312 
HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
smiths made these sort of nails, as well as horse-shoes, 
and shod the king’s horses, though they did it but clumsily 
until the arrival of the smith sent out from England. 
“ Formerly they had no locks ; but Europeans, since the 
commencement of the Mission, have taught the natives 
to make several kinds of locks. A very clever smith once 
borrowed a patent padlock from me, which he opened, and 
having examined it thoroughly, made one exactly like it.” 
Mr. Chick, an excellent artisan sent out by the London 
Missionary Society in 1821 , was the first European smith 
who settled in the interior of Madagascar; and to him 
the natives of Ankova especially, are indebted for their 
improvement in the art of working in iron. He reached 
the capital in 1822 , and fixed his residence at Amparibe, 
where he erected his shop, and fitted it up in the 
European style, as far as circumstances would admit. 
Mr. Chick was himself a powerful man; and the tools, 
the bellows, the anvil, and the large sledge-hammer which 
he used, filled the natives with the greatest astonish¬ 
ment. The report of his great strength soon reached the 
palace; and shortly after he began his work, the king, 
with a number of his officers, paid him a visit. Mr. Chick’s 
boys were at work at an anvil of a middling size. A spare 
one, of considerable weight, was standing on the floor in 
another part of the shop; and the king, after looking about 
with admiration for some time, told his officers to lift the 
anvil that was standing on the floor: each in his turn 
put forth his utmost strength, but could not raise it from 
the ground. “What!” said the king, “are you all con¬ 
quered ? Let me try.” His majesty then laid hold of it 
with all his might, and tried to raise it from the ground, 
but with no better success than his officers. Aoka izay, 
(said the king,) avelao mba atao ny vazaha ankehitriny — 
