Banquets in Madagascar.--A Kabar at Court.--The Sentence.--Our
Banishment.--Departure from Tananariva.--Military
Escort.--Observations on the People.--Arrival in
Tamatavé.--Departure from Madagascar.--A false Alarm.--Arrival in
the Mauritius.--Conclusion.
July 11. Yesterday evening an old woman was denounced to the authorities
as a Christian. She was seized immediately, and this morning--my pen
almost refuses to record the cruel torture to which the unhappy creature
was subjected--they dragged her to the market-place, and her backbone
was sawn asunder.
But a thousand horrors like these will not move the powers of Europe to
come to the rescue of this unhappy people. In one respect, civilized and
uncivilized governments are strangely alike; both are swayed only by
political considerations, and humanity does not enter into their
calculations.
July 12. This morning, I am sorry to say, six Christians were seized in
a hut at a village not far from the city. The soldiers had already
searched the hut, and were ready to depart, when one of them heard a
cough. A new search was at once begun, and in a great hole dug in the
earth, and covered over with straw, the poor victims were discovered.
What astonished me most in this episode was, that the other inhabitants
of the village, who were not Christians, did not betray the concealed
ones, although they must have had intelligence of the last kabar,
threatening death to all who kept Christians concealed, favored their
flight, or neglected to assist in their capture. I should not have
thought so much generosity existed among this people. Unfortunately, it
met with a bad reward. The commanding officer cared nothing for the
magnanimity of the action; he kept strictly to his instructions, and
caused not only the six Christians, but the whole population of the
village--men, women, and children--to be bound and dragged to the
capital.
I fear there will be horrible scenes of blood. The poor people may all
be executed, for it will be presumed that they were aware of their
neighbors’ hiding-place. From the queen they have certainly no mercy to
expect, for she has death-sentences carried out with the utmost rigor;
indeed, no instance is known in which she has pardoned any one condemned
to lose his life.
Prince Rakoto sent us word to-day that the queen intended giving a great
banquet to Mr. Lambert, to which all the other Europeans would of course
be invited. What is the meaning of this? For more than a week we have
been treated like state prisoners, and now all at once we are to have
this distinction! Are our prospects brightening, or is it a trap? I fear
the latter.
We were no ways rejoiced at this news, for even if the invitation does
not conceal some treacherous design, we have a drearily irksome ordeal
to go through. The more the queen wishes to honor the guest whom she
invites to a banquet, the more tremendous is the banquet placed before
him, and the greater is the number of hours he is compelled to pass at
table; for the duration of time is considered an element in the
distinction. When Mr. Lambert came to Tananariva for the first time, the
queen gave a banquet in honor of him. It consisted of several hundreds
of dishes, materials for which had been collected from every part of the
island. The rarest dainties (of course for Madagascar palates) were
served up, including land-and water-beetles, the latter being considered
particularly delicious; locusts, silk-worms, and other insects. The
banquet lasted more than twenty-four hours, during the greater part of
which period the assembled guests were employed in consuming the various
dainties. Of course Mr. Lambert could not remain so long at table, and,
with the queen’s permission, rose from time to time; but he was obliged
to remain present till all was over.
Even while we were on the best terms with the queen we had looked
forward to such an invitation with great apprehension; how much more
dismayed ought we not to feel under present circumstances, when this
banquet may prove our death-meal! But, if the queen chooses to show us
this honor, we must accept it, for if it has been settled that we are to
die, we have no chance of escaping our fate.
July 13. This woman is said never to have been seen in such continued
ill-humor, in such fits of rage, as she has exhibited for the last eight
or ten days. That augurs ill for us, but is far more unfortunate for the
poor Christians, whom she causes to be pursued with a more furious zeal
than she has shown since her accession. Almost every day kabars are held
in the bazars of the city and in those of the neighboring villages, in
which the people are exhorted to denounce the Christians; and they are
told the queen is certain that, all the misfortunes which have befallen
the country are solely attributable to this sect, and that she shall not
rest until the last Christian has been exterminated.
What an inestimable mercy was it for those poor persecuted people that
the register of their names fell into the hands of Prince Rakoto, who
destroyed it! had this not been the case, there would have been
executions without number. It is now hoped that, in spite of the queen’s
rage, and of all her commands and exhortations, not more than perhaps
forty or fifty victims will be sacrificed. Many of the great men of the
kingdom and many of the royal officials are Christians in secret, and
try to assist the escape of their brethren in every possible way. We
have been assured that, of the two hundred Christians who were captured
some days ago, and also among the villagers who were brought yesterday
to the city in a body, by far the greater number have escaped.
July 16. We have just received intelligence of a very great kabar held
yesterday in the queen’s palace. It lasted six hours, and the discussion
is reported to have been very stormy. This kabar concerned us Europeans,
and the question of our fate was debated. According to the usual way of
the world, nearly all our friends began to fall away from us from the
moment when they saw that our cause was lost; and, in order to divert
suspicion from themselves, the majority insisted more vehemently on our
condemnation than even our enemies. That we deserved to be punished with
death was soon unanimously resolved, but the method by which we were to
be dispatched to the next world gave rise to much discussion and debate.
Some voted for a public execution in the market-place, others for a
nocturnal attack on our house, and others, again, for an invitation to
the before-mentioned banquet, at which we were to be poisoned, or
murdered at a given signal.
The queen was undecided between these various proposals, but would
certainly have accepted one of them had not Prince Rakoto been our
protecting spirit. He spoke with the greatest energy against the
sentence of death, warned the queen not to let her anger lead her
astray, and expressed his conviction that the European powers would
certainly not allow the execution of six such important (?) persons as
we were to pass unpunished. The prince is said never to have spoken with
such warmth and energy to the queen as on this occasion.
We received all this intelligence partly, as I have stated, through
confidential slaves of the prince, partly from the few friends who,
contrary to expectation, have remained true to us.
July 17. Our captivity had already lasted thirteen long days--for
thirteen long days we had lived in the most trying suspense as to our
impending fate, expecting every moment to hear some fatal news, and
alarmed day and night at every slight noise. It was a terrible time.
