THE CORONATION OF RANAVALONA III. 255 
“ The French appeared before Fort Dauphin, or, as the 
natives term it, Faradofay, on the 16th of November, 
and demanded the surrender of the place. 
“ ‘ This land is ours,’ said the officer in command of 
the boat that approached the shore ; ‘ and we intend to 
erect our flag here. If you won’t receive it, we shall 
speedily attack you.’ 
“ ‘ No,’ replied the Hova messenger, ‘ this land be¬ 
longs to Banavalomanjaka. She is the only sovereign 
here. We will neither receive your flag nor give you a 
rice-grain’s width of country.’ 
“ They had five hours given to them to think about 
it, and at the expiration of that period the two French 
vessels opened fire, and very soon made the place too 
hot for the patriotic defenders. According to their 
own account, much damage was done, though no life 
was lost. The naive way in which the Malagasy write 
about their returning the French fire and their evacua¬ 
tion of the fort is somewhat instructive :— 
“ c Our soldiers fired the cannon at the ships; those 
on board were immediately startled, and began to direct 
their fire to the west. About four o’clock we drew back 
a little (the firing began about eleven), for we could 
scarcely see the ships because of the smoke from their 
guns, and we don’t know how many were hit on board. 
As for ours, there was not one killed or wounded.’ 
“ The worst news from this part of the country is that 
some portion of the Tanosy tribe have risen against the 
Hovas, so that the late garrison of Fort Dauphin must be 
in a precarious position. It is said that they have been 
for some months in correspondence with the French, 
and perhaps it was their willingness to render he]p that 
decided the latter to take possession again of their old 
