their children to attend, alleging that the white men wanted them
for no other purpose than to eat them; for they attributed all their
sorrows to the cannibalism of the white people, believing that the
slaves they captured were caught, as wild animals would be, only for
food. They carried their antipathy so far, that, rather than permit
their little ones to enter the schools, they hid them in rice holes,
where they were often suffocated. King Radama reigned at that time,
and, being a convert himself, he naturally desired the conversion of
his people. He reasoned with them, and prohibited the secretion of
the unfortunate children, and after a time, by God's blessing, the
people became aware of the advantage of the schools and many were
converted from the error of their ways, and died rejoicing in God
their Saviour. But Radama died also; and there arose a sovereign who
knew not God; enemies crept into the fold, and endeavored to destroy
the good work of the pious missionaries. They partially succeeded;
and in 1837 these worthy men were obliged to quit Madagascar, and
have never since been able to revisit it with any prospect of
success. We cannot understand why this great work should be allowed
to fall to the ground; but God in His wisdom appears to have
withheld his blessing for a season, and we must in patience await
the issue."

GEORGE. "The Malagasses were never cannibals, were they?"

MR. WILTON. "No. Their ordinary food consists of the natural produce
of the soil; principally rice, dressed in the simplest manner, and
seasoned with pepper; and they usually drink hot water or broth from
the boiled meats; wines, of which they make several kinds, are
reserved for the entertainments of their friends on occasions of
festivity or ceremony. Their usual dinner hour is ten in the
morning, and that of supper four in the afternoon."

MR. STANLEY. "Although not cannibals, their superstition prompts
them to many acts of cruelty; for instance, one half of the infant
population is murdered by the misfortune of being born on an unlucky
day; and, to prove the truth of the dogma, they are deliberately
killed. One mode of perpetrating this unnatural deed, is by taking
the infant to a retired spot in the neighborhood of the village,
digging a grave sufficiently large to receive it pouring in a
quantity of water slightly warmed, putting a piece of cloth upon the
infant's mouth, placing it in the grave, filling this up with earth,
and