This morning I was sitting at my writing-table; I had just put down my
pen, and was thinking that, after the last kabar, the queen must at
least have come to some decision, when suddenly I heard an unusual stir
in the court-yard. I was hastily quitting my room, the windows of which
were in the opposite direction, to see what was the matter, when Mr.
Laborde came to meet me with the announcement that a great kabar was
being held in the court-yard, and that we Europeans were summoned to be
present thereat.
We went accordingly, and found more than a hundred persons--judges,
nobles, and officers--sitting in a large half circle on benches and
chairs, and some on the ground; behind them stood a number of soldiers.
One of the officers received us, and made us sit down opposite the
judges. These judges were shrouded in long simbus; their glances rested
gloomily and gravely upon us, and for a considerable time there was deep
silence. I confess to having felt somewhat alarmed, and whispered to Mr.
Laborde, “I think our last hour has come!” His reply was, “I am prepared
for every thing.”
At length one of the ministers or judges rose, and in sepulchral tones,
embellished with a multitude of high-sounding epithets, he spoke
somewhat to the following effect, telling us:
“The people had heard that we were Republicans, and that we had come to
Madagascar with the intention of introducing a similar form of
government here; that we intended to overturn the throne of their
beloved ruler, to give the people equal rights with the nobility, and to
abolish slavery; also, that we had had several interviews with the
Christians, a sect equally obnoxious to the queen and the people, and
had exhorted them to hold fast to their faith, and to expect speedy
succor. These treasonable proceedings,” he continued, “had so greatly
exasperated the natives against us, that the queen had been compelled to
treat us as prisoners as a protection against the popular indignation.
The whole population of Tananariva was clamoring for our death; but as
the queen had never yet deprived a white person of life, she would
abstain in this instance also, though the crimes we had committed could
fully have justified her in such a course; in her magnanimity and mercy
she had accordingly decided to limit our punishment to perpetual
banishment from her territories.
“Mr. Lambert, Mr. Marius, the two other Europeans who lived at Mr.
Laborde’s, and myself, were accordingly to depart from the city within
an hour. Mr. Laborde might remain twenty-four hours longer; and, in
consideration of his former services, he was to be allowed to take away
all his property that was not fixed, with the exception of his slaves.
These, with his houses, estates, etc., were to revert to the queen, by
whose bounty they had been bestowed on him. With regard to his son,
inasmuch as the youth was a native by the mother’s side, and might be
supposed, on account of his tender years, to have taken no part in the
conspiracy, it should be optional with him either to remain in the
island or to quit it with us.
“The queen would allow us, and Mr. Laborde also, as many bearers as we
required to carry us and our property, and, as a measure of precaution,
she would cause us to be escorted by a company of soldiers, consisting
of fifty privates, twenty officers, and a commandant. Mr. Laborde would
have a similar escort, and was commanded to keep at least one day’s
journey in our rear.”
In spite of our critical position, we could hardly refrain from
laughing at this oration. All at once the people were made out to be
important--the poor people who were groaning in bondage like Russian
serfs or the slaves of the United States; now all at once we found the
poor people influencing the royal will, and invested with the right, not
only of expressing a wish, but even of uttering threats! The orator,
however, did not seem at all familiar with the word people, frequently
substituting for it that of “queen,” by mistake, in the course of his
speech.
Of course we were not allowed to say a single word in our own defense or
justification, nor, indeed, did we think of such a thing; for we were
very glad to escape so easily, and could hardly understand this
unexpected magnanimity on her majesty’s part. Alas! we neither knew nor
suspected what sufferings lay before us.
At the close of the kabar Mr. Lambert received back the presents which
had been carried away a few days before; but not all of them, as we
could see at the first glance. I fancy, however, that the missing
articles had not been detained by the queen, but by the officers and
grandees. Prince Rakoto kept nearly the whole of his share, sending back
only a few trifles, as it seemed, in nominal acquiescence to the queen’s
wishes.
All the officers and nobles among whom Mr. Lambert had distributed
presents were ordered to bring them back; but the considerable sums of
money they had received from the visitor, and of which the queen knew
nothing, remained in their possession.
Within an hour we were not only to get our baggage in order, and make
the necessary preparations for our journey in the way of laying in
provisions, but likewise to pack up all the valuable articles returned
to Mr. Lambert. How to do this was the question. Most of the chests had
been broken to pieces; for, after the queen had so solemnly fetched away
the presents, who would have thought of their being sent back?
We were really in a very serious dilemma; but there was no help for it.
So Mr. Lambert looked out the costliest articles in all haste, and we
threw pell-mell into our traveling trunks whatever we could cram in, and
pressed a few of the least battered of the chests into the service; thus
in a few hours we were ready to start. Fortunately for us, the officers,
soldiers, and bearers did not interpret the queen’s commands so
literally as we should have done. They set about their preparations
deliberately enough, and the rest of the day passed without our seeing
any thing more of them. We did not set out on our journey till the next
morning; and this delay gave Mr. Lambert an opportunity of packing up
many more of the returned presents.
July 18. With a truly heartfelt joy I turned my back upon a place where
I had suffered so much, and in which I heard of nothing all day long but
of poisonings and executions. This very morning, for example, a few
hours before our departure, ten Christians were put to death, with the
most frightful tortures. During their passage from the prison to the
market-place, the soldiers continually thrust at them with their spears;
and when they arrived at the place of execution, they were almost stoned
to death before their tormentors mercifully cut off the victims’ heads.
I am told that the poor creatures behaved with great fortitude, and
continued to sing hymns till they died.
On our way through the city we had to pass the market-place, and
encountered this terrible spectacle as a parting scene. Involuntarily
the thought arose within me that the magnanimity of so cruel and cunning
a woman could not be greatly depended on, and that perhaps the people
might have received secret orders to fall upon us and stone us to death.
But such was not the case. The natives came flocking round in crowds to
see us, and many even accompanied us a long distance from curiosity, but
no one offered to molest or insult us in any way.
