398 VISITS TO MADAGASCAR ciiap. xiv. 



All tliQ chiefs assembled on this occasion were in Arabic 

 costume, wearing long loose robes of green, yellow, white, or 

 red ; and turbans and sashes of every variety of colour, with 

 a profusion of jewellery. M. Laborde and his son were 

 dressed in scarlet and orange dresses, with immense turbans 

 to match, and slippers turned up, with pointed toes. They 

 were accompanied by the priest and two Frenchmen, who had 

 recently come from Tamatave, to thank the queen for the 

 respect shown to the memory of the late M. De Lastelle. 

 After waiting a short time on the outside we entered the large 

 court before the palace, when the band played the national 

 air, and the soldiers presented arms. The queen and her 

 court, sixty or seventy persons, occupied the large open ve- 

 randah or balcony in the centre of the palace. The queen 

 sat beneath the large scarlet umbrella and wore the same 

 lamba as on my former visit to the palace, but a smaller, 

 lighter crown, something like a coronet of gold on a scarlet 

 velvet cap. All the members of the court were in Arab cos- 

 tume. The prince wore an orange-coloured silk robe, and a 

 green silk turban, with a gold crescent in the centre. 



The Frenchmen and myself were directed to chairs on the 

 left in the shade ; and beyond the seats we occupied, on the 

 same side, sat a large number of native women. The officers 

 were seated along immediately in front of the queen, and a 

 number of the members of the court sat on the right opposite 

 to us. The queen's band and the prince's band were ranged 

 on the right side of the square, beyond the members of the 

 court. Behind them sat a large company of singing women, 

 in front of whom stood three or four men blowing the turbo, 

 or trumpet shell, and making a kind of bass to the women's 

 soft and monotonous music in singing. The farther end of 

 the court was filled with spectators, and the outside beyond 

 was crowded with lines of lookers-on standing one above the 

 other. 



