CHAPTER XIV

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Dinner at Mr. Laborde’s.--Foot-boxing.--Ladies of Madagascar and Parisian Fashions.--The Conspiracy.--A Dream.--A Fancy-dress Ball.--An unquiet Night.--Concert at Court.--The Silver Palace.--An Excursion of the Queen.

On the 3d, 4th, and 5th of June I was very unwell, with premonitory symptoms announcing a coming attack of the malignant fever of Madagascar. It luckily happened that, during these days, nothing of any interest occurred.

On the 6th of June Mr. Laborde gave a grand dinner in honor of Prince Rakoto, in his garden-house, situate at the foot of the hill.

Although the dinner was announced for six o’clock, we were carried to the house as early as three o’clock. On the way we passed a place in the upper town on which nineteen heavy guns (eighteen-pounders) were planted, the muzzles pointing toward the lower town, the suburbs, and the valley. They were placed there by King Radama, who had received them as a present from the English. They were not landed at Tamatavé, but at Bombetok, on the eastern coast. The distance from this place to the capital is greater than from Tamatavé, but the roads are better, and river conveyance can be made available for several days’ journey.

On our arrival at Mr. Laborde’s garden-house, all kinds of efforts were made to shorten the interval before dinner: several native sports were exhibited, the most popular of which was a kind of “foot-boxing.” The combatants kicked each other all over, and with such hearty good-will that I expected every moment broken legs or ribs would be the result. This delicate sport is in particular favor among the people in winter, as it effectually warms those engaged in it. The coldest season here is between the month of May till the end of July, when the thermometer often falls to four, three, or even to one degree (Réaumur). Nevertheless, every thing remains green; the trees do not lose their leaves, and the landscape looks as pretty and blooming as in Europe in the middle of spring. The inhabitants of Tananariva are fond of the summer heat, and as they have no means of procuring wood, and of thus artificially supplying the want of animal heat, they resort to the aforesaid pastime of foot-boxing.

The rich make their slaves bring wood from the distant forests to kindle fires. In Mr. Laborde’s house, a coal fire was kept up in a great brazier from early in the morning till late at night, but, of course, the door or the windows remained always open. This piece of luxury costs a dollar per day--a very high price compared with the cheapness of all other necessaries.

The foot-boxing was followed by dancing and gymnastic exercises; nor was music wanting, for a band had been provided, which executed some pieces skillfully enough. I was not so well pleased with the songs of a number of native girls, who had been taught by a missionary residing with Mr. Laborde. They knew a number of songs by heart, and did not scream in such shrill fashion as those whom we had before heard; on the contrary, their performance was tolerably correct; but it was a dreary entertainment, and I was devoutly thankful when they came to the last bar.

A little before six o’clock came the prince, accompanied by his little son, his beloved Mary, and a female friend of hers. Mary made even a less favorable impression upon me than when I first saw her. The fault was in her dress, for she was attired completely in the European style. Whatever other people may say, the stiff, exaggerated fashions diffused by Paris over the world do not charm me, even when worn by our own countrywomen, and only look well on those whom nothing can disfigure; but where there is a complete lack of natural beauty and grace, they become whimsical and ridiculous, and particularly so in conjunction with clumsy figures and monkey faces. Madame Mary may be a very good creature, and I should not like to offend her in any way; but that did not prevent me from being obliged to bite my lips till the blood almost came in the effort to avoid laughing aloud at her appearance. Over half a dozen stiff-hooped petticoats she wore a woolen dress with a number of great flounces, and great bows of ribbon, the latter fastened, not in front, but at the back. She had thrown a French shawl over her shoulders, and could never arrange it to her satisfaction; and on the top of her head, woolly as a curled poodle’s, was perched a quizzical little bonnet of reeds.

Her friend wore a muslin dress, and a cap of such antiquated form that, sexagenarian as I am, I could never remember having seen one of similar fashion; but afterward I remembered having seen a similar one on a portrait of my grandmother, who lived about the middle of the last century. This woman, who was of a more clumsy figure and had uglier features than Mary, positively frightened me every time I looked at her; she always gave me the idea of a cannibal chief in disguise.