Our progress from the capital to Tamatavé was one of the most
disagreeable and toilsome journeys I had ever made; never, in all my
various wanderings, had I endured any thing like such suffering. The
queen had not dared to have us publicly executed, but we soon discovered
her object to be that we should perish on our journey from the capital.
Mr. Lambert and I were suffering severely from fever. It was very
dangerous for us to stay long in the low-lying lands, where we were
inhaling deleterious gases, and highly important that we should travel
to Tamatavé as quickly as possible, and embark without delay for the
Mauritius, in quest of a better climate, proper nursing, and, above all,
of medical assistance; for there is no physician to be found at
Tananariva, or elsewhere in Madagascar, where every person doctors
himself as best he can. But we were not allowed to proceed as we wished.
The queen had issued her orders in a very different spirit; and, instead
of accomplishing the journey in eight days, the time usually occupied,
we were made to linger fifty-three days, nearly eight weeks, on the
road. In the most pestiferous regions we were left in wretched huts for
one or two weeks at a time; and frequently, when we suffered from
violent attacks of fever, our escort dragged us from our miserable
couches, and we had to continue our journey whether the day was fine or
rainy.
At Befora, one of the most unhealthy places on the whole line of
march--a squalid little village, so entirely surrounded by morasses that
it was impossible to advance fifty paces on firm ground--we were
detained eighteen entire days. Mr. Lambert endeavored by all conceivable
means to induce the commandant to accelerate our progress, and even, I
believe, offered him a considerable sum of money, but all his efforts
were vain. The queen’s orders had probably been so distinct and
peremptory that the officer dared not evade them in any way.
The huts in which we were lodged were generally in such a wretched
condition that they scarcely afforded shelter from the weather. Wind and
rain came rushing in every direction through the broken roofs and the
three half-decayed walls. To increase my sufferings, I had not even the
necessary bedding; and my warm clothes, in which I might have wrapped
myself at night, were stolen during our first day’s march. I had not,
like my companions, two or three servants, who could take care of my
things; unfortunately, I was master and servant both in one, and in my
weak state I found it impossible to attend to any thing. Whenever we
came to our resting-places I threw myself on my couch, and was often
unable to rise for days together. And what a couch it was! a thin mat, a
hard pillow, with my traveling cloak for a coverlet. One of the
missionaries afterward gave me one of his own pillows. During the whole
fifty-three days I did not change my clothes once, for my most earnest
entreaties were powerless to move the commandant to assign me a separate
place where I might dress and undress. We were thrust all together into
the same hut, however small it might be. My sufferings were beyond
description during the last three weeks, when I was unable even to raise
myself from my bed and totter a few paces.
Every illness is trying; but the Madagascar fever is, perhaps, one of
the most malignant of all diseases, and in my opinion it is far more
formidable than the yellow fever or the cholera. In the two last-named
diseases the patient’s sufferings are certainly more violent, but a few
days decide the question of death or recovery, while, on the other hand,
this horrible fever hangs about those it attacks month after month.
Violent pains are felt in the lower parts of the body, frequent
vomitings ensue, with total loss of appetite, and such weakness that the
sufferer can hardly move hand or foot. At last a feeling of entire
apathy supervenes, from which the sick person is unable to rouse
himself by even the strongest exertion of his will. I, who had been
accustomed from my earliest childhood to employment and activity, was
now best pleased when I could lie stretched for days on my couch, sunk
in a kind of trance, and wholly indifferent to what was going on around
me. This apathy, moreover, is not peculiar to persons of my age when
attacked by this illness, but is felt by the strongest men in the prime
of life; and it continues to plague the patient, as do also the pains in
the body, long after the fever itself has left him.
In the village of Eranomaro we met a French physician from the island of
Bourbon who had made an agreement with the queen and some of the nobles
to come to Tananariva for a few months every two years, bringing with
him some necessary medicaments. Mr. Lambert and I wished to consult this
gentleman on the subject of our fever, and to procure some medicine from
him. I specially stood in need of his help, for I was in far worse
health than Mr. Lambert, who only had attacks of fever once a fortnight,
while in my case they recurred every third or fourth day. The commandant
refused to allow us to go and see the physician, or to request him to
visit us, declaring that he had been imperatively commanded by the queen
herself not to let us hold communication with any one on our way, and
least of all with a European. This strictness, as we afterward learned,
was confined to ourselves, and was purposely intended to cut us off from
any assistance. Mr. Laborde, who traveled a few days’ journey in the
rear of our party, was much more leniently treated, and was allowed, on
meeting the physician, to spend a whole evening in his company.
Though the journey from Tananariva to Tamatavé lasted long enough in all
conscience, I had scant opportunity of seeing any thing of the manners
and customs of the people, being hampered as much by my illness as by
the strict surveillance under which we were placed. What cursory
observations I could make showed me that the natives possess some very
bad qualities. They are excessively idle, very frequently intoxicate
themselves, chatter continually, and seem to be entirely destitute of
natural modesty.
Thus our soldiers, who received neither provisions nor pay, and who
often suffered the greatest privations, would, I think, have died of
hunger rather than endeavor to earn any thing by any slight service. At
first I pitied the poor fellows, and bought rice and sweet potatoes for
them now and then, or made them a little present of money. When we came
to the forest region, where beautiful insects and snails were to be
found in abundance, I requested the men to procure me some specimens,
offering to pay for them in rice or money. My promises were unheeded;
not one of these people could I induce to comply. They would rather
crouch in any corner and suffer hunger than subject themselves to the
least exertion. This was not only the case among the soldiers; the
natives generally--men, women, and children--were all alike lazy. During
my first stay at Tamatavé, before visiting the capital, I had wished to
take three or four persons into monthly pay, and send them out into the
woods to collect specimens of insects, and offered four times the wages
they usually receive, promising a farther reward whenever they brought
me any thing really fine; but not a soul responded to my appeal. Just as
vainly did I display to the women and children my store of handsome
large glass beads, rings, bracelets, and similar treasures. They were
delighted with the articles, and would have been glad to possess them,
but only if I would give them away unconditionally. Never have I met
with such thoroughly indolent people. In nearly every country I visited
during my travels, and even among the quite uncivilized inhabitants of
Borneo and Sumatra, the natives often helped me, of their own accord,
when they saw me searching for shells and insects, or snails; and if I
rewarded them with a trifling gift, they brought me more than I could
carry away. I thus often made valuable collections; and here, in this
unexplored country, where there must be an abundance of insect life, I
unfortunately found it impossible to obtain any thing like a respectable
show. The few specimens I possess I have been obliged, almost without
exception, to collect for myself.
