38 
HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
esteemed, that the possession of his services was often the 
subject of envy amongst the chieftains of that part of the 
country. These circumstances, however, could not lighten 
the yoke of his captivity? and his constant endeavour was 
to find some means of escape to the sea-shore, where he 
hoped to meet with a vessel in which he might escape. 
Sometimes the rigours of his lot were rendered more 
tolerable by this hope brightening almost into certainty, as 
he listened to those who spoke of the different sea-ports 
accessible from the neighbourhood in which he was de¬ 
tained ; but often before he could make any attempt to 
reach one of these ports, the results of war plunged him 
into the deepest despair, by placing him in the power of 
a more vigilant master, or removing him, along with the 
chieftain he served, to some district more remote from 
the sea. 
Encouraged by the prospect of reaching St. Augustine’s 
Bay, he made more than one bold and adventurous attempt 
to escape from his masters. On one occasion, after pur¬ 
suing his lonely course for many days, attended with almost 
incredible hardships, just as the hope of final success was 
gaining advantage over the fear of detection, he came to 
the banks of a river, so wide and deep as to present an 
almost insurmountable barrier to his progress. 
“ As I was searching,” he observes, in his unvarnished 
narrative, “for a proper place to wade through, or swim 
over, I spied a large alligator: I still walked upon the 
banks, and in a short time saw three more. This was a 
mortifying stroke, and almost dispirited me. I went on 
until I came to a shallower place, where I entered the 
river about ten yards; but seeing an alligator make towards 
me, I ran directly back. He pursued me until I got into 
very shallow water, and then he turned back into the deep ? 
