APPENDIX. 
455 
tion; and he was amused with such pastimes as the court afforded, 
consisting chiefly of bull-fights. 
Amidst the ravages of fever which destroyed so many of those 
who accompanied Le Sage to the capital, his own health failed; 
and then it was that Radama showed the most assiduous atten¬ 
tions. Fearing he might fall a victim to the fever which had 
proved fatal to so many of his associates, Le Sage made all 
possible arrangements with Radama, in anticipation of his own 
death. The presents he had taken with him were delivered 
in private; and though they would, under other circumstances, 
have been highly gratifying to the Malagasy prince, yet such was 
his anxiety for the life of his guest, that he suppressed the 
manifestations of his joy, and remained almost constantly by 
the bed-side of the sufferer, with the same earnest watchfulness 
that he had evinced before the costly gifts were presented. 
In early life Radama appeared to be a firm believer in the 
native superstitions and to place unbounded confidence in the 
idols of his country, being in the habit of speaking of Andria- 
manitra, or God, as having given him the kingdom. 
He sacrificed neither the liberty nor the lives of his subjects 
to mere wanton caprice; yet when he entertained a suspicion 
of any design against his person or government, the nearest ties 
of blood or friendship could not avail to protect the guilty from 
his vengeance. In other cases where he deemed it necessary to 
inflict capital punishment, it was from his inflexible determina¬ 
tion (imbibed, perhaps, in part from the advice and example 
of his father) to maintain the laws of his country by exciting 
a salutary fear in the minds of his subjects. 
It reflects lasting honour upon the English nation, that no 
sooner did Madagascar come within the immediate influence of 
Great Britain, by her having taken possession of the Isles of 
France and Bourbon, or Reunion, with all their dependencies, than 
efforts were commenced, with a view to the ultimate annihilation 
of the traffic in slaves throughout that extensive island; and no 
exertions were wanting on the part of Sir Robert Farquhar to 
carry this noble purpose into effect, whether such exertions de¬ 
manded talent, labour, influence, or money. Few princes have 
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