CHAP. XII. NOVEL MODE OF FATTENING POULTRY. 327 



between both her own, she continued, " Eamonja, Ea- 

 monja ! how happy you will be ! " At length, when she had 

 persuaded me to be seated, she squatted down on the mat, 

 and, gathering her lamba closely round her shoulders, sat for 

 some time, gazing stedfastly at me in silence. I was informed 

 that she had been Prince Eamonja's nurse, was allowed to 

 call him her child, and knowing the pleasure my arrival 

 would afford him, had thus given vent to her feelings. 



I had not been long in the house before an aide-de-camp 

 from the capital arrived with a letter from the Prince Ea- 

 monja himself, expressing, in terms of much affection, the 

 pleasure which the news of my approach had afforded him, 

 and informing me that he had sent instructions that a bullock 

 and other provisions should be presented on our arrival at 

 Angavo. I had much pleasant conversation with the officer 

 who brought the letter, and who was, in personal appearance, 

 one of the finest men I had seen. 



Between one and two o'clock my breakfast was brought. 

 Amongst the presents I had received on the previous day 

 were some fowls which had been fed in a manner peculiar to 

 Madagascar. The bird is confined in a hole, or a close sort of 

 basket, and fed with a paste made of rice flour (much in the 

 same way that turkeys are sometimes crammed), until it be- 

 comes enormously fat. One of these birds had been cooked 

 for my breakfast, and was almost one mass of fat. The layer 

 of fat on the legs and some other parts was a full inch in 

 thickness. Fowls thus fed are said to fetch a high price in 

 the market, and to be esteemed by Malagasy epicures as 

 excellent eating. 



In the course of the afternoon, the prince's head man here, 

 and most of his people, came and requested to see me. On 

 going out, I found my friends, and the chiefs who had 

 travelled with me, arranged along the front of the house, 

 and the head man of the village and his friends on the oppo- 



T 4 



