267 
from thence to the Mauritius alone*. Madagascar 
was therefore destined still to suffer from the effects 
of the slave-trade—but it was for a short time. The 
intercourse which the king of Ova kept up with the 
British was of such a nature, that fresh light broke in 
upon his mind daily; and, in the mean time, his power 
and influence over the natives continually increased; 
until, in the year 1820, a fresh proposal of a treaty 
for the total abolition of the slave-trade, was made by 
the governor of the Mauritius; and Mr. Hastie was 
appointed commissioner to undertake the management 
of the affair. That gentleman sailed from the Mau¬ 
ritius the beginning of September, having attached to 
his suite the Rev. Mr. Jones, a missionary, who had 
previously visited the island. As we shall have occa¬ 
sion to give an account of this gentleman’s mission in 
the Appendix, and as Mr. Jones’s undertaking was not 
of a political nature, we shall not anticipate that part of 
our work. The deputation arrived at Madagascar on 
the 9th, when they landed at Tamatave. The chief of 
this place, named Jean Ren6, was brother to the king 
of Ova. He received them in a very courteous man¬ 
ner, but informed them that his brother was then en¬ 
gaged in a war against some of the southern chiefs, 
* This account, which is taken from a letter of the Rev. Mr. 
Bevan’s, as published in the Transactions of the Missionary 
Society, will give the reader some idea of the extent of the traffic, 
and of the consequent miseries it must, for a long series of years, 
have entailed upon Madagascar. 
