24 
VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. 
CHAP. II. 
spreading over the new and. deeply interesting scene, I stood 
for a long time leaning over the side of onr little vessel and 
gazing towards the distant mountains of the interior, earnestly 
desiring that “ O’er those gloomy hills of darkness ” a brighter 
light than of rising sun or natural day might soon arise. The 
few flickering fires on the shore and the dull lights seen here 
and there among the native dwellings, while they indicated 
the habitations of men, presented an aspect widely different 
from the thickly peopled and brightly lighted shores of Port 
Louis or Table Bay. 
The history of English intercourse with Madagascar, the 
intensely affecting results of the introduction of Christianity 
among the people, the peculiarity of our own situation, the 
multiplied memorials of the Divine goodness which arose on 
the review of a long and widely varied voyage now mercifully 
brought to its close, the uncertainty of the future, whether or 
not we should be permitted to land, the light in which our 
visit would be regarded by the government, and the effect it 
might have upon the circumstances of those with whom we 
most deeply sympathised; all these, and other subjects of a 
similar kind, made thought active, and led, I trust, to renewed 
confidence in Him who subordinates all events to his own 
purposes of mercy and blessing. It was not until a late hour 
that I left the deck, and, rocked in my narrow berth by the 
billows that rolled in from the wide ocean without, sought 
repose and rest until a new day should bring fresh cause for 
gratitude, and perhaps for anxiety as well. 
About nine o’clock on the following morning a white flag was 
raised near the custom house, inviting, as we were given to 
understand, a communication from the ship; our boat was 
lowered, and the captain and mate proceeded to the shore. 
They returned about noon, informing Mr. Cameron and 
myself that the governor wished to see us. We went on 
shore soon afterwards, and on landing were met by the 
