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CHAP. XIII. PLACES OP PUBLIC EXECUTION. 363 French resident at the capital. The labour of procuring timber from the forest fifty miles distant must have been immense; and it is said that about sixty carpenters were employed four years on the works. After we left the domain the people crowded the road, and saluted the prince as he passed. On approaching the capital I observed that the south end of the hill on which it stands is rocky, and almost destitute of houses. The prince pointed out a part of the naked rock, which he said was Ambohipotsi, which I knew to be the common place of execution, and where several of the Christians had been put to death. It was three hundred or four hundred feet above the path. Shortly afterwards we passed within sight of the pile of granite rock, three hundred feet high, from which criminals are hurled, and dashed to pieces on the rocky fragments below. The sun had set when we re-entered the capital, and pass ing for a long distance through the labyrinth of streets, we halted. The prince alighted at the house of one of his offi cers, and wished me good-night. I re-entered my palanquin, and going a few yards further, was put down at my own door soon after six o’clock, much pleased with the opportunity I had enjoyed of viewing this comparatively populous and well cultivated portion of the country, and deeply affected by the associations connected with some of the objects I had beheld. A number of friends came in the evening, and the conver sation naturally turned upon the events of recent years, and the scenes which had been witnessed on the spots I had passed during the day. The statements to which I listened were deeply affecting. My friends had also many questions to ask respecting the customs of my own and other countries, espe cially our mode of conducting funerals, &c. The next day was the Sabbath. I had but few visitors, and was glad to secure more than usual retirement and quiet,