210 
VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. 
chai\ viii. 
me aside, and quietly gave me a handsome silver snuff-box, 
lined with gold, and with his name engraved on the lid, which 
he said he wished me to present to the London Missionary 
Society, as an expression of his grateful feelings towards that 
institution. His wife, who was also formerly a slave, in the 
mean time brought out a basket of fine ripe apples and 
apricots, for our use on the journey. 
Graaf Eeinet, which we had now left, is an interesting 
place, admirably situated in a sort of basin formed by moun¬ 
tains of varied height and form, and watered by the Sunday 
river, by whose winding course it is nearly surrounded. 
Numbers of magnificent oleanders, Nerium splendens, twelve 
or fourteen feet high, were in full flower, the blossoms much 
darker coloured than they are ever seen in England. Large 
weeping willows were growing luxuriantly around the 
fountain in the centre of the town, near which the compact 
and substantial mission buildings were situated. The Dutch 
Eeformed Church here is a fine building, with steeple and 
spire, and stands, I presume, on the site of one in which, 
half a century ago, the insurgent boers of that day, then in 
arms against the government, insisted, as one of the con¬ 
ditions of peace, upon having the pulpit washed, because in 
it Dr. Vanderkemp had, with the sanction of the commis¬ 
sioner, preached to the people of colour resorting to the 
place. How great the change produced by fifty years ! for 
now some of the people of colour possess considerable landed 
property in the same place, live in a style of respectability 
and comfort, and occupy important positions, while enjoying 
the respect of society. One of them, a smith, has a num¬ 
ber of apprentices or journeymen always employed, amongst 
whom I heard there was both a Dutchman and an Eng¬ 
lishman, as well as native Africans. 
Besides the friends more immediately connected with the 
missions, I had the pleasure, during my short stay, of making 
