ciiap. xiii. OFFICIAL VISIT FROM THE PALACE. 
355 
capital, had desired me to tell the queen and government of 
Madagascar, that all reports of hostile intentions on the part 
of the English were untrue; that the English government 
never had entertained such intentions, and had no such inten¬ 
tions now; that they desired the prosperity of Madagascar, 
and to be friendly with the queen and the government, but 
had no claim or wish to interfere with the government or 
internal affairs of the country. That at the time of my de¬ 
parture, the Earl of Clarendon had been sent by her majesty, 
the Queen of England, to Paris, to assist, with the ministers 
of France and other countries, in arranging for the peace of 
Europe after the war with Eussia; but that he had directed a 
letter to be written to me authorising the statements I had 
made. I then produced and read the letter on the subject, 
which I had received a few days previous to my departure 
from England. I also delivered a letter from His Excellency 
the Grovernor of Mauritius for the queen, and said I had some 
presents for her majesty, which I should be happy to deliver 
as soon as the remainder of my packages should arrive. The 
chiefs all expressed themselves greatly pleased with the 
friendly, straightforward, and disinterested statements of the 
letter which I had read; and after further conversation on 
different subjects, they rose to return. The rustling of the 
stiff silk lambas, and the jingling of the large loose gold 
bracelets on the wrists of some of the chiefs as they shook 
hands with me on leaving, produced a somewhat novel 
effect. 
During my former visit to Tamatave, I had had much in¬ 
timate, pleasant, and affectionate intercourse with an intelli¬ 
gent chief, a native of the capital, but at that time a sort of 
agent for the prince. Few were the days in which he did 
not visit me ; and it was not until I was in the canoe, which 
was to take me to the ship, that we parted. He had been, 
shortly afterwards, attacked with the fever, and had died a 
A A 2 
