h extreme caution.

Not only were the Queen's troops out in various directions, but many of
her spies had been seen prowling about, like the evil one they served,
seeking whom they could devour. Of this the travellers were made aware
at the first villages they came to; and as Ravonino had formerly been
well-known at the capital, it became necessary for him not only to
disguise himself, but to keep as much as possible out of sight.

Disguising himself was not very difficult, owing to the fact that when
he lived in Antananarivo he had, like his father, worn a bushy beard.
This had made him a marked man, for the Malagasy, as a rule, have little
beard, and what little they possess is usually pulled out by the roots.
Since he became a fugitive the guide had shaved closely. This of itself
went a long way to change his appearance; but when, in addition, he had
modified the arrangement of his hair, and stained his face of a darker
hue, he had made himself almost unrecognisable, even by his best
friends. His chief difficulty was with his voice, which had a mellow
sweetness in it that resisted modification. However, by keeping
silence, or speaking low, he hoped to escape recognition until he should
reach the vicinity of the capital, where he had friends who would gladly
receive and conceal him, even at the risk of their lives.

As to the great object that lay nearest his heart, he hoped to manage
that through his friend Laihova, without himself entering the capital.

Our travellers soon reached the inhabited part of the country, where,
being surrounded by men and women going about, as well as journeying
towards the Antananarivo market with provisions, etcetera, they ceased
to attract much attention. Of course the Englishmen were subjects of
curiosity--sometimes of inquiry,--but as Laihova reported that they were
men who had been cast on the southern coast of the island, and whom he
was guiding to the capital, suspicion was not aroused.

Laihova at this point became leader of the party, in order to enable the
guide more easily to fall into the background; and he was all the more
fitted for the position in that he had acquired a smattering of English
from his friend Ravonino, and could both understand much of what was
said to him and also make himself pretty well understood by his white
friends.

This part of the journey was by no means without adventure, sometimes of
a kind that filled them with anxiety.

One evening t