The dinner-party was very cheerful. I had never seen Mr. Lambert in such excellent spirits; as for the prince, he seems always in good-humor. After dinner, Mr. Lambert and Mr. Laborde held a short political discussion with the prince in another room. I was admitted to take part in this conversation, and shall have to recur to it. The evening was unfortunately somewhat spoiled for me by the singing chorus. The plentiful repast seemed to have inspired the ladies with peculiar powers, for they screamed much worse than before dinner, and, to increase the noise, clapped their hands as an accompaniment. A few also performed the dreary dance of Madagascar to the sound of the _marovane_, the only instrument yet invented by Malagasey musical genius. It consists of a bamboo, as thick as a man’s arm, and four feet long. Shreds of the bark are fastened all around it, supported by little bridges of wood. The tone is very like that of a bad, worn-out cithern.

As a conclusion, the guests themselves danced, and between the dances Mr. Lambert gave us some very pretty songs.

About ten o’clock Mr. Laborde whispered to me that I should allege the weakness that still remained from my late indisposition as a pretext for breaking up the party. I replied that this was not my province, but that of Prince Rakoto; but he urged me to do it, adding that he had a

## particular reason for his request, which he would explain to me later;

and, accordingly, I broke up the party.

Favored by the brightest of moonlight, we marched up the hill toward our dwellings to the sound of merry music.

Prince Rakoto and Mr. Lambert then called me into a side-chamber, and the prince declared to me once more that the private contract between himself and Mr. Lambert had been drawn up with his full concurrence, and that he, the prince, had been grossly calumniated when he was represented as intoxicated at the time of his signing it. He told me farther that Mr. Lambert had come to Madagascar by his wish, and with the intention, in conjunction with himself and a portion of the nobility and soldiers, to remove Queen Ranavola from the throne, but without depriving her of her freedom, her wealth, or the honors which were her due.

Mr. Lambert, on his part, informed me that we had dined in Mr. Laborde’s garden-house because every thing could be more quietly discussed there, and that I had been requested to break up the party that the little feast might seem to have been given in my honor; finally, that we had gone through the town with the noisy music as a sign that the object of our meeting had been social amusement.

He then showed me in the house a complete little arsenal of sabres, daggers, pistols, and guns, wherewith to arm the conspirators, and leather shirts of mail for resisting lance-thrusts; and told me, in conclusion, that all preparations had been made, and the time for action had almost come--in fact, I might expect it every hour.

I confess that a strange feeling came over me when I found myself thus suddenly involved in a political movement of grave importance, and at the first moment a crowd of conflicting thoughts rushed through my brain. I could not conceal from myself the fact that if the affair failed, my life would be in the same danger as Mr. Lambert’s; for, in a country like Madagascar, where every thing depends on the despotic will of the ruler, no trouble is taken to determine the question of guilty or not guilty. I had come to Tananariva in the company of one of the chief conspirators; I had also been present at several meetings; more was not required to make me an accomplice in the plot, and therefore just as worthy of punishment as the active members themselves.

My friends in the Mauritius had certainly warned me previously against undertaking the journey in Mr. Lambert’s company, and, from what had been reported there, and likewise from some scattered words which Mr. Lambert had let fall from time to time, I was able to form an idea of what was going on; but my wish to obtain a knowledge of Madagascar was so great that it stifled all fear. Now, indeed, there was no drawing back; and the best I could do was to put a good face upon a bad matter, and trust in that Providence which had already helped me in many and great dangers.

I gave Prince Rakoto and Mr. Lambert my most heartfelt wishes for the success of their undertaking, and then retired to my room. It was already past midnight. I went to bed, and, exhausted as I was, soon fell asleep; but all night long I had disturbed dreams, and, among others, the following very singular one: I dreamed that the plot had been discovered, and that the queen had summoned Mr. Lambert and myself to the palace. We were brought into a large room, and had to wait there a long, long time. At length the queen appeared with all her court; Prince Rakoto was there too, but he stood aside in a window, and dared not look at us.

One of the ministers--the same who had taken us to court on our first reception--made a long speech, the purport of which I understood, in spite of my ignorance of the Malagasey languages, and in which he reproached Mr. Lambert for his ingratitude and treachery. Another minister then took up the harangue, and announced that we were condemned to the tanguin.

