HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
253 
been melted, and beaten into plates, which were fastened with 
silver rivets. Its workmanship was rough, and its appear¬ 
ance clumsy; but the feeling which dictated so liberal an 
expenditure of wealth, as a tribute of respect to a prince 
who deserved it so well, was gratifying and highly honour¬ 
able. An inscription was made on a silver plate, and 
fastened to the coffin, of which the following is a trans¬ 
lation :— 
Tananarivo — 1 August, 1828. 
RADAMA MANJAKA ,* 
Unequalled among the Princes. 
Sovereign 
Of the Island. 
The natives had been occupied for several days in pre¬ 
paring a large tomb, or mausoleum, consisting of red earth 
and roughly-cut blocks of stone. The building is about 
thirty feet square and sixteen feet high. A small apart¬ 
ment has been subsequently built over it in European 
style, which is surrounded by a veranda. The interior of 
the upper room is elegantly ornamented; and a table, two 
chairs, a bottle of wine, a bottle of water, and two tumblers, 
are placed in the room, conformably with the ideas enter¬ 
tained by most of the natives, that the ghost of the departed 
monarch might occasionally visit the resting-place of his 
ashes, meet with the spirit of his father, and partake of 
what he was known to be fond of in his lifetime. 
About six o’clock in the evening of the T2th, the corpse 
was removed to its last resting-place in the silver coffin 
which had been previously placed on a framework of wood 
in the tomb. A prodigious quantity of the most valuable 
personal property belonging to the late king, was buried 
* Radama, King. 