Drunkenness prevails throughout every district of Madagascar, with the
exception of the Emir territory, where some of the severe laws of
Dianampoiene, the founder of the Malagasey monarchy, are still observed;
among which there is one prohibiting the sale of ardent spirits, under
pain of death, and commanding the summary execution of every drunkard.
In this last-named district the people seem much more steady, orderly,
and respectable than in the others, where intemperance goes unpunished.
The favorite drink of the natives is the before-mentioned besa-besa,
prepared from the juice of the sugar-cane. In almost every village
drunkards of both sexes are seen reeling about even in the daytime; and
late at night we often heard music and singing, loud voices and
laughter, and not unfrequently quarreling and fighting.
Judged by this apparently continual state of hilarity, the people here
would seem to be the happiest on earth; but the condition of the poor
creatures is that of slaves and bondmen, and, like true serfs, they seek
in the pleasures of intoxication forgetfulness of their bondage and
misery.
Greatly as the Hovas and Malagaseys are addicted to drink, they are, I
think, still more fond of chattering. They seem unable to hold their
peace for two minutes together; and instead of saying their say quietly
and peaceably, they talk with such haste and eagerness, that it would
seem they thought the day too short for the interchange of their ideas.
Those who are not speaking keep up an almost continual laugh, so that I
often asked to be informed of the subject of their conversation,
thinking that something very witty and amusing was going on. But every
time I was assured that I was mistaken; their talking was of the most
trivial and sometimes of the most untranslatable kind, and they repeated
the same things a dozen times within the hour.
An instance of the peculiar garrulousness of these people came under my
own notice. Once, at Tananariva, I sent a messenger upon some errand,
and noticed that he immediately sought for a companion. On my announcing
that I would pay one messenger, but not two, my Mercury assured me I
need not give his comrade any thing, but added that he could not think
of accomplishing his journey on a long and solitary road without having
some one to converse with, and that he should therefore give his
companion a share of the fee.
Our bearers were no exception to the general rule. They chattered and
laughed without a moment’s pause, so that my poor sick head sometimes
fairly reeled. At first I fondly fancied, when we came to a steep hill,
that the exertion would make them pause. Vain hope! they panted and
groaned, but they never left off talking.
I have spoken of the impudence and shamelessness of these people; but my
pen refuses to record the scenes I witnessed on this doleful journey. We
were looked upon as state prisoners, and accordingly treated with less
respect and consideration than we had received during our progress to
the capital; and the natives who escorted us showed themselves without
disguise in all their natural viciousness. Frequently I did not know
which way to look; and my companions often pronounced me fortunate in my
ignorance of the native language.
At length, on the 12th of September, we arrived at Tamatavé; and we two
fever-patients, Mr. Lambert and I, had not done Queen Ranavola the
favor of dying, after all. It was really almost a miracle that we
escaped with our lives, and I, for my part, never expected that my weak,
exhausted frame could have endured the compulsory long delays in
unwholesome regions, the cruel usage, and the continual succession of
various hardships to which we had been subjected.
Neither Mr. Lambert nor I could obtain permission to stay in
Mademoiselle Julie’s house. We were taken to a little hut, and were
there guarded with the same strictness that had been exhibited on the
whole route. The commander of the escort announced to us that we were to
quit the island by the first ship that sailed for the Mauritius, and
that he had received orders to prevent us from holding communication
with any person in Tamatavé, and to accompany us with his soldiers till
we had fairly embarked.
I must say for the commandant and his officers that they fulfilled to
the very letter the orders the queen had given them; and if her majesty
of Madagascar should ever think of establishing an order of knighthood,
as she may probably some day do, they deserve to be Grand Crosses, every
one.
Queen Ranavola will probably take another view of the case, and these
zealous servants will, I fancy, be very ungraciously received when they
return with the unwelcome news that Mr. Lambert and I have quitted
Madagascar alive. I am sorry for her disappointment, but am selfish
enough to think it is better that it has happened so, after all.
We were fortunate enough to be detained only three days at Tamatavé. On
the 16th of September a ship was ready to sail for the Mauritius, and we
were then obliged to tear ourselves from our amiable escort and this
hospitable country. I shed no parting tear on the occasion--my heart
felt light as I stepped on board; and it was with intense satisfaction
that I saw the boat containing the commandant and his men paddling back
to the shore. Nevertheless, I do not regret having undertaken this
journey, and shall do so the less if I am fortunate enough to regain my
health.
In Madagascar I saw and heard more marvelous things than had come under
my notice in any other country; and if little can be said to the
advantage of the people, it must be remembered that, under the cruel,
insensate rule of Queen Ranavola, and in the entire absence of
instruction in religion and morality, no great expectations can
reasonably be formed. If Madagascar should once obtain a well-ordered,
civilized government, and should be visited by missionaries who, instead
of busying themselves with political intrigues, would devote their
energies to imparting the Christian religion, in its true sense, to the
people, a happy and flourishing kingdom may be founded in this beautiful
land: the materials of prosperity are certainly not wanting.
Of our return journey to the Mauritius I have little to tell. Our
vessel, the brig “Castro,” Captain Schneider, was about as slow a sailer
as the _quondam_ man-of-war which had borne us from the Mauritius to
Tamatavé about five months ago; and as the wind was not very favorable
to us, six days were consumed in the passage; but, in the enjoyment of
our newly-attained freedom, they fled blithely away.