Hereupon we were led into another room, and a tall negro, wrapped in a full white garment, came toward us with the little skins of poison. Mr. Lambert was obliged to take them first; but, at the moment when I was about to follow his example, there arose suddenly a loud din of music and rejoicing shouts, and--I awoke, and really heard music and shouting in the streets. It was broad day; I hastily wrapped myself in my clothes, and hurried to the gate to see what was going on; and lo! two men who had been condemned to the tanguin had fortunately got rid of the poison and the three little pieces of skin, and were being led home in triumph by their friends.

If I were of a superstitious nature, who knows what importance I might have attached to this dream, which was partly verified by subsequent events; but, fortunately, my temperament is not of that kind, and dreams never trouble me but during my sleeping hours.

June 8th. To-day the prince held a grand kabar in our house, at which many nobles and officers were present. From this period not a day passed in which greater or smaller kabars were not held at our house, which was, in fact, the head-quarters of the conspiracy.

June 9th. A great fancy-ball has been given at court to-day in honor of Mr. Lambert.

What strange contrasts! On one side a conspiracy hatching--on the other, festivals are the order of the day!

Does the queen really doubt the existence of the treaty between Prince Rakoto and Mr. Lambert, and has she no suspicion of its intended accomplishment? or does she wish to let the conspirators commit some overt act, that she may afterward satiate her revenge with apparent justice? Events will show.

Although both Mr. Lambert and myself were still very unwell, we made up our minds to be present at this feast.

The ball began soon after one o’clock in the day, and was not held in the apartments of the palace, but in front of the building, in the great fore-court in which we had been admitted to our audience. As on that former occasion, the queen sat on the balcony under the shade of her great parasol, and we were obliged to make the usual obeisances to her and to the tomb of King Radama. This time, however, we were not made to stand; comfortable arm-chairs were assigned to us. Gradually the ball company began to assemble; the guests comprised nobles of both sexes, officers and their wives, and the queen’s female singers and dancers. The nobles wore various costumes, and the officers appeared in European dress; all were obliged to make numerous obeisances. Those who appeared in costume had seats like ours given them; the rest squatted about as they liked, in groups on the ground.

The queen’s female dancers opened the ball with the dreary Malagasey dance. These charming creatures were wrapped from top to toe in white simbus, and wore on their heads artificial, or, I should say, very inartificial flowers, standing up stiffly like little flagstaffs; they crowded into a group in such a way that they seemed all tied together. As often as they staggered past the queen’s balcony or the monument of King Radama, they repeated their salutes, and likewise at the end of every separate dance. After the female dancers had retired, the officers executed a very similar dance, only that they kept somewhat quicker time, and their gestures were more animated--that is to say, they lifted their feet rather higher than the performers of the other sex. Those who had hats and caps waved them in the air from time to time, and set up a sharp howling, intended to represent cries of joy.

After the officers followed six couples of children in fancy dresses. The boys wore the old Spanish costume, or were attired as pages, and looked tolerably well; but the girls were perfect scarecrows. They wore old-fashioned French costumes--large, stiff petticoats, with short bodices--and their heads were quite loaded with ostrich feathers, flowers, and ribbons. After this little monkey community had performed certain Polonaises, Schottisches, and contre-danses, acquitting themselves, contrary to my expectation, with considerable skill, they bowed low and retired, making way for a larger company, the males likewise clad in the old Spanish, the females in the old French garb.

All these various costumes are commanded by the queen, who generally gets her ideas from pictures or engravings that come in her way. The ladies add to the costume prescribed by royalty whatever their own taste and invention may suggest, generally showing great boldness and originality in the combination of colors. I will give my readers an idea of what these costumes are like by describing one of them.

The dress was of blue satin, with a border of orange color, above which ran a broad stripe of bright cherry-colored satin. The body, also of satin, with long skirt, shone with a brimstone hue, and a light sea-green silk shawl was draped above it. The head was covered in such style with stiff, clumsily-made artificial flowers, with ostrich feathers, silk ribbons, glass beads, and all kinds of millinery, that the hair was entirely hidden; not that the fair one lost much thereby, but that I pitied her for the burden she had to carry.

The costumes of the other ladies showed similar contrasts in color, and some of these tasteful dresses had been improved by a farther stroke of ingenuity, being surmounted by high conical hats, very like those worn by the Tyrolese peasants.

