HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
435 
their threat of invasion, he replied, in his own character¬ 
istic style, “Very well, let them try: I have an officer in 
my service, General Tazo, (the name of the Malagasy 
fever;) I’ll leave them in his hands for awhile, and have no 
doubt of the result.” Vague rumours of the hostile inten¬ 
tions of the French still continued to reach Madagascar; 
but since the abortive expedition of 1829, no attempts have 
been made to obtain by force the possession of any part of 
the country. 
The discontinuance of all encouragement to education— 
the evidently unfavourable views with which the chief 
objects of the Mission were regarded by the principal offi¬ 
cers of the queen’s government—the measures taken by 
them to impede the labours of the Missionaries, and to 
restore the domination of their idols and charms throughout 
the land—the circumscribed limits within which the labours 
of the Missionaries were now confined—and the unsettled 
state of the country, had, ever since the death of the king, 
brought the Missionaries into circumstances painfully con¬ 
trasting with those under which, during the reign of 
liadama, they had pursued their labours. Influenced by 
the position of affairs, the absence of every prospect of 
more extensive usefulness, and apprehending changes still 
more unfavourable, Mr. Freeman, in the autumn of 1829, 
deemed it his duty to leave Madagascar, at least for a season, 
and proceed to Mauritius. With this view, accompanied 
by Mrs. Freeman and their two children, Mr. Freeman took 
leave of his friends and fellow-labourers at the capital, on 
the 30th of September, and commenced his journey towards 
the coast. Letters and tokens of esteem from the queen 
and principal officers were sent to him, on taking his fare¬ 
well of Imerina. 
The journey was one of extreme fatigue, vexation, dis- 
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