At nine o’clock in the evening of the 22d of September we arrived in the
Mauritian waters, when an accident of a highly dangerous character
occurred, which might have cost us all our lives, to the great
satisfaction, no doubt, in such an event, of Queen Ranavola. The night
being dark and cloudy, the captain determined to cast anchor, and to
have the ship taken into harbor next morning by a steam-tug. Every
preparation had been made, and they were just about to let go the
anchor, when the rudder struck with such violence against a rock that
it was shattered into atoms. The crash of the broken beams and planks
was so great that it seemed as though the whole vessel were going to
pieces. I was already in bed, and started up in alarm to see what could
be the matter, when I heard the shout of the second officer, “Come up
this moment, Madame Pfeiffer, if you want to be saved; the ship is
broken in two, and sinking.”
I threw my cloak round me and hurried on deck. The kind officer, Mr. St.
Ange, helped me into one of the boats, and told me to sit still, and I
should be quite safe. On a closer inspection, it happily turned out that
the ship had not even sprung a leak, and that the whole damage was
limited to the loss of the rudder and the fright we had endured.
The anchors were lowered, and we went quietly to bed. Next morning the
bright sunshine woke us, signals were hoisted, and a steam-tug came
puffing out to tow us into the welcome harbor of the Mauritius.
My friends here were very much surprised to see me again. It appeared
that the most exaggerated reports had been received from Tamatavé of the
unfortunate issue of our undertaking. Some people gave out that Queen
Ranavola had caused all the Europeans in Tananariva to be executed;
others declared that the sentence of death had only been carried out on
Mr. Lambert, and that the rest, including myself, had been sold as
slaves; while another party maintained that we had been banished from
the country, and murdered on the journey by command of the queen.
I was happily enabled to give a very practical denial to these reports;
but the danger was not yet quite past. A few days after my arrival, the
moral and physical sufferings I had undergone, added to the peculiar
effects of the fever, brought on such a severe illness that the doctors
were long doubtful about my recovery, and I should certainly have died
but for the kind and active sympathy of the Moon family.
Mr. Moon, a medical man and apothecary, lives in a very retired manner,
with his amiable wife, on a sugar-plantation in Vacoa. I had, my readers
will remember, spent a few very happy days with this family before my
departure for Madagascar. As soon as Mr. Moon heard that I had returned
from my journey, and was very ill, he came to the capital to take me to
his house, where I arrived almost in a dying state. To his, and to Dr.
A. Perrot’s scientific skill, and to the unceasing care bestowed upon me
in his house, I have to ascribe my recovery; and it chanced that exactly
on my sixtieth birthday, the 9th of October, 1860, I was pronounced out
of danger.
May God reward Dr. Moon and his wife, and Dr. Perrot, for all they did
for me, a total stranger as I was to them!
* * * * *
Here the diary of Madame Ida Pfeiffer ends. Unhappily, the hopes
expressed in its last lines were delusive. The danger was not past; and
though the attacks of the fever left her for longer or shorter periods,
they always returned, and she never entirely recovered her health and
strength. Her stay in the Mauritius was prolonged through several
months; and the letters written by her during this period to her sons
show that she had made various plans for new voyages, none of which were
destined to be carried into effect.
Thus, in a letter dated the 16th of December, 1857, she wrote:
“My sufferings from fever, and especially from its effects, have been
great, and are not yet quite past; but I hope that a sea-voyage will
completely set me up. I can not go to Europe at this season of the year.
I should have to contend against cold and bad weather, and am not sure
if I could do so in my present state of health. To wait here for better
weather would not do, as the air of this island does not agree with me,
so I shall probably proceed to Australia.”
In another letter, of the 13th of January, she says:
“I hope this is the last letter I shall date from the Mauritius. I shall
really be very glad to bid farewell to this island; but the parting from
the Moon and Kerr families will be very, very bitter. If these excellent
people had not taken care of me as they did, I should certainly have
perished here. No daughter could tend her mother with greater solicitude
than Mrs. Moon evinced toward me; and, indeed, all the members of both
families have vied with each other in doing me all kinds of service. My
dear sons, store up these names in your memory; and if chance should
ever bring you together with any one belonging to either of these
households, look upon them as brothers, and esteem yourselves happy if
you can do any thing for them.
“For the last three weeks my health has been improving day by day; the
fever seems at last about to quit me entirely; I can sleep now, and my
appetite is returning.
“A few days ago I made the acquaintance of a young German botanist here,
Mr. Herbst. He resides at Rio de Janeiro, and has been sent by the
Brazilian government to the Mauritius and the Ile de Bourbon to collect
sugar-cane plants, to improve the species cultivated in the Brazils. He
is to take a whole cargo home with him, and hopes to arrive in Rio de
Janeiro in May. I almost intended to accompany him; but, as I do not
know if you will be there at that date, it will perhaps be better to
make the voyage to Australia first. I have met with a very good
opportunity of going to Sydney, and shall start in a few days; the
sea-voyage, and the bracing air in Australia, where I shall arrive at
the best season of the year, late in autumn, will, I hope, set the seal
on my recovery, and entirely re-establish my health.”
Only two days later, in a letter dated the 1st of March, she thus wrote:
“I was compelled suddenly to give up my project on account of the
detestable Madagascar fever, which persists in returning, and weakens me
very much. I was ready to embark for Australia, and had sent the greater
part of my effects on board, when I was seized with a fresh attack. I
had my chest landed from the ship, and intend to start on the 8th with
the packet for London, where I shall, however, only stay a short time,
for it is my wish to get to my own home as fast as possible.”
At length she quitted the Mauritius. During the tedious passage she
experienced no attack of fever, and at the beginning of the month of
June arrived in London, where she, however, only remained a few weeks.
From London she betook herself to Hamburg; but there, too, she could not
find rest; and in the month of July she went to Berlin, on the
invitation of her friend, the wife of Privy Councilor Weisz, in whose
house she was nursed with the tenderest care.
