rina in 1863, Mpanjaka had been a woman and
the wife of the Prime Minister. A general impression exists in England
that this is an old Madagascar custom, but such is not the case. The
arrangement is of quite recent date. The last Prime Minister (not being
of royal blood) was content to be Mpanjaka, or ruler, and while all
public honor was shown to the Queen, and her authority fully
acknowledged, those behind the scenes would have us believe that the
Queen was supreme only in name.

As a matter of fact, the Prime Minister, and even his supposed wishes
and preferences, were the most potent forces in Madagascar. No one
seemed able to exercise any independent influence, and time after time
the men who showed any special ability or gained popularity have been
removed, swept away as it were, out of the path of the man who had
assumed and by his ability and astuteness maintained for thirty years
the highest position in the country. There was, no doubt, a large amount
of latent rebellion against this "one-man government," but those who
were the most ready to grumble in private were in public, perhaps, the
most servile of any. It is conceded that in many ways the Prime Minister
was an able ruler, and compared with those who went before him was
deserving of great praise.

He made many attempts to prevent the corruption of justice, and
strenuously endeavored to improve the administration, and for many years
had managed to hold in check the ambitious projects of French statesmen,
and had shown at many times his interest in the cause of education.

But his monopoly as a ruler, the idea of omnipotent control, refusal to
allow his subordinates to take their share of responsibility, like many
similar instances which history records, loosened the bond of patriotic
interest, love and integrity for country, and made easy the ingress of
the French in subduing and appropriating the Island of Madagascar.

It has been stated that no account of Madagascar government would be
complete that did not include a description of their system of
"fanompoana," or forced service, which answers very nearly to the old
feudal service, and to the system known in Egypt as "corvee." The
tax-gatherer is not the ubiquitous person in Madagascar he is generally
supposed to have been.

There were a few taxes paid by the people, such, for example, as a small
tax in kind on the rice crop, and occasionally a small poll-tax, and
money paid the sovereigns as a toke