300 
HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR 
devolving upon him on the return of the king from the 
war with the Sakalavas. 
This event took place on the 23d of January, 1823, when 
all the chieftains acknowledging allegiance to Radama, and 
a multitude of people, were assembled to receive him at the 
capital. The king related to the people, in kabary, the 
chief circumstances attending his expedition. He told 
them of the marriage he had formed with the only child of 
Ramitraha, for the purpose of insuring peace to his subjects, 
and thus enabling them to cultivate the arts which he had 
introduced among them. This he recommended in the 
strongest terms; declaring industry to be a source whence 
all their wants might be satisfied. He stated to them, that 
the proofs he had witnessed of the valour of his soldiers 
enabled him to assure them, that disciplined men, alone, 
could be depended upon as the guardians of a country, and 
that he looked to them, the cultivators of the soil, for the 
means of supporting a regular army, which should enable 
him to guarantee their security whilst they pursued their 
peaceable occupations. 
The aged chieftains addressed the king in the highest 
terms of loyalty, expressing their entire approbation of all 
his proceedings, and their readiness to furnish the supplies 
he should require for the support of a regular army; after 
which they took the opportunity, individually, to return 
thanks to the troops for their able conduct in the war. 
On the conclusion of these addresses, the usual formality 
of presenting the hasina, or tribute, to the king commenced, 
when several hundred dollars cut in pieces, besides a greater 
number uncut, were presented. 
The chieftains were reassembled on the following day, 
when the king again addressed them respecting the imme¬ 
diate necessity there was for their application to husbandry 