Her brothers sent urgent letters, begging her to come home to her native
Vienna, and Madame Maria Reyer, the wife of her brother, Cæsar Reyer,
wished to proceed to Berlin for the express purpose of fetching her. But
she positively declined this proposal. Although her strength was waning
from day to day, she seems to have considered her illness as only
temporary, and in this belief she wrote to her brother, expressing a
hope that she should soon recover, or at least be in a better condition
for traveling, and promised them to come to Vienna.
Still she seemed to yearn secretly for home; and when week after week
elapsed without bringing any improvement in her health, she had herself
conveyed to the residence of a friend, Baroness Stem, who lived on an
estate in the neighborhood of Cracow.
Her illness unhappily increased, and at last, abandoning the hope of a
speedy recovery, she consented to be removed to Vienna. Her
sister-in-law came for her; and sad indeed was the meeting with her
affectionate friend and relative, who found her in such a weak condition
as to despair of the possibility of proceeding to Vienna. But as the
physician declared that she might undertake the journey, and the sick
lady herself showed the greatest anxiety to behold her home once more,
she was taken with the greatest care, in a separate railway carriage, to
Vienna, to the house of her brother, Charles Reyer, where she arrived in
September.
Here several medical consultations were held upon her case, to which her
brother summoned the most distinguished physicians of the capital. One
and all pronounced that she was suffering from cancer in the liver--a
consequence probably of the Madagascar fever; that the disease had
deranged and was destroying the internal organs, and that her malady was
incurable.
Her native air seemed to do her good; for a few weeks she suffered but
little pain, and new hope awoke within her; she even spoke of
undertaking short journeys, and visiting her friends in Grätz, Trieste,
and other places. But this restlessness was probably only a symptom of
her disease, for her strength gave way more and more; violent pains came
on, which continued almost without intermission during the last four
weeks of her life, and frequently she sank into delirium.
She was most affectionately tended and nursed in her brother’s house,
under the especial supervision of her sister-in-law, whose affection for
her was so great as to keep her continually by the sufferer’s bedside;
and a few days before her death she had the happiness to embrace her
eldest son, who lived in Steyermark, and hastened to Vienna upon the
first intelligence of his mother’s serious illness.
During the last days of her life opiates were administered to lessen her
sufferings, and in the night between the 27th and 28th of October she
expired peacefully, and apparently without pain.
Her funeral took place on the 30th of the same month. Besides a very
numerous gathering of relations and personal friends, many scientific
notabilities and other distinguished inhabitants of Vienna followed her
to the grave. Peace be to her ashes!
* * * * *
Let me be permitted herewith to offer my warmest, my most heartfelt
thanks to you, dear Aunt Maria Reyer, and to you, dear Uncle Charles
Reyer, for all you did for my mother. Unhappily, I was not privileged to
hear her last words or to receive her parting glance, for I was far away
when the sad news was brought me. Through you both, I at least enjoy the
consolation of knowing that my poor mother had every care and attention
shown to her, and that she heard friendly and beloved voices around her
bed to the last.
To our other relations, and the numerous friends who showed her such
true, such delicate kindness, and particularly to Mr. and Mrs. Moon, in
the Mauritius, I return my most hearty thanks. Let them be assured that
their names will ever live in my memory with the remembrance of my
beloved mother.
OSCAR PFEIFFER.
THE END.
* * * * *
_Mr. Motley, the American historian of the United Netherlands--we owe
him English homage._--LONDON TIMES.
“_As interesting as a romance, and as reliable as a proposition of
Euclid._”
History of The United Netherlands.
FROM THE DEATH OF WILLIAM THE SILENT TO THE SYNOD OF DORT. WITH A FULL
VIEW OF THE ENGLISH-DUTCH STRUGGLE AGAINST SPAIN, AND OF THE ORIGIN AND
DESTRUCTION OF THE SPANISH ARMADA.
BY JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY, LL.D., D.C.L., Corresponding Member of the
Institute of France, Author of “The Rise of the Dutch Republic.”
With Portraits and Map.
2 vols. 8vo, Muslin, $4 00; Sheep, $4 50; Half Calf, $6 00.
_Critical Notices._
His living and truthful picture of events.--_Quarterly Review_ (London),
Jan., 1861.
Fertile as the present age has been in historical works of the highest
merit, none of them can be ranked above these volumes in the grand
qualities of interest, accuracy, and truth.--_Edinburgh Quarterly
Review_, Jan., 1861.
This noble work.--_Westminster Review_ (London).
One of the most fascinating as well as important histories of the
century.--_Cor. N. Y. Evening Post._
The careful study of these volumes will infallibly afford a feast both
rich and rare.--_Baltimore Republican._
Already takes a rank among standard works of history.--_London Critic._
Mr. Motley’s prose epic.--_London Spectator._
Its pages are pregnant with instruction.--_London Literary Gazette._
We may profit by almost every page of his narrative. All the topics
which agitate us now are more or less vividly presented in the History
of the United Netherlands.--_New York Times._
Bears on every page marks of the same vigorous mind that produced “The
Rise of the Dutch Republic;” but the new work is riper, mellower, and
though equally racy of the soil, softer flavored. The inspiring idea
which breathes through Mr. Motley’s histories and colors the whole
texture of his narrative, is the grandeur of that memorable struggle in
the 16th century by which the human mind broke the thraldom of religious
intolerance and achieved its independence.--_The World, N. Y._
The name of Motley now stands in the very front rank of living
historians. His _Dutch Republic_ took the world by surprise; but the
favorable verdict then given is now only the more deliberately confirmed
on the publication of the continued story under the title of the
_History of the United Netherlands_. All the nerve, and power, and
substance of juicy life are there, lending a charm to every
page.--_Church Journal, N. Y._
Motley, indeed, has produced a prose epic, and his fighting scenes are
as real, spirited, and life-like as the combats in the Iliad.--_The
Press_ (Phila.).