The company, consisting exclusively of the higher aristocracy, executed various European dances, and also performed the Sega, which the Malagaseys assert to be a native dance, though it is really derived from the Moors. The figures, steps, and music of the Sega are all so pleasing that, if it were once introduced in Europe, it could not fail to become universally fashionable.

This beautiful dance was far from concluding the ball. After a short pause, during which no refreshments were offered, the _élite_ of the company, consisting of six couples, stepped into the court-yards. The gentlemen were Prince Rakoto, the two Labordes, father and son, two ministers, and a general--all the ladies were princesses or countesses. The gentlemen were dressed in old Spanish costume except Prince Rakoto, who wore a fancy dress so tastefully chosen that he might have appeared with distinction in any European court ball. He wore trowsers of dark blue cloth, with a stripe down the side, a kind of loose jerkin of maroon-colored velvet, ornamented with gold stripes and the most delicate embroidery, and a velvet cap of the same color, with two ostrich feathers, fastened by a golden brooch. The whole dress fitted so well, and the embroidery was so good, that I thought Mr. Lambert must have taken the prince’s measure with him to Paris, and that the clothes had been made there; but this was not the case. Every thing, with the exception of the material, had been prepared at Tananariva--a proof that, if the people of Madagascar are deficient in invention, they are exceedingly clever in imitating models set before them.

This group of dancers appeared with much more effect than their predecessors, for all the ladies and gentlemen were much more tastefully attired than the rest of the company. They only performed European dances.

The ball was concluded, as it had been begun, by the female court dancers.

The whole of these festivities, which occupied three hours, had not put the queen to the slightest expense. The court-yard was the dancing-floor, the sun provided the illumination, and every guest was at liberty to take what refreshment he chose--_when he got home_. Happy queen! how sincerely many of our European ball-givers might envy her!

June 10. Again there was noise and singing in the streets. I hurried to the gate, and saw long files of men carrying earth and stones in baskets. The labor of these people, eight hundred in number, had been granted by the queen to the commander-in-chief of the army to build him a house. They received neither wages nor food, and were obliged to sing and shout, to prove to the queen that they were happy, and contented with their lot.

A few days before I had seen similar processions still more numerous, consisting of fifteen hundred men; they were carrying fuel to the royal forge, in which a thousand workmen are employed in manufacturing all kinds of weapons, under the superintendence of Mr. Laborde. Like the coal-bearers, the smiths receive nothing at all for their labor; and not only does the queen require all kinds of work from her subjects without paying them, but when there is any government expense to be incurred they have to find the money. Thus, in the year 1845, when the queen imported 30,000 muskets from France at a cost of 145,000 dollars, the whole sum was raised among the people. A few of the richest had to give as much as 500 dollars each; but even the poorest had to contribute, and not even the slaves were excepted.

June 11. Last night I heard a slight noise and muffled footsteps in our house. I knew that the conspirators were to go from here during the night to the palace. I listened for many hours--all was silent as the grave; but suddenly there resounded a loud barking of dogs, followed by quick footsteps of men. I started involuntarily. I thought that the attempt must have failed, and that the hurrying steps were those of fugitives, and I felt how much more trying it is to be obliged to remain in passive suspense amid threatened danger than boldly to oppose and combat the peril.

I would not leave my room, lest I should betray my weakness if it proved to be a false alarm; so I avoided waking my companions, and awaited patiently what Heaven should send. But nothing farther occurred; the remainder of the night passed quietly, and next morning I learned that nothing had been undertaken, and that the favorable moment was not yet come.

I begin to fear that every thing will be spoiled by this long delay; the more so, as the meetings are not very cautiously conducted, and a traitor might easily be found among the nobles and officers apparently devoted to the prince. A good deal of the fault may lie with the prince himself. He is, as I have observed, a man of many good and noble qualities, but he wants decision and firmness of purpose; and his affection for the queen is, moreover, so great, that he might lack courage at the decisive moment to undertake any thing against her. It behooves him, however, to consider that there is no intention of robbing the queen of her titles, her freedom, or her wealth; the sole object of the movement being to take from her the power of perpetrating the cruelties and deeds of blood which have brought her subjects to misery and despair. The prince, who loves his mother above every thing, and only seeks to prevent her from being the scourge of a whole country, can not certainly be considered guilty of a crime. God strengthen him, and give him courage to be the deliverer of his people!

