Vlll 
PREFACE. 
transactions since 1818, both in the body of 
the Work, and in the Appendix, are extracted 
from them. They will be found highly inter¬ 
esting as historical facts, and also as present¬ 
ing a view of human nature under a new and 
unexpected form. 
The Map may be depended on for the fide¬ 
lity of its outline and its bearings, and also of 
the relative situation of the provinces, having 
been corrected by one in the possession of 
the Missionary Society, lately drawn from 
actual survey. The writer cannot speak so 
confidently to the accuracy of the statistical 
boundaries, which were originally marked out 
by Flacourt, since whose time nothing of the 
kind has been attempted. 
The circumstances which gave birth to the 
publication of this Volume are well known 
to the religious public; namely, the occur¬ 
rences at the Missionary Meeting in May 
1821. The design of the Author is to render 
permanent the impression which was then 
felt, by presenting a faithful picture of the 
nation who have placed themselves under 
the protection (or rather tuition) of Great 
Britain; and also, by an impartial account 
of the transactions of the London Missionary 
Society, in reference to Madagascar, to re¬ 
present the claims of that Institution upon 
