HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 427 
addressed the queen, assured her of their fidelity and pre¬ 
sented to her, as their hasina, i. e., their mark of respect or 
homage, a Spanish dollar; then the next clan, Zanakan- 
driamasinavalona did the same; then the Zanakambony; 
then the people of different provinces and districts, through 
their heads or representatives; then the Arabs of Muscat, 
who had but recently arrived with merchandise; then the 
Europeans; and, last of all, the generals, as the represen¬ 
tatives of the army; Ravalonsalama, the oldest general, 
being selected to speak on behalf of the rest, assured the 
queen that the army would be found faithful in supporting 
her throne. It was observed that the queen personally 
thanked only the Europeans and the military. She had 
appointed a place for the Europeans a little behind the 
platform, and two hundred soldiers to protect them from 
inconvenience on account of the pressure of the multitude. 
The ceremony being finished, the procession returned to 
the palace in the same order as before, though by a different 
route, passing along Radama’s road. The firing of cannon 
indicated the return of the queen to her palace. Having 
reached the court-yard of the Tranovola, the queen left her 
palanquin, and, standing near the grand tomb of Radama, 
took the flags of Manjakatsiroa and Fan taka into her 
hands, and offered up a short prayer to Radama, which she 
concluded, by saying, May thy name ever be respected.’’ 
She then walked to the house in the southern court-yard, 
called Mahitsy, conducted by the young prince Ramboa- 
salamarazaka: at the door of the palace she dismissed the 
prince and the officers, who, together with the troops, pro¬ 
ceeded to their respective quarters. 
Considering the partial state of civilization hitherto 
attained by the Malagasy, the coronation of Ranavalona 
must have been regarded by the people as an imposing 
