342 
CHAPTER XVII. 
CONCLUSION. 
The day is fast approaching when the chief 
part of Madagascar will no longer be sealed and 
closed to foreign enterprise and the useful em¬ 
ployment of European capital. The visit of the 
recent embassy to England and America has 
already produced marked results, and effected 
considerable changes in the internal policy of the 
ocean kingdom of the Hovas. The men who 
formed the embassy were well prepared, from 
their previous training, to enter thoroughly into 
all the social problems which were presented to 
them in their recent intercourse with the most 
civilised communities of the world. Ramaniraka, 
who was the second ambassador last year to 
London and America, is well versed in English 
literature ; he speaks English fluently, and has 
all his life been employed in the service of the 
Government. It was my good fortune to enter¬ 
tain him at my residence on the coast, on the 
