MADAGASCAR (III) 277 
of over six hundred miles, explaining the object of my mission. 
This request was refused, and I found myself confined indefinitely 
to Tananarive and its administrative area. 
If I could have continued my calling I should have remained a 
harmless law-abiding internee. But when one is loafing around 
the capital of a country, anything can happen—and it did. A bird 
whispered to me that a British attack had been planned. Would 
I give my services? Being a patriotic British subject I had no 
alternative. 
