• • • • •

As there are not many Englishwomen in
India compared with the number of men, it is
not strange that the former should have many



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STILL TALKING OF INDIA 141

courtiers — a Spenser or a Drake or a Raleigh
to every queen. Unfortunately, there is a less
gallant side to the question than you might
suppose. In this immense colony, freedom of
speech and freedom of action are altogether
greater. You cannot dwell long in India with-
out being struck by that fact. To explain it
you must remember that India is in reality a
man's country, and in the places they have made
for themselves men are bold creatures, both in
speech and in act. They leave an atmosphere
of audacity and assertiveness behind them
which becomes infectious with the adored sex.
As a consequence, the women-folk move in
a circle not only masculine, but too often
basely masculine. And should you be sur-
prised at this, I can only reply that the Army,
which constitutes more than half the life of
India, is not a community lending itself to
homely refinements or cultured modes of ex-
pression. Its ways are rough and hard to
tread. Its ways are the antithesis of all that is
gentle and gracious and womanly. But for all
that you cannot exclude women from the life
of India. No, you cannot. As with life gener-
ally, there comes the eternal compromise. If



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142 THE BAGGING OF BAGHDAD

women are to be there they must sacrifice some
of their special attributes, exchanging them, as
is the fashion nowadays, for those of the men.
