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218 VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. CHAP. VIII. gagements of the day by a devotional meeting at the missionary’s house, where we were joined by two or three English friends from the neighbourhood. The last day was spent in public deliberations with the people, who expressed themselves deeply sensible of their obligations to the Christians in England for the religious instruction they had long been receiving, and they engaged for the future to provide these advantages for themselves. They also expressed their hopes of being able, at no distant period, to assist the society in its widely-extended operations. We had hoped to have extended our journey to Gfriqua town, and I had previously written to Mr. Moffat, and other missionaries, to meet us there; but the difficulty of obtaining horses, on account of the sickness and the state of the Yaal river beyond Philippolis, which had not been passable for some time, deprived us of the pleasure of meeting these friends, and obliged us to turn our steps back towards the colony. Late in the evening we took leave of the hospitable missionary and his family, and, after receiving many ex pressions of good-will from the people of the place, proceeded in a waggon drawn by six horses, which they kindly lent us, towards the Orange Eiver, where we arrived soon after mid night. , Early the next morning we recrossed the river without difficulty, and found the encampment we had left five days before, broken up and dispersed. As soon as our horses were harnessed we commenced our journey southward; but, although we stopped at two houses on the road, we obtained no forage until near sunset, when we reached a place called Driefontayn. Here, our cattle were not only well cared for, but, by the hospitality of the good people, we ourselves were provided with a good supper and comfortable bed. In the room in which we sat I noticed a Dutch translation of one of our most useful little books, “ The Sinner’s Friend,” lying on the table