the gentleman who has been selected by His Majesty the Emperor of the French to be the bearer of the presents to the King of Madagascar at his ensuing coronation, and whose arrival from Suez in a war steamer is daily expected; a special Mission has also been appointed from this island to assist at the ceremony.

His Excellency the Governor of Réunion entertained the various members of this Mission at a banquet a few days since; and, in proposing the health of His Majesty the Emperor of the French, alluded to the "political and commercial relations about to coinmence with Madagascar, and the preponderance which France is called upon to exercise in this African territory."

The Mission consists of M. Dupré, Commandant of the Naval Station, Chief of the Mission; M. Lesseline, Lieutenant-Colonel of 4th Marine; M. Delagrange, Naval Lieutenant and Commandant of Sainte Marie, in Madagascar; M. Dewatie, Aide-de-camp to M. Dupré; M. Lange de Fernèses, Naval Lieutenant; M. Magières, Captain Marine Artillery; M. Prud'homme de St. Maur, Captain and Adjutant of Marine; and his medical officers.

All these gentlemen are on the point of departure for Madagascar in the steam-frigate Hermione (42), the flag-ship of the station. I have, &c.

Earl Russell.

J. D. HAY HILL.

No. 9.-Sir W. Stevenson to the Duke of Newcastle.-(Rec. Dec. 12.) (Extract.) Mauritius, November 4, 1862.

IN continuation of my despatch of the 7th July, in which I reported the arrangements I had made for the transmission and delivery of the Queen's letter and presents to the King of Madagascar, and for aiding in doing honour to his coronation, by authorizing the officers who were to be the bearers of the letter and presents to remain and assist at the ceremony:

I have now the honour to report that the officers charged with that duty left Mauritius in Her Majesty's ship Gorgon on the 12th July, and, after completion of all the services required of them, returned on the 12th ultimo, after a longer absence than I anticipated when I sent them, but which was rendered necessary by the postponement of the coronation, and their required duty of assisting at the pageant.

The officers and others who finally formed or accompanied the mission consisted of Major-General Johnstone, commanding the troops in the colony; the Lord Bishop of Mauritius (charged with the special duty of presenting the Bible to the King); InspectorGeneral Anson, Captain Royal Artillery; Lieutenant Oliver, R.A., acting as Aide-de-Camp to the General; and Dr. Mellor, a medical gentleman and naturalist attached to Dr. Livingstone's African

party, and then on board Her Majesty's ship Gorgon, on his return to Africa, who, at his request, was authorized to accompany the party to the capital. The Bishop and Dr. Mellor did not remain for the coronation, but returned about the middle of September.

The result was, under all circumstances, as satisfactory as could have been desired; and I am happy to be able to report that the head of the party, and all others who were attached to the mission, or afforded their assistance, performed the various duties with which they were entrusted entirely to my satisfaction.

I have now the honour to transmit copies of two official communications which I have received from General Johnstone, reporting the arrival of the mission at their destination, and the performance of their duties, together with the accompanying report from the Bishop, and a narrative of his visit to the graves of the massacred Christians; also a botanical report from Dr. Mellor, and an excellent map of the route by Lieutenant Oliver, R.A.

I also add a short report from Inspector-General Anson (Captain, R.A.), to whom the specific charge of the presents was confided, showing that he faithfully discharged that part of his duty.

I hope I may ask your Grace to authorize me to express to General Johnstone, Captain Anson, and the other members of the mission, as well as those who afforded their assistance, your satisfaction at the successful results, and at the manner in which they respectively performed their duty.

The Duke of Newcastle.

WILLIAM STEVENSON.

(Inclosure.)-Major-General Johnstone to Sir W. Stevenson.

YOUR EXCELLENCY,

Port Louis October 27, 1862. ON the 20th August,* I had the honour of addressing you on the subject of the mission to King Radama II. Up to that period we had hoped the coronation of His Majesty would have taken place early in September. It was found, however, impracticable to expedite it to any day prior to the 23rd of that month; and although this delay involved many inconveniences, yet there were so many strong reasons to enforce it, that none of us were found to urge objections to their necessity.

The crown and robes, a present from the Emperor of the French, had not yet arrived; the cars of state, the dresses of the Queen and her court, the materials for the uniform of the body guard, were all still on their way from France. The return of King Radama's Ambassador from France, with the crown and other costly presents, had not yet occurred; nor was it expected before the first week of September. The day named for the pageantry was the King's own birth-day; and furthermore, before that day could arrive, the nume*This was one of the missing despatches never received by me.-W. S.

rous deputations of chiefs and warriors from distant tribes could not be expected to appear.

During the intervening time we had opportunities of becoming acquainted with the court and people, and of acquiring useful knowledge respecting the capabilities of the country; our intercourse with the King, his Ministers, and the people composing his court was constant, and of a most friendly nature. Their Majesties, especially the King, showed a very marked attention to the English Mission. The King's condescension to the young men composing it, and attached to it, was extremely gratifying. The good deeds of England in former days, in her abolition of slave traffic, and in paying to the Madagascar Government (although herself a loser by the act) a full compensation for the losses sustained by the Government, as well as by individuals, have stamped the national character of England most favourably on the grateful hearts of the Malagash people. The self-sacrifice of the pious missionaries, their devotion to a labour of kindness towards the nation in everything that constitutes or aids in true civilization, were of themselves our best introduction to the good will of the people. Our prolonged residence amongst them, therefore, was in many respects most gratifying. It may safely be said that the rejoicing was general and sincere, on its being made known that the English mission was to remain. Everything was done to make our continued residence agreeable; and what with the amusements of the court, and the changing variety of incidents involving interest, we found the time. pass swiftly, and the day of the coronation approach almost before we were prepared for its arrival.

