394 VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. chap, xivi 
Every other box or case in which it was even likely to he was 
examined, hut with no better success, and about midnight I 
gave up the search, and wrote a note to he taken by a friend 
to the prince at daybreak, to say I could not possibly take 
his portrait in the morning. I then examined all my in¬ 
voices, and to my dismay found no acetic acid there. My 
friend Mr. Fenton had assisted me in making out the list, and 
I had the most distinct remembrance of speaking about it at 
the time; but how it came to be omitted is still a mystery. 
My perplexity was great; and I am sure all photographers 
who have been in similar circumstances of destitution, in a 
country where there were no chemists’ shops, and no fellow- 
photographers of whom to borrow, will be able fully to sym¬ 
pathise with me. 
I had scarcely finished breakfast when the inquiry I had 
anticipated came from the queen’s secretary,—when could I 
take the likeness of the prince ? I replied, as soon as I had 
finished making the “ strong water,” one of the ingredients for 
which I had not yet found. The secretary was accompanied 
by his wife and three children, for whom he solicited some 
medicine. Then I had a note from the son of one of the 
princes, informing me of his illness and asking for medicine. 
The rest of the day was comparatively quiet. 
On Monday, August 15th, I was again among the che¬ 
micals by daybreak, but with no better success; gallic and 
pyrogallic acids were all I could find. I sent my servant to 
the market, to buy a quantity of the sourest Malagasy limes 
he could find, and took some tartaric acid, not very pure, 
out of my medicine-chest. While I was at breakfast four 
officers arrived, followed by a number of attendants bearing 
baskets of eggs, poultry, and rice as a present from the queen, 
for which I expressed my grateful acknowledgments; when 
the officers returned, and I proceeded with my experiments. 
Having received, on the previous day, an intimation that 
