456 
HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
effects of the poison he was mercifully preserved, to the 
great joy of the Christians, and the benefit of the people. 
In the month of May, 1832, the scholars in the schools 
established by the government, were directed to reassemble ; 
a public examination was held; and the proficiency of the 
pupils commended in an official message from the sovereign, 
in which they were also directed to continue their attention to 
the instruction of the Missionaries. About the same time a 
public assembly of several thousands of the people was con¬ 
vened on the occasion of finishing a canal which had been 
cut under the direction of the Missionary artisans, between 
the river Ikiopa and an extensive lake at Amparibe, in the 
neighbourhood of the capital. The lake is used as a reser¬ 
voir of water for mills erected under the superintendence of 
Mr. Cameron. The message from the queen was delivered 
by some of the highest officers, expressing her sense of the 
importance of the Mission to the nation, and the benefits its 
industry, science, and skill had conferred on the people. 
The Missionaries had hoped that the examinations 
of the schools would have led to the encouragement of 
their efforts in this department ; but they soon found that 
the end of the government was to ascertain the numbers, 
ages, and attainments of the pupils, for other purposes; and 
they had too much reason to believe that the Mission was 
only valued, or perhaps only tolerated, on account of the 
advantages which the skill and knowledge of the artisans 
secured to the government. 
The evidence of this was the more painfully conclusive, 
when, in addition to prohibiting any native from receiving 
the ordinances of Christianity, the benefits of reading and 
writing were ordered to be withheld from every slave in the 
country. Soon after the public examination referred to, an 
edict was issued, by which every master was forbidden to 
