The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1859-03-29 00:00:00

INDIA.

A NATIyR
.INDIAN ENTERTAINMENT.—IIie following
is a description of an entertainment given by the
Ilinduoit and Ilahommedans of Madras to Sir H. Raw-
linson, the ex•ehief justice, on his retirement from the
Supreme
.Court :—" The ' nautcle was really a magnifi-
met affair. A hall capable of holding 2,000 people land
been erected over the tops of houses and part of a street,
and was decorated in true native taste, while the jilts-
initiations sent forth their light afar, and attracted out-
side spectators in thousands. Considerably before the
appointed time guests were to be seen driving through a
tremendous crowd of Hin.loos end Muetulinens towards
the brilliantly lighted assembly-hall, and each on pass-
ing up the front staircase was received by members of
the committee. By 10 o'clock the place was full almost
to overflowing with uniforms, inertia, native costumes,
and ladies dreams. and the great people of the enter-
tainment AMY/4,-1..1y Rawlinson conducted by Lord
Harris, and Sir CFriatoither Rawlinson lea ll ii g on the
141111 of • friend, and still, we are sorry to say, somewhat
lame from his recent accident. The farewell address
and Sir Christopher's reply were duly read, but could
only be heard by a fraction of the assembly ; and the
misguided hand, which began to play in the most
timed manner juat after the co 11111 l encement of the read-
ing. served to still further drown the words. The un•
fortunate musicians, however, were interim,' ax quickly
U possible. After the address and speech the real
amusement of the evening commenced. Another address
had been thrown into the form of a Tamil poem, and
had to be sung all through to the happy Chief Justice
in the same way that 'Chevy Chase' would probably
have been sung by minstrels of olden time, Accord-
ingly the musicians appeared—two male singers, a wale
performer 011 • sort of lute or guitar, and a female
singer, highly jewelled in her ears and nose. The first
set of verses WM cuing with great energy by the men,
who seemed to feel the full force and meaning of the
;met. Next followed the female, who was accompanied
by a young performer on the violin. Her singing was
of *AMC softer and sweeter than that of the men, and
her voice bail loot of the melodic tone which forms 110
decided a characteristic of native ',Moment. Next
followed dancing girls, gorgeously attired and richly
jewelled, who told the story of love by their looks and
movements alone ; while another set performed strange
things with a sort of whirligig, and by their fantastic
dancing, carried the imaginative beholder far back in
the annals of time into the harems of the ancient princes
of Hindustan. SllOlll3, supper. and a grand display of
fireworks wound up the evening, but it was long after
midnight before the assembly was fairly broken up and
all the guests had passed away. We have already said
that the entertainment was given on the most liberal
scale, and we cannot past it over without bearing our
full testimony to this liberality. lees, champagne, and
everything else were of the best quality, and to be had
in profusion; the supper was all that could be expected
or desire(' ; and none could have catered better than
the committee, or have been more anxious for the com-
fort of their guest* than the native gentlemen who gave
the least."