June 12. Mr. Lambert had so severe an attack of fever that for several days his life was in the greatest danger. But he terribly neglected all dietary precautions. As soon as he felt himself at all better, he ate all kind of things one after another, just as the whim took him--cold Strasburg pie, meat, and fruit, and drank Champagne and other wines. The other Europeans do just the same thing, so that I should not at all wonder if all who caught the fever fell victims to it. While I was in the Mauritius in the month of March, a stout gentleman from Tamatavé arrived there, and remained a few days in Mr. Lambert’s house, waiting for an opportunity to get to Bourbon. This gentleman asserted that he had the Madagascar fever, and when he appeared at breakfast complained that he had been suffering from it all night. Accordingly, some strong meat broth was prepared for him, which he enjoyed exceedingly; but it did not nearly satisfy him, for he ate in addition a mighty slice of sweet melon, partook of the other dishes to an extent which would have served me for a week, and finished his repast with a mango. He did equal justice to the various beverages; and at the evening meal he returned to the attack with renewed vigor, eating as if he had fasted the whole day.

In Tananariva I had frequent opportunities of noticing similar imprudences in diet; and when I made any remark, I was met with the profound reply, “What would you have? It is the custom of the country; the people say that the fever is very weakening, and that one must try to get up one’s strength by taking nourishing things.”

This belief really prevails among the people; the worse a man is, the more he is urged to eat. When a Malagasey is at the last gasp, they stuff rice into his mouth; and when he dies, they cry out in astonishment, “How wonderful! only just now he was eating!”

And because the stupid, uncultivated natives do this, the sensible and educated Europeans think it right to do likewise!

June 18. To-day I had the great honor of displaying my skill, or rather my want of skill, on the piano in the presence of the queen. Mr. Lambert had made her a present of a piano from the manufactory of Mr. Debain, in Paris, on his first visit to Tananariva. These pianos are not only made for playing upon with the hands, but can also be played in the manner of a barrel-organ by turning a handle or “manivelle.”

Mr. Lambert had told me of this when we were in the Mauritius, and added that the queen had never seen any one play the piano with their hands, and that it would be a great surprise to her. In my youth I had been a tolerably accomplished pianist, but that is a long time ago; for more than thirty years I had given up music, and had nearly forgotten all I once knew. Who would ever have thought that I should have to give a concert, under royal patronage, in my sixtieth year, when I strummed worse than many children at home who have only learned for a few months! But so it is when people go out in quest of adventure, and roam through the wide world; one never knows what may happen, and must be prepared for every thing.

With great difficulty I forced my stiff old fingers through a few scales and exercises, and contrived to remember a few easy, melodious waltzes and dance tunes; and, thus prepared, I ventured to risk the criticism of the strict royal connoisseur of Madagascar.

The invitation, however, was very welcome to me; for I hoped to be introduced into the inner apartments of the palace, and to have the high felicity of obtaining a near view of her majesty.

As Mr. Lambert was ill of the fever, the two clerical gentlemen accompanied me to the palace. When we got to the court-yard--oh, sad disenchantment!--there sat the queen on the eternal balcony, and away fled all my hopes of seeing the interior of the palace. Besides, what a shock to my artistic pride! It seemed that I was to be treated like a street musician, and made to play here in the court-yard.

But it was not quite so bad as that, though enough was done to make me duly sensible of the enormous difference between my insignificant person and the mighty queen. This overbearing, puffed-up woman seems really to believe herself a sacred being, raised above all the rest of the human race, and appears to think it would derogate from her dignity to permit a stranger to come close to her. It was only with Mr. Lambert, when he first came to Tananariva, three years ago, that she made an exception, admitting him not merely into the interior of the palace, but even allowing him the honor of accompanying her on a short excursion.

We were conducted to the gallery on the ground floor of the Silver Palace, where chairs had been already placed for us. The broad door leading to the court-yard was thrown quite open, the piano brought forward, and placed just in the doorway, in such a manner that the queen could look down from her balcony upon the key-board.

While these preparations were being made, I had an opportunity of examining the reception-room of the Silver Palace, which, as my readers will remember, belongs to Prince Rakoto. It is spacious and lofty, and furnished quite in European style. The furniture seemed rich, but not overladen with ornament, and had been arranged with taste. True to the custom of Madagascar, there stood a bed in the room--a right royal bed, certainly, with no lack of gold ornament or of silken hangings, and in which I was assured no mortal had ever slept; but still it was a bed, and that particular piece of furniture in a reception-room always disturbs the idea of fitness in the eyes of a European.