His history is as interesting as a romance, and as reliable as a
proposition of Euclid. Clio never had a more faithful disciple. We
advise every reader whose means will permit to become the owner of these
fascinating volumes, assuring him that he will never regret the
investment.--_Christian Intelligencer, N. Y._
Published by HARPER & BROTHERS,
Franklin Square, New York.
☛ HARPER & BROTHERS will send the above Work by Mail, postage pre-paid
(for any distance in the United States under 3000 miles), on receipt of
the Money.
* * * * *
“They do honor to American Literature, and would do honor to the
Literature of any Country in the World.”
THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. A history.
BY JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY.
New Edition. With a Portrait of WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 3 vols. 8vo,
Muslin, $6 00; Sheep, $6 75; Half Calf antique, $9 00; Half Calf,
extra gilt, $10 50.
We regard this work as the best contribution to modern history that has
yet been made by an American.--_Methodist Quarterly Review._
The “History of the Dutch Republic” is a great gift to us; but the heart
and earnestness that beat through all its pages are greater, for they
give us most timely inspiration to vindicate the true ideas of our
country, and to compose an able history of our own.--_Christian
Examiner_ (Boston).
This work bears on its face the evidences of scholarship and research.
The arrangement is clear and effective; the style energetic, lively, and
often brilliant. * * * Mr. Motley’s instructive volumes will, we trust,
have a circulation commensurate with their interest and
value.--_Protestant Episcopal Quarterly Review._
To the illustration of this most interesting period Mr. Motley has
brought the matured powers of a vigorous and brilliant mind, and the
abundant fruits of patient and judicious study and deep reflection. The
result is, one of the most important contributions to historical
literature that have been made in this country.--_North American
Review._
We would conclude this notice by earnestly recommending our readers to
procure for themselves this truly great and admirable work, by the
production of which the author has conferred no less honor upon his
country than he has won praise and fame for himself, and than which, we
can assure them, they can find nothing more attractive or interesting
within the compass of modern literature.--_Evangelical Review._
It is not often that we have the pleasure of commending to the attention
of the lover of books a work of such extraordinary and unexceptionable
excellence as this one.--_Universalist Quarterly Review._
There are an elevation and a classic polish in these volumes, and a
felicity of grouping and of portraiture, which invest the subject with
the attractions of a living and stirring episode in the grand historic
drama.--_Southern Methodist Quarterly Review._
The author writes with a genial glow and love of his
subject.--_Presbyterian Quarterly Review._
Mr. Motley is a sturdy Republican and a hearty Protestant. His style is
lively and picturesque, and his work is an honor and an important
accession to our national literature.--_Church Review._
Mr. Motley’s work is an important one, the result of profound research,
sincere convictions, sound principles, and manly sentiments; and even
those who are most familiar with the history of the period will find in
it a fresh and vivid addition to their previous knowledge. It does honor
to American literature, and would do honor to the literature of any
country in the world.--_Edinburgh Review._
A serious chasm in English historical literature has been (by this book)
very remarkably filled. * * * A history as complete as industry and
genius can make it now lies before us, of the first twenty years of the
revolt of the United Provinces. * * * All the essentials of a great
writer Mr. Motley eminently possesses. His mind is broad, his industry
unwearied. In power of dramatic description no modern historian, except,
perhaps, Mr. Carlyle, surpasses him, and in analysis of character he is
elaborate and distinct.--_Westminster Review._
It is a work of real historical value, the result of accurate criticism,
written in a liberal spirit, and from first to last deeply
interesting.--_Athenæum._
The style is excellent, clear, vivid, eloquent; and the industry with
which original sources have been investigated, and through which new
light has been shed over perplexed incidents and characters, entitles
Mr. Motley to a high rank in the literature of an age peculiarly rich in
history.--_North British Review._
It abounds in new information, and, as a first work, commands a very
cordial recognition, not merely of the promise it gives, but of the
extent and importance of the labor actually performed on it.--_London
Examiner._
Mr. Motley’s “History” is a work of which any country might be
proud.--_Press_ (London).
Mr. Motley’s History will be a standard book of reference in historical
literature.--_London Literary Gazette._
Mr. Motley has searched the whole range of historical documents
necessary to the composition of his work.--_London Leader._
This is really a great work. It belongs to the class of books in which
we range our Grotes, Milmans, Merivales, and Macaulays, as the glories
of English literature in the department of history. * * * Mr. Motley’s
gifts as a historical writer are among the highest and
rarest.--_Nonconformist_ (London).
Mr. Motley’s volumes will well repay perusal. * * * For his learning,
his liberal tone, and his generous enthusiasm, we heartily commend him,
and bid him good speed for the remainder of his interesting and heroic
narrative.--_Saturday Review._
The story is a noble one, and is worthily treated. * * * Mr. Motley has
had the patience to unravel, with unfailing perseverance, the thousand
intricate plots of the adversaries of the Prince of Orange; but the
details and the literal extracts which he has derived from original
documents, and transferred to his pages, give a truthful color and a
picturesque effect, which are especially charming.--_London Daily News._
M. Lothrop Motley dans son magnifique tableau de la formation de notre
République.--G. GROEN VAN PRINSTERER.
Our accomplished countryman, Mr. J. Lothrop Motley, who, during the last
five years, for the better prosecution of his labors, has established
his residence in the neighborhood of the scenes of his narrative. No one
acquainted with the fine powers of mind possessed by this scholar, and
the earnestness with which he has devoted himself to the task, can doubt
that he will do full justice to his important but difficult subject--W.
