306 
HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
the conquest was still doubtful, when Andrian Dremaro 
offered terms of alliance, which, being favourable to the 
Hovas, were finally agreed to; and one of the most impor¬ 
tant articles of the compact was, that his unlucky day, 
which was not on the same as the king’s, should not be 
altered; as it had been foretold by many augurs, that when 
children born on that day should be permitted to live, the 
chieftain would certainly die. The solemn oaths of alliance 
were entered into on these conditions; and Radama thought 
it necessary to obtain the old chieftain’s consent, if possible, 
before abolishing the custom. He pledged his word, how¬ 
ever, that it should be abolished, and stated his willingness 
to make such restitution as the chief might require. In 
the mean time, the mothers were invited to leave the dis¬ 
trict until the affair should be concluded. 
Although the British agent had the unspeakable grati¬ 
fication of seeing these subjects of deep importance brought 
to a favourable conclusion, there still remained the most 
cruelly fatal of all—the trial by poison, over which his in¬ 
fluence seemed to have no power. By this custom, he 
states, that he had for years known Imerina to be annually 
deprived of hundreds of its inhabitants; and yet, he adds, 
“ such is the prejudice of the natives, that not a sigh 
escapes them for the sufferings of the nearest and dearest 
connexions, when their lives are subjected to this ordeal.” 
Still Mr. Hastie despaired not of inducing the king to put 
a stop to the destruction resulting from this barbarous 
usage, Radama being thoroughly convinced of the fallacy of 
the test, and only wanting a sufficiently powerful reason to 
persuade the people to agree to its abolition. Were he to 
prohibit the use of it, he saidf the people would exclaim, 
“ What, will Radama no longer permit the administration 
of justice?” But still his determination that it should not 
