24 VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. chap. ii. 



spreading over the new and deeply interesting scene, I stood 

 for a long time leanincj over the side of our little vessel and 

 gazing towards the distant mountains of the interior, earnestly 

 desiring that " O'er those gloomy hills of darkness " a brighter 

 light than of rising sun or natural day might soon arise. The 

 few flickering fires on the shore and the dull lights seen here 

 and there among the native dwellings, while they indicated 

 the habitations of men, presented an aspect widely different 

 from the thickly peopled and brightly lighted shores of Port 

 Louis or Table Bay. 



The history of English intercourse with Madagascar, the 

 intensely affecting results of the introduction of Christianity 

 among the people, the peculiarity of our own situation, the 

 multiplied memorials of the Divine goodness which arose on 

 the review of a long and widely varied voyage now mercifully 

 brought to its close, the uncertainty of the future, whether or 

 not we should be permitted to land, the light in which our 

 visit would be regarded by the government, and the effect it 

 might have upon the circumstances of those with whom we 

 most deeply sympathised ; all these, and other subjects of a 

 similar kind, made thought active, and led, I trust, to renewed 

 confidence in Him who subordinates all events to his own 

 purposes of mercy and blessing. It was not until a late hour 

 that I left the deck, and, rocked in my narrow berth by the 

 billows that rolled in from the wide ocean without, sought 

 repose and rest until a new day should bring fresh cause for 

 gratitude, and perhaps for anxiety as well. 



About nine o'clock on the following morning a white flag was 

 raised near the custom house, inviting, as we were given to 

 understand, a communication from the ship; our boat was 

 lowered, and the captain and mate proceeded to the shore. 

 They returned about noon, informing Mr. Cameron and 

 myself that the governor wished to see us. We went on 

 shore soon afterwards, and on landing were met by the 



