the pride and power of their master, whom
they served in them as skilled serfs, without
receiving pay. During the reign of Radama,
Mr. Le Gros, his Majesty's architect, had his
house burned by two carpenters, who accused
him as the cause of their misfortunes. The
offenders were burnt alive, as an example to
those of their companions who were annoyed
at being doomed to destitution because they
had been taught to be more skilful than their
fellows. They must be quiet, exercise their
skill all day for the sovereign, and live as they
can, starve, beg, or steal.

Queen Ranavalona altered all that. In
1836 she absolutely forbade her subjects, upon
pain of death, to exercise skilled work for any
but herself or her attendants. The girls, who
were taught sewing in the schools, were
drafted off into the " palace " to sew for " the
court." The boys were drafted off into the
armies, till at last the natives only sent to
school the children of their slaves, to make up
the required number. Reading and writing
Ranavalona allowed only to be practised by
those who received special permission from
herself; slaves practising such arts would be
"reduced to ashes." At length the time of
the missionaries was expired; for the Queen
called a solemn " kabary," at which she
declared that she knew nothing of Christianity
—and did not wish; it was Rahilimalaza and
Ramahavaly who had seated her upon the
throne. Christian worship was proclaimed
treason, with a penalty of death. The schools
were shut up, books were collected, sent
back to the missionaries, who were at the
same time warned that any Malagasy who
possessed a printed book would incur punishment
of death. When finally the missionaries
took their leave, the Queen claimed their local
property as her own.

The natives accused Europeans as the cause
of their distress, and Queen Ranavalona, when
the missionaries went away, imposed a capitation
tax upon her subjects, under a pretence
that it was to pay the white people, in order
by one stroke of policy to raise for herself
money, and to strike a side-blow at the Europeans.
She also liberally granted the use of
her subjects' backs at all times for transporting
missionary luggage, and allowed no
payment to be made, which was another
exercise of her shrewd woman's wit. Her
majesty sent Embassies in 1836, which were
received at the courts of France and England,
with letters politely asserting her own
independence. That independence she took care
to maintain. The arms and discipline, the secrets
of power placed by England in the savage
hands of Radama, enabled Ranavalona to
maintain for twenty years an unrelenting
tyranny. Had our ingenious statecraft not
interfered, one tribe would have been a
check upon its neighbour; but we made
one naked chieftain irresistible; and we are
told by the oldest of the missionaries that his
widow destroyed a million of lives. If we
take off a discount of seventy-five per cent, for
the language of excited feeling, there still
remains a fearful reckoning against the
ingenuities of statesmen. The massacre of an
offending tribe by the ten thousand seems to
have been a trifling matter to this energetic
lady, whose military tastes have so reduced
the population, it is said, that where five
hundred children used to be seen playing, now
there are twenty; not more than one woman
in twenty being made a mother.

In 1844 the master and mate of the bark
Marie Laure, of Port Louis, were charged at
Tamatave with detaining under the hatches
seven native labourers returning from
engagements at Mauritius, with the intention of
kidnapping them for slaves. This, true or
false, would be, of course, denied; but the
mate, Mr. Heppick, a British-American born
subject, was detained upon the accusation, and
eventually himself offered for sale in a public
market. That was in accordance with a
Malagasy law, by which Radama had ordained
that any foreigner detected in exporting native
slaves should himself be reduced to slavery in
Madagascar. Mr. Heppick was bought or
ransomed by the French traders of Tamatave
at the price of thirty dollars, and set free.
H. M. S. " Conway " was sent to inquire into
the matter, and was only puzzled with
conflicting statements. In 1845 the European
traders resident at Tamatave, whose operations
had already been much crippled by the Queen,
received orders to quit Madagascar, with their
families and effects, within a fortnight. The
French sent petitions to Bourbon, the English
to Mauritius; and two French and one English
vessel were soon on the spot, pleading for one
year's grace. The authorities were under
orders; the fortnight was on the point of
expiring, and their heads would have answered
for it, if they had taken upon themselves to
extend the time of grace while sending to
request the Queen to alter her instructions.
The French and English vessels, therefore,
having embarked the merchants, proceeded to
"give the Ovahs a lesson," by destroying the
fort of Tamatave. This fort had been built
not many years previously by two Arab
engineers, and was much stronger than the
assailants had supposed. After a long cannonade
the storming party took the outer works,
and were obliged then to retreat, for they could
do no more; so they regained their ships,
setting fire on their way to the town, that had
been deserted on the first symptom of an
impending struggle. Twenty-one Europeans
were killed, and fifty-six wounded. Of course
the native loss was greater, but the Ovahs
claimed the victory; and it is said by their
antagonists that the next morning the heads
of the slain English and French were exposed
upon the beach opposite the ships, affixed to
poles. The ships fired their cannons, and sailed
off with their merchants. Not very long
afterwards the English vessel coming once
more into the roadstead of Tamatave, found