During two nights preceding the ceremony, the whole country was brilliantly illuminated, and on the first of these (namely, the 21st September), a conflagration took place in the town, threatening its total destruction. The conduct of Lieutenant Wadling, of the 5th Fusiliers, was on that occasion most energetic, and his courage and activity in arresting the flames very conspicuous. The King, who was witness to the scene, expressed very forcibly his sense of Lieutenant Wadling's services, and invested him with a third-class Order of Radama; and as it was gained at the manifest risk of his life, I much trust your Excellency will move Her Most Gracious Majesty to allow this young and gallant officer to accept and wear this order, in memory of the great service he rendered on this occasion to the King and people of Madagascar.

His Majesty was pleased to invest myself and 4 other British officers with other decorations of the same order. We solicit the same favour for ourselves, in this respect, as I now ask for Lieutenant Wadling.

On the morning of the 23rd September, the coronation, after a

night of great excitement throughout the capital, took place. Every house in it was filled with visitors from far and near. No one seemed to seek for rest or sleep; merriment resounded through the streets the whole night long. Before dawn a cannon announced, with reverberating boom through the rocks, the approach of the auspicious day. By 7 o'clock all the ladies of the Royal Family, clothed in scarlet cloth of the finest texture, and most richly embroidered in gold, were on their way from the palace and its neighbourhood to the Sconce, or sacred stone on which the Kings of the Hovas are crowned. By about noon the King had mounted the dais erected over the sacred stone, and placed the crown himself on his head. He then with his own hands crowned the Queen, by placing on her head a diadem of great beauty, also understood to be a present from the French.

The King then addressed the people with energy and dignity, after which, retiring to his chair of state, it was signified to the Chiefs that he would accept their offering, or Hasina.

All the chief men of the country-all the Chiefs of tribes and clans--all the foreigners, and in some cases women, representatives of tribes, came forward one by one, as they had opportunity, to present an offering of money, in gold or silver; this, with a few complimentary words, was given to officers in front of the canopy or dais, and by them placed in a box covered with scarlet velvet.

A certain order of procession had been arranged by the English and French Consuls, but not made public. There was great confusion in proceeding to and returning from the place of coronation. The distance from the palace to the sacred stone may be considered more than two miles; all the distance was carefully and well guarded by double lines of soldiers facing inwards, who, with their bayonets, preserved an open and free passage for the procession.

There could not have been less than 20,000 men under arms on this and similar duties. A large body guard, remarkably fine men, all appropriately dressed and armed, accompanied the King and Queen. The King, dressed in the uniform of a Field-Marshal of England, rode a very beautiful Egyptian horse, magnificently caparisoned, a present from Monsieur Lambert. The palanquin of the Queen, like a triumphal car, was of beautiful construction and costly material. She herself was magnificently dressed, and exhibited a truly royal appearance. The nobles and officers of all kinds were dressed hardly less splendidly; to enumerate their costumes would be difficult. Many varieties of uniform, most of them exhibiting great elegance, gave gaiety to the scene; most of them were of the richest possible velvets, embroidered in the most expensive and tasteful way: some were from France-many were the work of the Malagash themselves.

One of the nobles, Ranickotova, astonished all beholders by the magnificence of his helmet, which appeared to be of burnished gold, with large precious stones set in the body, or gracefully pendant in drops from the crest. Excepting in the confusion of the procession, all went off remarkably well. There was a splendid banquet in the evening, when many loyal toasts were given in honour of the occasion. Commodore Dupré proposed the health of the newly-crowned King in brief and forcible eloquence.

On the 24th of the month we bade farewell to the King and Queen of Madagascar, as well as of the French mission, with many expressions on all sides of reciprocal good feeling. Our journey to our port of embarkation was rapid. By your Excellency's kind provision for our comforts, we found the man-of-war steamer the Gorgon waiting for us at Tamatave; and after 4 days' sail arrived, after an absence of 3 months to a day.

A report of this nature would be incomplete without some notice of the present condition of Madagascar. Other pens than mine have made your Excellency and the public familiar with it during the last 12 months, and have, at the same time, entered into full descriptions of the travelling route from the coast to the capital; mine would be of little value excepting in corroborating the fidelity of those to which I refer. I attach a map, drawn with great accuracy and beauty of execution by Lieutenant Oliver, of the Royal Artillery.

I append also a memorandum, to which your Excellency will doubtless attach great value, from the pen of Dr. Mellor, on the botany, geology, and animal life of the country, embracing at the same time a notice of our daily route. By this, as well as by Lieutenant Oliver's map (to which this part of Dr. Mellor's memorandum is a fitting pendant), it will be seen that we estimate the journey at 204 miles, being about 50 miles less distance than the usual computation.

I add also a memorandum from the pen of the Lord Bishop of Mauritius, giving his impressions on the state of Christianity amongst the people, and a most interesting account of his visit to the places where numbers of them suffered martyrdom for their profession of Christian truth.

A report as to the agricultural productions of the country, in reference to its capabilities in furnishing supplies of corn, rice, sugar, potatoes, and of vegetables generally; as to its wealth in grazing lands and herds of cattle; also as to its sheep and poultry, has, I understand, been furnished you by Deputy Assistant Commissary General Castray, who preceded the mission on public. *Not yet received.-W. S.