Page:The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, vol. 1.djvu/99

 1893) ===

To,

His Excellency, Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson, K.C.M.G., etc.

May it please your excellency,

We the undersigned members of the Mahomedan and Indian community of the Colony of the Natal, beg most respectfully to welcome your Excellency on the occasion of Your Excellency's arrival here as the representative of Her Majesty the Queen, Empress of India. We trust that your Excellency will find the Colony and its associations congenial, and that the task of introducing a new form of government into Natal will be as free from difficulty as it will be pregnant with interest. The special affairs of the Indian community in Natal will, owing to the extending Indian influence here, constantly occupy your Excellency's attention; and we bespeak, with your Excellency's permission, that consideration towards our community, which, we are confident, Your Excellency, representing Her Most Gracious Majesty, will be pleased to grant to us. We take leave to wish for your Excellency and Lady Hely-Hutchinson all prosperity during your stay in this country.

And we are,

Your Excellency's most obedient servants,

Dada Abdulla 1 M. C. Camroodeen 2 Amod Tilly

Dawod Mahomed Amod Jeewa Parsee Rustomji

A. C. Pillay

The Natal Mercury, 30-9-1893

1 Proprietor of Dada Abdulla & Co., Durban, leading Indian firm, in connection with whose law-suit Gandhiji first went to Natal, South Africa 2 Indian merchant of Johannesburg and active member of the Natal Indian Congress

=== Letter to "The Natal Advertise