It is almost allowable, I think, to say that this is a true story, for
fiction has only been introduced for the purpose of piecing together and
making a symmetrical whole of a number of most interesting facts in
regard to Madagascar and the terrible persecutions that took place there
in the early part and middle of the present century.
I have ventured to modify time and place somewhat, as well as to mix my
characters and their deeds a little, in order to suit the conditions of
my tale; but in doing so I have striven to avoid exaggeration and to
produce a true picture of the state of affairs, at the period treated
of, in what may be styled one of the most interesting and progressive
islands of the world.
I take this opportunity of thanking the Rev George Cousins, of the
London Missionary Society, and formerly of Madagascar, for kindly
supplying me with much valuable information, and of acknowledging myself
indebted, among others, to the works of Messrs. Sibree, Ellis, and Shaw.
R M Ballantyne.
Harrow-on-the-Hill, 1887.