THE CORONATION OF RANAVALONA III, 265 
flashes of lightning in the far west lent a still more 
impressive air. Her Majesty went on to say that the 
foreigners who were tsara fihovdnana , ‘ on friendly rela¬ 
tions with them ’ would be well treated; and, finally, 
she declared that she only recognised Jehovah as her 
God. Upon Him also she rested her kingdom; and the 
fear of Him was the beginning of wisdom. These last 
words were spoken with a deep pathos, and evidently 
came from her heart. 
“ By this time it was raining fast. The representa¬ 
tives of the various tribes came up to present hasina — 
the dollar—in token of allegiance; but this was done 
amid infinite confusion, two or three speaking at the 
same time, and the rain falling smartly. The various 
missionary societies did the same through their various 
spokesmen, but it was an uncomfortable proceeding. 
“ A wonder was expressed by some whether one chief 
part was to be omitted this time—the speech of the 
eloquent prime minister. But no, it came; and though 
he is not so young as he once was, and has been the 
husband of two queens before the present one, his elo¬ 
quence seems to have lost little of its true fire. He 
took up the principal points of the Queen's address, and 
thanked her on behalf of the people. Alluding to her 
saying that, though a woman, she would be a man in 
defending her land, he provoked, if possible, more en¬ 
thusiasm than she did, as he said they were all will¬ 
ing to sacrifice themselves for their country. After 
this the Queen descended from the chair, entered a 
pony phaeton, and was taken round the plain that she 
might be seen by her people. On her return the prime 
minister, at her command, dismissed the people. A 
message of thanks was sent to the foreigners for their 
