HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
97 
less generous than their sovereign, and made the strangers 
pay two dollars for each house. The king also allowed 
them for some time a bullock a day, but on account of the 
scantiness of his own resources, he was unable to supply 
them with rice or any other articles of food. These, how¬ 
ever, they were able to purchase of the natives, having 
shared, on the breaking up the vessel, in the sum of money 
it contained, which is stated to have amounted to 400,000 
dollars. When the ship was entirely given up, every one 
was allowed to take what he could of this money: the 
weight, however, rendered it hazardous; and in one instance 
a soldier had so loaded his pockets, that on leaping from 
the raft, as it neared the shore, he instantly sunk and was 
drowned. 
While the company, conducted by Captain Dale, were 
thus protected by the king, the remainder of the crew, and 
those who had been exposed to the greatest hardships, of 
whom the writer of the narrative was one, were pursuing 
their tedious way, in the hope of joining their companions 
at Tolia, though frequently experiencing the kindness 
and hospitality of the natives, they were so repeatedly 
robbed, that at last they had nothing left but the few arti¬ 
cles of clothing they had saved from the wreck; and in 
entering one of the villages, they were thankful to find the 
buttons of their coats available in exchange for potatoes and 
water, to satisfy the cravings of hunger and thirst, from 
which they all suffered very severely. After a wearisome 
journey from this village along the burning sand, they were 
gladdened by the sight of one of their own people returning 
from the king’s residence to the wreck, with some canoes 
which the king had humanely sent to assist such as might 
be unable to walk. 
This enfeebled party at length joined their companions 
II. H 
