154 
MADAGASCAK. 
was the first Englishman who had had any 
acquaintance with the natives of this, at that 
time almost unheard of, country, his experiences 
of the place and people, which were afterwards 
published, are very interesting and instructive. 
He frequently fell into errors in the spelling of the 
native names, and in his explanation of the 
rationale of native ceremonies and customs; but 
he was fairly intelligent and gifted with great 
powers of observation, and the information he 
brought to England concerning the island was 
eagerly sought after, and created quite a sensa¬ 
tion at the time. His narrative is very pathetic 
in places, and the records of his own personal 
sufferings and privations are very touching and 
sad. He at length effected his deliverance by 
attracting the attention of his friends in England 
and elsewhere by an extraordinary and very 
clever device. He wrote his name and a brief 
sentence describing his deplorable condition upon 
a leaf, and sent it down to the coast by a friendly 
native, to be delivered to the first white man who 
should by chance be seen there. After some 
delay, the captain of a European vessel received 
the strange missive, and quickly grasped the 
purport of the message it carried. Ultimately 
Drury was able to reach the sea-coast, where he 
was gladly welcomed, and enabled to leave the 
country (1717). He did not penetrate to An- 
