180 A VISIT TO THE GOVERNOR 



lished ourselves inside the chapel, which was well built of clay 

 walls with brick gables, ninety feet long by thirty-six broad, 

 with good doors and windows, all well finished. The walls were 

 smoothly plastered and whitened, and the floor was covered with 

 fine mats, all sewn together. 



Sending in our letters of introduction to the Governor, we 

 were in a few minutes invited to go over and see him. Passing 

 through the double lines of palisading and the rows of Hova 

 houses, we came to the Idpa, inside an inner enclosure of its own. 

 Entering the large room on the ground floor, we found the 

 Governor waiting to receive us. His chief officers and the civil 

 authorities were seated round two sides of the room, and a 

 number of the lower class squatted on the floor on the third side, 

 while on the fourth side three chairs were placed for us. As 

 soon as we were seated, the Governor, a tall elderly man, 

 receiving us most cordially, addressed us with a formal speech, 

 after the custom of the Malagasy officials to anyone who came 

 from the capital ; and as this may serve as an example of the 

 way in which we were received in all the principal places, I will 

 give it pretty fully ; it was in the following form : " Since you, 

 gentlemen, have come from the capital, we ask of you, How is 

 Queen Ranavalona, sovereign of the land ? How is Raini- 

 baiarivony, Prime Minister, protector of the kingdom ? How 

 is our father, Raining6ry (the oldest officer in the army, nearly 

 a hundred years old) ? How is Rainimaharavo, Chief Secretary 

 of State, chief of the officers of the palace ? How is Rabe 

 (son of the preceding) ? How is the kingdom of Ambohimanga 

 and Antananarivo (the ancient and modern capitals) ? How 

 are ' the-under-the-heaven ' (the people, the subjects) ? How 

 are you, our friends ? And how is your fatigue after your 

 journey ? " etc. To these inquiries I, as interpreter to the 

 expedition, gravely replied seriatim, saying that her Majesty 

 was well, that the Prime Minister was well, etc., etc., and then 

 inquired how the Governor and his officers, and the people of the 

 town and neighbourhood were. We then had more general and 

 less formal conversation, in which I explained the objects of our 

 visit to Antsihanaka, and our proposed route round the district. 



The Governor then courteously led us by the hand back to 

 the chapel, where he joined us in our dinner ; and as soon as 

 that was finished asked us to come outside. Here we found a 



