IV 
PREFACE. 
to prepare the work for publication, adding such 
information as could be obtained from publications in 
this country—correspondence witli the Missionaries— 
and the papers in the possession of the London Mis¬ 
sionary Society. 
Shortly after the period now referred to, circum¬ 
stances occurring in Madagascar which rendered it 
expedient to postpone for a time the publication of 
the history, its preparation for the press was sus¬ 
pended ; and although a very strong desire for infor¬ 
mation respecting the country and the people has 
been manifested, the delay that has taken place is 
the less to be regretted, as the work has been ren¬ 
dered more complete than it could have been, if pub¬ 
lished at any earlier period. 
By the kindness of the Right Honourable Lord 
Glen el g, Her Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State 
for the Colonies, access has been obligingly granted to 
the voluminous and peculiarly interesting MS. jour¬ 
nals of James Hastie, Esq., by whom the treaty for 
the abolition of the slave-trade was negociated, and 
who was, for many years, British agent at the capital 
of Madagascar. 
In the early part of the work, the writings of 
Flacourt, Rochon, the narrative of Drury, and the 
life of Benyowsky, the History by Copland, as well 
as other works, have been used. Much valuable 
