396 
VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. 
CHAP. XIV. 
riments, having added to my other acids a bottle of weak 
vinegar. About four o’clock M. Laborde and two officers 
of the palace arrived. The officers had been sent by the 
queen to invite me to see a bull-fight, in the courtyard of 
the palace, that afternoon. I acknowledged the kindness of 
her majesty in inviting me, but begged to be excused. At 
sunset three officers came from the queen, to thank me for the 
presents from the governor of Mauritius, and those from 
myself. They said the queen was much pleased with the 
portraits. They also brought a similar message from the 
prince and princess. When they returned, I repeated my 
apology for not going to see the bull-fight. 
Soon after they were gone another party of visitors were 
announced. When they entered, a respectable matronly- 
looking woman said she had been waiting for an opportunity 
of seeing me ever since my arrival, to ask if I had any medi¬ 
cine I could give her for her son, now seventeen years of age, 
who had been afflicted with leprosy five years. She added 
that she had tried every kind of native medicine, but in vain. 
I told her I sympathised with her in the affliction, but feared 
I had no medicine that would cure that inveterate disease. 
She wept much, and her husband was also greatly affected, 
saying, “ Then there is no remedy.” At length she said she 
must hope in the goodness of Gfod, and be grateful that her 
other three children were free. She left me soon afterwards; 
and in the evening the queen’s secretary sent for the presents 
for the other chiefs. 
Before making my appearance the next morning, one of 
my patients was waiting outside in his palanquin ; yet all the 
time I could secure I employed in trying, by experiments, to 
find a substitute for the missing acid. I succeeded best with 
the vinegar; with tartaric acid I only obtained a faint reddish 
image. 
Early the following morning an aide-de-camp of the prince 
