“The minister who had conducted us to the palace made a short speech to the queen; after which we had to bow three times and to repeat the words ‘Esaratsara tombokoe,’ equivalent to ‘We salute you cordially,’ to which she replied ‘Esaratsara,’ which means ‘well-good.’ Then we turned to the left to salute the tomb of Prince Radama lying a few paces on one side, with three similar bows; whereupon we returned to our former place in front of the balcony and made three more. Mr. Lambert (who accompanied Madam Pfieffer) on this occasion, held up a gold piece of fifty franks value and put it in the hands of the minister who accompanied us. This gift, which every stranger has to offer the first time he is presented at court, is called ‘Monosina.’ It is not customary that it should consist of a fifty-franc piece; the queen contents herself with a Spanish dollar, or a five-frank piece. After the delivery of the gold piece, the queen asked Mr. Lambert if he wished to put any question to her, or if he stood in need of anything; to which he answered, ‘No.’ She also was condescending enough to turn to me and ask if I was well and if I had escaped the fever. After I had answered this question, we stayed a few minutes longer looking at each other, and then the bowings and greetings began anew. We had to take leave of Radama’s monument, and on returning were reminded not on any account to put the left foot first over the threshold.”
The royal palace of Madagascar is described by Mrs. Pfieffer as a very large wooden building, consisting of a ground floor and two storeys surmounted by a peculiarly high roof. The storeys are surrounded by broad galleries. Around the building are pillars, also of wood, eighty feet high, supporting the roof which rises to a height of forty feet above them, resting in the centre on a pillar no less than a hundred and twenty feet high. All these columns, the one in the centre not excepted, consist of a single trunk; and when it is considered that the woods which contain trees of sufficient size to furnish these columns are fifty or sixty English miles from the capital, that the roads are nowhere paved and in some places are quite impassable, and that all the pillars are dragged hither without the help of a single beast of burden or any kind of machine, and are afterwards prepared and set up by means of the simplest tools, the building of this place may with truth be called a gigantic undertaking, and the place itself be ranked among the wonders of the world. In bringing home the chief pillar alone five thousand persons were employed and twelve days were occupied in its erection.
“All these labours were performed by the people as compulsory service for which they received neither wages nor food. I was told that during the progress of the work fifteen thousand persons fell victims to the hard toil and the want of proper nourishment. But the queen is little disturbed by such a circumstance—half the population might perish if only her high behests were fulfilled.
“In front of the principal building a handsome and spacious court-yard has been left. Around this space stands several pretty houses, all of wood. The chief building is in fact uninhabited and contains only halls of state and banquetting rooms. On the left the ‘silver palace’ adjoins the larger one. It takes its name from the fact that all the vandyked ends with which the roof is decorated are hung with innumerable little silver bells. Beside the silver palace stands the monument of King Radama—a tiny wooden house without windows; to this fact, however, and to the further circumstance of its being built upon a pedestal, it owes its sole resemblance to a monument.”
The singular custom prevails in Madagascar, that when a king dies all his treasures in gold and silver ware, and other valuables, are laid with him in the grave. In case of need, however, the king can dig up the treasure. “As far as I could ascertain,” says the observant Ida Pfieffer, “this had been done in several instances.”
The same lady favours us with a description of the chief national festival among the Malagaseys, the “Feast of the Queen’s Bath.” It takes place on New Year’s Day.
“On the eve of the feast all the high officers, nobles, and chiefs, appear at court invited by the queen. They assemble in a great hall; presently a dish of rice is carried round, each guest taking a pinch in his fingers and eating it. That is the whole extent of the ceremony on this first evening.
“Next morning the same company assemble in the same hall. As soon as they have all met, the queen steps behind a curtain which hangs in a corner of the room, undresses, and has water thrown over her. As soon as she has been dressed again she steps forward, holding in her hand an ox horn, filled with the water which has been poured over her. Part of this she pours over the assembled company. Then she betakes herself to a gallery overlooking the court-yard of the palace and pours the rest over the military assembled there for parade.
“On this auspicious day nothing is seen throughout the whole country but feasting, dancing, singing, and rejoicing, which is continued till late at night. The celebration is kept up for eight days dating from the day of the bath. It is the custom of the people to kill as many oxen on that day as they contemplate consuming during the other seven; whoever possesses any oxen at all kills at least one at this feast. The poor people get pieces of meat in exchange for rice, sweet potatoes, tobacco, etc. The meat is still tolerably fresh on the eighth day. It is cut into long thin strips, which are salted and laid one on the other. The preliminary celebration of the feast occurs a week earlier and consists of military processions. The votaries of pleasure then begin their feast and thus have a fortnight’s jollity—a week before the feast and a week after.
“The soldiers whom I saw in the procession pleased me well enough. They went through their manœuvres with tolerable accuracy, and, contrary to my expectation, I found the music not only endurable but positively harmonious. It appears that some years ago the queen sent for an European band-master and a complete set of instruments; and her worthy subjects were inducted into a knowledge of music probably by means of a stick. The soldiers were dressed in a simple, neat, and perfectly uniform manner. They wore a tight-fitting jerkin reaching to the chest and covering part of their loins. The chest was bare and covered by the gleaming white belts supporting the cartridge-box, which had a good effect in contrast to the black skins of the soldiers. Their heads are uncovered. Their arms consisted of a musket and the national lance called sagaya.”