Far more, however, was my taste offended by the drawings and paintings that decorated the walls of the hall--productions of native genius--representing officers in red uniforms, and female figures in European costumes. I hardly knew which to admire most in these sketches, the coloring or the drawing. The latter was more wooden and stiff in character than the worst Chinese work of the kind, and the coloring was a wonderful chaos of the most glaring hues daubed together without any attempt at light and shade. I had never in my life seen such works of Art. The landscape backgrounds had the most comical effect of all. The figures stood with little trees on each side of them. They were only half-length portraits; but as the genial artist wished, nevertheless, to indicate the fact that the trees grew out of the earth, he had drawn a green stripe from the girdle of each person to that of his neighbor, intending thereby to represent the earth, thus unintentionally giving his heroes the unusual appearance of being buried up to the waist; out of the green stripe rose a brown line, the stem of the tree, straight as an arrow, as high as the shoulders of the figures, and a few green patches were added to represent the leafy crown.

I was still absorbed in the contemplation of these masterpieces when one of the missionaries came to inform me that the piano was ready, and that I could begin my performance. Before doing this I had to present the usual “monosina” to the queen, and deliver it into the hands of an officer; this tribute is demanded of every stranger, not only at his first introduction at court, but every time he sets foot in a building belonging to royalty. This was my case in the Silver Palace; but I considered it unnecessary to give a fifty-franc piece, as Mr. Lambert had done, and therefore confined my liberality to the offer of a dollar.

I took my seat at the piano, and played a few preliminary chords to test the qualities of the instrument; but what was my horror on finding it so woefully out of tune that not a single note produced any thing like harmony with the rest; many of the keys, moreover, were so obstinate as to refuse to emit any sound whatever. I had to loosen them, lift them, press them down, and resort to all sorts of expedients to bring them into working order; and upon such an instrument as this I was to give my grand concert! But true artistic greatness rises superior to all adverse circumstances; and, inspired by the thought of exhibiting my talents to such an appreciating audience, I perpetrated the most wonderful runs over the whole key-board, thumped with all my might on the stubborn keys, and, without any attempt at selection or sequence, played the first part of a waltz and the second of a march, in short, any thing and every thing that came into my head. But I had the great satisfaction to find that my talents were fully appreciated by the whole audience, and I was rewarded with her majesty’s especial thanks. Prince Rakoto even gave me the flattering assurance that every thing I had done had met with the queen’s approbation, especially the waltzes, and that in a short time she would do me the honor of letting me play before her in the interior of the palace. Who knows, if the unhappy conspiracy had not occurred, if I might not have enjoyed the distinction of becoming pianiste to her majesty the Queen of Madagascar!

On the same day she sent me, as a proof of favor and condescension, a large quantity of fat poultry and a great basket of eggs.

On the 17th of June the exalted lady made an excursion to one of her pleasure palaces, situate at the foot of the hill on an island in the middle of a large pond. Whenever the queen makes such excursions, all the officers and nobles, and the European residents in Tananariva, have to accompany her. I would gladly have taken part in this expedition, but as the queen knew that Mr. Lambert was still lying very ill, and did not wish to deprive him of any of his nurses, none of us were invited. The procession passed close by our house, and we were all, with the exception of Mr. Lambert, made to stand at the gate to salute her majesty as she passed.

Every festival in this country bears on its face a peculiar stamp of whim and folly: in these excursions, for instance, the notables who accompany the queen are ordered to appear in Turkish or Arab costume, with turbans on their heads. These dresses, however, suit the natives much better than the Spanish costume, although here, too, their peculiar taste is brought into play, to spoil the effect of what would be handsome enough if left alone.

Women seldom take part in these expeditions, and when they do they are wrapped in simbus. The queen herself wore a large simbu of silk, but had her great crown on her head. Without this regal ornament she never shows herself to her subjects; and I should really not be surprised to hear that she usually wears a small crown when she goes to sleep at night.

She remained all day in her little palace, and did not return to the city till just before sunset. The people take part in these excursions to some extent, being obliged to crowd into the streets through which the procession passes, and many who wish to show peculiar loyalty join the train.

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