with the civil ladies,
and the soldiers with the military ladies.
Had there been a royal regiment in Agra,
there would have been three parties, owing
to the jealousy that existed formerly between
the Queen's and the Company's officers.
Besides myself, there were two "interlopers
in the East " present at that ball. The one, a
French gentleman ; the other, a German Baron.
They, too, were travelling about in search of
the picturesque, and here they had it with a
vengeance. The Frenchman could not
comprehend this exclusiveness on the part of the
blacks ; but the German assured us that
to him it was a very common sight, and to be
witnessed at every ball in every garrison
town in his country. "But there," said he,
"the military look down on the civilians,
while here, it seems to me, that the civilians
look down on the military. See ! see ! See
how disdainfully that old Mrs. Revenue Board
scrutinises the dress of Mrs. Lieutenant-
Colonel Damzè ! "

Sure enough such was the case. "But
regard!" said the Frenchman, "how angry
is that Mrs. Sudder Adaulut, because that
little Mrs. Infantry (whose husband, I am
told, is the younger son of a poor English
lord) is contemplating her, nose in the air.
Truly this is a magnificent spectacle! Is it
always so, I wonder ?"

I was enabled, from experience, to inform
him, that in almost every large station — and
at Agra especially — it universally occurs;
but that in small stations seldom or never.

Here we were approached by Lieutenant-
Colonel Daimzè himself. After exchanging
a few words with the foreign gentlemen on
either side of me, he passed on, seemingly
proud and happy at having had an opportunity
of slighting me in public, on account
of the doggerel for which I had the credit.

"Mais monsieur," said the Frenchman to
me. Who, in wonder's name, are all these
Damzè gentlemen? There is one Damzè,
colonel of such a regiment; another Damzè,
major in another corps. There is a Deputy-
Commissary-General Damzè:; there is a Mr.
Damzè in the Indian navy; another Damzè
is a military secretary; some half-dozen
Damzès are, I have perceived, on the staff of
the Commander-in-Chief. Parbleu! C'est
Damzè — toujours Damzè ! for here, by
Heaven, I meet with still another Damzè !
Who are all these Damzès?"

I informed him that Damzè was the
patronymic of a nobleman in power; and with this
explanation he was thoroughly enlightened,
and appeared to be perfectly satisfied.

"Let us move up towards the General,"
said the German Baron, who had been
introduced to the old hero. "Let us go and say
a few words to him."

It was not easy to do this; hemmed in
as was the General by those who desired to
make him remember them in the future.
However, it was managed at last; and, somehow
or other, we three interlopers, contrived
before long, to monopolise his attention — we,
the only people in the room to whom he
could not be of any service—for there was
nothing that he could give, or get for us, if
we had wanted his patronage. We, rather
maliciously — so far as the crowd was
concerned—stood about the distinguished old
man and guarded him; and I have reason to
know that he was grateful to us for so