108 
HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
Mons. Le Gros, native of France, but late of Mauritius, 
was engaged as architect and builder. Immense labour, 
for a country like Madagascar, was expended on the build¬ 
ing, particularly in conveying timber from the forest, a 
distance of fifty miles. Many hundreds of the finest trees 
that could be found, adapted to the purpose, were felled, 
roughly stripped of their branches and bark, and then 
dragged the distance stated above, by ten, twenty, thirty, 
or forty men, to each piece of timber, as the case re¬ 
quired ; the roads in some places being almost “ impass¬ 
able,” rendered the effort truly herculean. About sixty 
carpenters and apprentices were employed for four years on 
the works. The building is about one hundred and twenty- 
five feet long in front, and one hundred feet in depth. 
The structure is entirely of wood, finished on the outside 
in diagonal panels, resembling in appearance the style of 
building frequently seen in South America. It consists of a 
centre and two wings; and the roof, which is covered with 
shingles, corresponds with the threefold division. There are 
about forty principal rooms on the ground-floor and first 
story, besides a large number of attics and store-rooms. A 
balcony is carried round the whole extent of the building; 
it is about five feet in width, well guarded in part by 
iron railing, and in part by wood; the balcony is supported 
by semicircular arches, placed on columns. There are 
two principal entrances, south-east and north-west, and 
two others opposite to these. The kitchen, and passage 
leading to it, are wholly subterraneous. The former is 
two hundred feet from the building; and the passage, which 
is of the same length, was to have been constantly illumi¬ 
nated with lamps. 
An iron chain, supported by low wooden posts, surrounds 
the whole, at the distance of forty feet from the building. 
