CUAP. XIII. PLACES OF PUBLIC EXECUTION. 363 



French resident at the capital. The labour of procuring 

 timber from the forest fifty miles distant must have been 

 immense; and it is said that about sixty carpenters were 

 employed four years on the works. 



After we left the domain the people crowded the road, and 

 saluted the prince as he passed. On approaching the capital 

 I observed that the south end of the hill on which it stands 

 is rocky, and almost destitute of houses. The prince pointed 

 out a part of the naked rock, which he said was Ambohipotsi, 

 which I knew to be the common place of execution, and 

 where several of the Christians had been put to death. It 

 was three hundred or four hundred feet above the path. 

 Shortly afterwards we passed within sight of the pile of 

 granite rock, three hundred feet high, from which criminals 

 are hurled, and dashed to pieces on the rocky fragments 

 below. 



The sun had set when we re-entered the capital, and pass- 

 ing for a long distance through the labyrinth of streets, we 

 halted. The prince alighted at the house of one of his offi- 

 cers, and "wished me good-night. I re-entered my palanquin, 

 and going a few yards further, was put down at my own door 

 soon after six o'clock, much pleased with the opportunity I 

 had enjoyed of viewing this comparatively populous and well 

 cultivated portion of the country, and deeply affected by the 

 associations connected with some of the objects I had beheld. 



A number of friends came in the evening, and the coDver- 

 sation naturally turned upon the events of recent years, and 

 the scenes which had been witnessed on the spots I had passed 

 during the day. The statements to which I listened were 

 deeply affecting. My friends had also many questions to ask 

 respecting the customs of my own and other countries, espe- 

 cially our mode of conducting funerals, &c. 



The next day was the Sabbath. I had but few visitors, and 

 was glad to secure more than usual retirement and quiet, 



