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.