394 VISITS TO MADAGASCAK. chap. xiv. 



examined, but with no better success, and about midnight I 

 gave up the search, and wrote a note to be taken by a friend 

 to the prince at daybreak, to say I could not possibly take 

 his portrait in the morning. I then examined all my in- 

 voices, and to my dismay found no acetic acid there. My 

 friend Mr. Fenton had assisted me in making out the list, and 

 I had the most distinct remembrance of speaking about it at 

 the time ; but how it came to be omitted is still a mystery. 

 My perplexity was great : and I am sure all photographers 

 who have been in similar circumstances of destitution, in a 

 country where there were no chemists' shops, and no fellow 

 photographers of whom to borrow, will be able fully to sym- 

 pathise with me. 



I had scarcely finished breakfast when the inquiry I had 

 anticipated came from the queen's secretary, — when could I 

 take the likeness of the prince ? I replied, as soon as I had 

 finished making the " strong water," one of the ingredients for 

 which I had not yet found. The secretary was accompanied 

 by his wife and three children, for whom he solicited some 

 medicine. Then I had a note from the son of one of the 

 princes, informing me of his illness and asking for medicine. 

 The rest of the day was comparatively quiet. 



On Monday, August 15th, I was again among the che- 

 micals by daybreak, but with no better success ; gallic and 

 pyrogallic acids were all I could find. I sent my servant 

 to the market, to buy a quantity of the sourest Malagasy 

 limes he could find, and took some tartaric acid, not very 

 pure, out of my medicine-chest. While I was at breakfast 

 four officers arrived, followed by a number of attendants 

 bearing baskets of eggs, poultry, and rice as a present from 

 the queen, for which I expressed my grateful acknowledg- 

 ments ; when the officers returned, and I proceeded with my 

 experiments. 



Having received, on the previous day, an intimation that 



