We spent four pleasant days in Tamatave. We paid our respects to the
Governor, Rainifiringa, and received a hearty welcome from him and his
officers. He speaks English tolerably well, and talked to us much about
his visit to England in 1864, when he was sent as envoy to explain the
views of his Government respecting the English and French treaties. He
invited us to dine with him on the following day, when we met several
members of his family, and spent a most agreeable afternoon. We visited
also the English Consul, Mr. Pakenham, and had much interesting
conversation with him on matters connected with the progress of the
island. On every hand, we met with courtesy and kindness. The French
Vice-Consul kindly provided us with a house for ourselves and our
numerous packages. And the twenty Hindu and Parsi traders, who have
found their way from India, were glad to welcome one who could talk to
them in their own tongue about the home and land which they long to see
again. Special presents were sent to us both from the Churches of
Tamatave, and from the Governor, of geese and turkeys, fowls and eggs,
as provisions for our stay.
Our most pleasant day in Tamatave was the Sunday, when, for the first
time, we worshipped with the native Churches, of which we had heard so
much, and to which Christian people in England are bound by so many
ties. At eight o’clock we all went to the large church inside the
battery, called Ambátomásina. It was a simple building of posts,
panelled and roofed with leaves and stalks of the traveller’s tree; the
roof was open, and the walls were lined with fine mats. We joined the
Governor and the pastor, Andriantian, outside the church, and were
invited to sit at the upper end. We found some five hundred people
assembled. The women were seated on the floor to the right, and in the
immediate centre; the men were on the left, and in the centre far away.
A raised platform was provided for the preachers, on which stood a
table, covered with a white cloth, and holding the Bible and hymn-book.
There was also a white canopy above.
The form of worship followed by the Malagasy Churches connected with the
London Missionary Society, resembles that which prevails among the
Congregationalists, Presbyterians, and Wesleyans in England and America.
It is based upon free preaching and free prayer. But the form is not
identical with that of any one of these denominations; the singing,
reading, prayer, and preaching are so varied in their order and extent,
as to make it differ from all three. The form is Malagasy; it has become
national and universal, and the people are much attached to it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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