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.
CHAPTER XV.
Failure of the Coup d’État.—Prince Ramboasalama.—The Pas de Deux.—Discovery of the Plot.—Death of Prince Razakaratrino.—Freedom of Manners.—Irreligion.—Beginning of our Captivity.—A Kabar.—Persecution of the Christians.—The Delivery of the Presents.
June 20. This was at length to be the great and decisive day. Mr. Lambert was nearly recovered from the fever; so there was to be no more delay, and to-night the long-contemplated coup d’état was to be carried out.
The two missionaries, who were not to appear to bear any part in these political disturbances, went in the morning to one of the possessions of Mr. Laborde, distant thirty miles from the capital. It was proposed to send me there too; but I preferred remaining at Tananariva; for I thought, if the attempt should fail, it would not be difficult to find my head, even if I were a hundred miles from the capital.
The following plan had been devised by the conspirators. The prince was to dine at eight o’clock in the evening with Mr. Lambert, Marius, Laborde, and his son, in the garden-house belonging to the latter, and thither all reports from the other conspirators were to be carried, that it might be known if every thing was progressing favorably, and that every man was at his post. At the conclusion of the dinner, at eleven o’clock at night, the gentlemen were to march home to the upper part of the town, accompanied by music, as if they came from a feast; and each man was to remain quiet in his own house until two o’clock. At the latter hour all the conspirators were to slip silently into the palace, the gates of which Prince Raharo, the chief of the army, was to keep open, and guarded by officers devoted to Prince Rakoto; they were to assemble in the great court-yard, in front of the apartments inhabited by the queen, and at a given signal loudly to proclaim Prince Rakoto king. The new ministers, who had already been nominated by the prince, were to explain to the queen that this was the will of the nobles, the military, and the people; and, at the same time, the thunder of cannon from the royal palace was to announce to the people the change in the government, and the deliverance from the sanguinary rule of Queen Ranavola.
Unhappily, this plan was not carried out. It was frustrated by the cowardice or treachery of Prince Raharo, the commander-in-chief of the army. While the gentlemen were still at table, they received from him the disastrous news that, in consequence of unforeseen obstacles, he had found it impossible to fill the palace exclusively with officers devoted to the prince’s interest, that he would consequently be unable to keep the gates open to-night, and that the attempt must be deferred for a more favorable opportunity. In vain did the prince send messenger after messenger to him. He could not be induced to risk any thing.
In the year 1856 Prince Rakoto had placed himself at the head of a similar conspiracy against the queen. Then also the night and the hour had been fixed upon for the attempt, and, as in the present instance, every thing failed through the sudden defection of the commander-in-chief. It may be that this occurred partly through that personage losing courage at the decisive moment; but I am more inclined to think that his participation in the plot must be a feigned one, and that he is in reality a creature of the queen and her prime minister, Rainizahoro; and, I fear most of all, that he is a partisan of Prince Ramboasalama.