CONCLUSION-. 
343 
occasion of his visit to promulgate the decree 
manumitting the Mozambique slaves in 1877, 
and I could not but feel interested in the touch¬ 
ing address which he delivered on the occasion 
to a large concourse as to the moral and social 
advantages of education and knowledge to every 
man, even if only on the lowest step of the ladder 
of life. 
Of Kavoninahitriniarivo, the chief ambassador, 
I have also very agreeable recollections. It hap¬ 
pened that I had to go to the capital in 1877 
for change of air and rest, after a more than 
ordinary attack of malarious fever, and for the 
purpose of conferring with the authorities at the 
palace as to the educational work on the east 
coast. I had a very kind message from Ravoni- 
nahitriniarivo, who was then of the rank of 
fifteen honours,—I believe he has received an¬ 
other since,—and an officer of the palace (one 
of the body-guard of her Majesty). I replied in 
suitable terms, and asked for an interview, which 
■was immediately granted. I was very much 
surprised to find the dwelling in which this 
officer lived to be a small palace of handsome 
proportions, well built of carefully dressed stone, 
and worthy of any English country gentleman. 
The result of the interview was that considerable 
impetus was given to the Government schemes 
for the amelioration of the condition of the Bet- 
