CHAP. XIII, 
PLACES OP PUBLIC EXECUTION. 
363 
French resident at the capital. The labour of procuring 
timber from the forest fifty miles distant must have been 
immense; and it is said that about sixty carpenters were 
employed four years on the works. 
After we left the domain the people crowded the road, and 
saluted the prince as he passed. On approaching the capital 
I observed that the south end of the hill on which it stands 
is rocky, and almost destitute of houses. The prince pointed 
out a part of the naked rock, which he said was Ambohipotsi, 
which I knew to be the common place of execution, and 
where several of the Christians had been put to death. It 
was three hundred or four hundred feet above the path. 
Shortly afterwards we passed within sight of the pile of 
granite rock, three hundred feet high, from which criminals 
are hurled, and dashed to pieces on the rocky fragments 
below. 
The sun had set when we re-entered the capital, and pass¬ 
ing for a long distance through the labyrinth of streets, we 
halted. The prince alighted at the house of one of his offi¬ 
cers, and wished me good-night. I re-entered my palanquin, 
and going a few yards further, was put down at my own door 
soon after six o’clock, much pleased with the opportunity I 
had enjoyed of viewing this comparatively populous and well 
cultivated portion of the country, and deeply affected by the 
associations connected with some of the objects I had beheld. 
A number of friends came in the evening, and the conver¬ 
sation naturally turned upon the events of recent years, and 
the scenes which had been witnessed on the spots I had passed 
during the day. The statements to which I listened were 
deeply affecting. My friends had also many questions to ask 
respecting the customs of my own and other countries, espe¬ 
cially our mode of conducting funerals, &c. 
The next day was the Sabbath. I had but few visitors, and 
was glad to secure more than usual retirement and quiet, 
