180	DIAMOND
	early in the afternoon. The party must arrive in plenty of time as there was apt to be a crowd in the visitors' gallery for the occasion. The talk at table was political. There are always points of discussion between the Nationalist and the United parties that are good for conversation. Finally Mrs. Oppen-heimer interrupted with the news that it was time to go. As she drove the short distance to the House of Assembly she ex­plained further to the newly arrived Englishman that the first answer to the budget was being made at that very moment, probably, by Mr. Waterson, the Member for Constantia. He was to move various changes in the Minister of Finance's pro­gram, on behalf of the United party. Of course the changes wouldn't stand a chance of being voted in, but it was a neces­sary gesture for the Opposition to make: it was part of the game. Oppenheimer was to follow up by seconding the motion, and would take off from there. The solid, handsome building, fronting a tree-bordered street, looked unusually animated, with a crowd moving slowly in at the entrance. There were many women dressed to the nines in pretty summery costumes: white hats, white shoes, linen or silk dresses; they all went indoors and climbed the stairs to the gallery. Mrs. Oppenheimer settled her party into one of the small compartments like shallow theatrical boxes that were built directly over the Nationalist side of the House, so that they looked down at the United party members across the way. Before departing to the special gallery reserved for family con­nections, she gave the Englishman one last explanation of an unusual and fascinating feature of South African parliamen­tary custom: the proceedings are bilingual. As a matter of policy, Nationalist Members make their speeches in Afrikaans.