H. PRESCOTT.
The production of such a work as this astonishes, while it gratifies the
pride of the American reader.--_N. Y. Observer._
The “Rise of the Dutch Republic” at once, and by acclamation, takes its
place by the “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” as a work which,
whether for research, substance, or style, will never be
superseded.--_N. Y. Albion._
A work upon which all who read the English language may congratulate
themselves.--_New Yorker Handels Zeitung._
Mr. Motley’s place is now (alluding to this book) with Hallam and Lord
Mahon, Alison and Macaulay in the Old Country, and with Washington
Irving, Prescott, and Bancroft in this.--_N. Y. Times._
THE authority, in the English tongue, for the history of the period and
people to which it refers.--_N. Y. Courier and Enquirer._
This work at once places the author on the list of American historians
which has been so signally illustrated by the names of Irving, Prescott,
Bancroft, and Hildreth.--_Boston Times._
The work is a noble one, and a most desirable acquisition to our
historical literature.--_Mobile Advertiser._
Such a work is an honor to its author, to his country, and to the age in
which it was written.--_Ohio Farmer._
_Published by HARPER & BROTHERS,
Franklin Square, New York._
HARPER & BROTHERS will send the above Work by Mail (postage paid for any
distance in the United States under 8000 miles), on receipt of the
Money.
* * * * *
CURTIS’S HISTORY OF THE CONSTITUTION.
HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN, FORMATION, AND ADOPTION OF THE CONSTITUTION
OF THE UNITED STATES. By GEORGE TICKNOR CURTIS. Complete in 2 vols.
8vo, Muslin, $4 00; Law Sheep, $5 00; Half Calf, $6 00.
A book so thorough as this in the comprehension of its subject, so
impartial in the summing up of its judgments, so well considered in its
method, and so truthful in its matter, may safely challenge the most
exhaustive criticism. The Constitutional History of our country has not
before been made the subject of a special treatise. We may congratulate
ourselves that an author has been found so capable to do full justice to
it; for that the work will take its rank among the received text-books
of our political literature will be questioned by no one who has given
it a careful perusal.--_National Intelligencer._
We know of no person who is better qualified (now that the late Daniel
Webster is no more), to undertake this important history.--_Boston
Journal._
It will take its place among the classics of American
literature.--_Boston Courier._
The author has given years to the preliminary studies, and nothing has
escaped him in the patient and conscientious researches to which he has
devoted so ample a portion of time. Indeed, the work has been so
thoroughly performed that it will never need to be done over again; for
the sources have been exhausted, and the materials put together with so
much judgment and artistic skill that taste and the sense of
completeness are entirely satisfied.--_N. Y. Daily Times._
A most important and valuable contribution to the historical and
political literature of the United States. All publicists and students
of public law will be grateful to Mr. Curtis for the diligence and
assiduity with which he has wrought out the great mine of diplomatic
lore in which the foundations of the American Constitution are laid, and
for the light he has thrown on his wide and arduous subject.--_London
Morning Chronicle._
To trace the history of the formation of the Constitution, and explain
the circumstances of the time and country out of which its various
provisions grew, is a task worthy of the highest talent. To have
performed that task in a satisfactory manner is an achievement with
which an honorable ambition may well be gratified. We can honestly say
that in our opinion Mr. Curtis has fairly won this distinction.--_N. Y.
Courier and Enquirer._
We have seen no history which surpasses it in the essential qualities of
a standard work destined to hold a permanent place in the impartial
judgment of future generations.--_Boston Traveler._
Should the second volume sustain the character of the first, we hazard
nothing in claiming for the entire publication the character of a
standard work. It will furnish the only sure guide to the interpretation
of the Constitution, by unfolding historically the wants it was intended
to supply, and the evils which it was intended to remedy.--_Boston Daily
Advertiser._
This volume is an important contribution to our constitutional and
historical literature. * * * Every true friend of the Constitution will
gladly welcome it. The author has presented a narrative clear and
interesting. It evinces careful research, skillful handling of material,
lucid statement, and a desire to write in a tone and manner worthy of
the great theme.--_Boston Post._
_Published by HARPER & BROTHERS,
Franklin Square, New York._
⁂ HARPER & BROTHERS will send the above Work by Mail, postage paid (for
any distance in the United States under 3000 miles), on receipt of the
Money.
* * * * *
GEO. WM. CURTIS’S WORKS.
TRUMPS. A Novel. Illustrated by HOPPIN. Large 12mo, Muslin, $1 50;
Half Calf, $2 35.
THE POTIPHAR PAPERS. Illustrated from Drawings by HOPPIN. 12mo,
Muslin, $1 00; Half Calf, $1 85.
PRUE AND I. 12mo, Muslin, $1 00; Half Calf, $1 85.
LOTUS-EATING. A Summer-Book. Illustrated from Designs by KENSETT.
12mo, Muslin, 75 cents; Half Calf, $1 60.
THE HOWADJI IN SYRIA. 12mo, Muslin, $1 00; Half Calf, $1 85.
NILE NOTES OF A HOWADJI. 12mo, Muslin, $1 00; Half Calf, $1 85.
_Published by HARPER & BROTHERS,
Franklin Square, New York._
☛ HARPER & BROTHERS will send either of the above Works by Mail,
postage prepaid (for any distance in the United States under 3000
miles), on receipt of the Price.
* * * * *
Harper’s Catalogue.
A NEW DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF HARPER & BROTHERS’ PUBLICATIONS is now
ready for distribution, and may be obtained gratuitously on application
to the Publishers personally, by letter inclosing SIX CENTS in postage
stamps. The attention of gentlemen, in town or country, designing to
form Libraries or enrich their literary collections, is respectfully
invited to this Catalogue, which will be found to comprise a large
proportion of the standard and most esteemed works in English
Literature--COMPREHENDING MORE THAN TWO THOUSAND VOLUMES--which are
offered, in most instances, at less than one half the cost of similar
productions in England. To Librarians and others connected with
Colleges, Schools, &c., who may not have access to a reliable guide in
forming the true estimate of literary productions, it is believed this
Catalogue will prove especially valuable as a manual of reference. To
prevent disappointment, it is suggested that, whenever books can not be
obtained through any bookseller or local agent, applications with
remittance should be addressed direct to the Publishers, which will meet
with prompt attention.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] A florin, of sixty kreutzers, is worth about 2_s._ English money.
[B] Even in the favorable season of the year, very few strangers escape
the intermittent fever. Mr. Lambert had a slight attack of it on the
second day of our arrival at Tananariva, and afterward both he and I
suffered terribly from it.