The Travels of Robert Lyall, 1789–1831

The Travels of Robert Lyall, 1789–1831 Robert Lyall, Travels in Russia, the Crimea, the Caucasus, and Georgia vol.1 (London: T. Cadell, 1825) Gwyn Campbell The Travels of Robert Lyall, 1789–1831 Scottish Surgeon, Naturalist and British Agent to the Court of Madagascar Gwyn Campbell Indian Ocean World Centre McGill University Montreal, QC, Canada ISBN 978-3-030-51647-5 ISBN 978-3-030-51648-2 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51648-2 (eBook) © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: Audrey Meubus This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland To Marianne, for her patience, counsel, and encouragement. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Research for this book was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). I wish also to thank the personnel of the National Archives of Mauritius; Jean-Marie Huron of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences of Mauritius; Julia Buckley and Saffron Mackay of the Royal Botanic Gardens Library and Archives, Kew; Viljami Yli-Hemminki; Heidi Falckh; Yoshina Hurgobin; and Rebekah McCallum. vii CONTENTS 1 From Scotland to Russia 2 Liberty and Reform 45 3 The Madagascar Mission 89 4 Expatriate Intrigue 143 5 Science and Sorcery 187 6 Servants and Slaves 233 7 Aftermath 279 1 Appendixes 319 Bibliography 351 Index 389 ix ABOUT THE AUTHOR Gwyn Campbell is founding Director of the Indian Ocean World Centre at McGill University, General Editor of the Palgrave Series in Indian Ocean World Studies, and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Indian Ocean World Studies (JIOWS). Born in Madagascar, and raised in Wales, he holds degrees in Economic History from the universities of Birmingham and Wales and has taught in India (Voluntary Service Overseas) as well as at universities in Madagascar, Britain, South Africa, Belgium, France, and currently Canada. He served as an academic consultant for the South African government in a series of inter-governmental meetings that led to the formation of an Indian Ocean regional association in 1997. He held a Canada Research Chair in Indian Ocean World History from 2005 to 2019, and a Humboldt Award from 2017 to 2019 for his research and teaching in Indian Ocean World Studies. He is currently director of a major international research project titled “Appraising Risk, Past and Present: Interrogating Historical Data to Enhance Understanding of Environmental Crises in the Indian Ocean World.” His publications include Africa and the Indian Ocean World from Early Times to 1900 (2019), David Griffiths and the Missionary “History of Madagascar” (2012), An Economic History of Imperial Madagascar, 1750–1895 (2005) and, as editor, Bondage and the Environment in the Indian Ocean World (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018) and Africa and the Early Indian Ocean World Trade to Circa 1300 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016). xi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Illustration 1.1 Illustration 1.2 Illustration 1.3 Illustration 1.4 Illustration 1.5 Illustration 1.6 Paisley, 1825. (Painted by John Clark—open access— http://www.gac.culture.gov.uk/work.aspx?obj=26040 [accessed 7/11/17]) Paisley Grammar School, 1753–1802. (From Robert Brown, The History of the Paisley Grammar School from Its Foundation in 1576; and of the Other Town’s Schools; with Some Notices of Subjects Relating to the History of the Town of Paisley (Paisley: A. Gardner, 1875), 132–3) University of Edinburgh, 1827. (Open access—https:// upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ ec/Edinburgh_University_1827.jpg/640px-Edinburgh_ University_1827.jpg [accessed 8/11/17]) Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, mid-eighteenth century. (“North Front of the Royal Infirmary at Edinburgh”, engraved by Paul Fourdrinier after Paul Sandby, Thomson-Walker Collection, Edinburgh University Library [T.W.1. Misc 4]—http://ourhistory.is.ed. ac.uk/index.php/George_Drummond_(1688-1766) [accessed 8/9/17]) Manchester Infirmary, 1784. (Source: Brockbank, Sketches, 96) Alexander Crichton (1763–1856). (By unknown—[1], CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index. php?curid=33184813 [accessed 16/11/17]) 2 7 8 9 10 22 xiii xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Illustration 1.7 Illustration 1.8 Illustration 1.9 Illustration 2.1 Illustration 2.2 Illustration 2.3 Illustration 2.4 Illustration 2.5 Illustration 2.6 Illustration 2.7 Illustration 2.8 Illustration 2.9 Countess Anna Alekseyevna Orlova-Chesmenskaya (1785–1848). (By Pyotr Fyodorovich Sokolov—public domain—https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index. php?curid=35189999 [accessed 8/11/17]) Photius Spassky (1792–1838). (From Russian portraits of the 18th and 19th centuries: Edition of Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich of Russia, printed in 1905–09, catalogue of a 1905 exhibition. Image in the public domain) The Kremlin. (Frontispiece, from Lyall, Character of the Russians [London: T. Cadell, 1823]) Alexander I (r. 1801–25). (From https://upload. wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/ Alexander_I_of_Russia_by_G.Dawe_%281826%2C_ Peterhof%29_crop.jpg [accessed 22/11/17]) James Holman, the “Blind Traveller” (1786–1857). (By English painter, George Chinnery [1774–1852] in 1830 in Guangzhou, China, for the Royal Society—in the public domain) William Jerdan (1782–1869). (Drawn in 1830 in pen and ink by Irish artist Daniel Maclise [1806–70], reproduced in William Bates, The Maclise Portrait Gallery of Illustrious Literary Characters [London: Chatto & Windus, 1898], 1) Francis Jeffrey (1773–1850). (By Robert Scott Moncrieff (1793–1869) a Scottish advocate and amateur illustrator—in the public domain) John Murray (1778–1843). (By unknown—National Portrait Gallery, Public Domain, https://commons. wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19904165 [accessed 22/11/17]) John Barrow (1764–1848). (Source: John Barrow, An Autobiographical Memoir of Sir John Barrow, BART, Late of the Admiralty (London: John Murray, 1847), frontispiece) William Gifford (1756–1826). (In the public domain) Alan Hyde Gardner (1770–1815). (In the public domain) George Canning (1770–1827). (By English portrait painter, Richard Evans (1784–1871)—in the public domain—https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_ Canning#/media/File:George_Canning_by_Richard_ Evans_-_detail.jpg [accessed 03/04/19]) 24 25 28 47 49 50 54 61 66 68 70 73 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Illustration 2.10 Robert William Hay (1786–1861). (By Frederick Christian Lewis Sr., after Joseph Slater stipple engraving, 1826 or after: © National Portrait Gallery, London) Illustration 2.11 Henry Bathurst (1762–1834). (“Statesmen” no. 159 in Vanity Fair [22 Nov. 1873]) Illustration 3.1 Radama I (c. 1791–1828). (By André Coppalle, 1825–26, in Régis Rajemisa-Raolison, Dictionnaire historique et géographique de Madagascar (Fianarantsoa: Librarie Ambozontany, 1966), 276) Illustration 3.2 James Hastie (1786–1826). (From Pascal Rakotomavo et al, Indray Andro Hono Nisy Nosy Anankiroa (S.l.: s.n., 199?), 18) Illustration 3.3 Robert Farquhar (1776–1830). (Reproduced with the kind permission of the Mauritius Turf Club) Illustration 3.4 Galbraith Lowry Cole (1772–1842). (Picture by William Dyce—in the public domain. Lowry Cole was the son of Irish peer William Willoughby Cole [1736–1803]) Illustration 3.5 Tamatave in the 1840s. (In the public domain) Illustration 3.6 Tamatave Fort, c. 1845. (From the Illustrated London News [1845] in SOAS/CWM) Illustration 3.7 Madagascar. Import and export duties, 1828. (Lyall to R.W. Hay, “Private”, Port Louis, Mauritius, 26 May 1828, CO 167/104, NAK) Illustration 3.8 Charles Colville (1770–1843). (In the public domain). (Source: commons.wikimedia.org/w/index. php?curid=27154282) Illustration 3.9 Ranavalona I (c. 1778–1861). (From the Illustrated Times 187 [30 Oct 1858]) Illustration 4.1 David (Dafydd) Jones (1796–1841). (From Annie Sharman, The Martyr’s Isle or Madagascar: The Country, the People, and the Missions (London: LMS, 1909), 40) Illustration 4.2 David Griffiths (1792–1863). (From Campbell, David Griffiths, frontispiece) Illustration 4.3 Joseph John Freeman (1794–1851). (Missionary portraits, SOAS/CWM) Illustration 5.1 Court Spies. (Source: Claude-Joseph Le Desire Charnay, “A Birds-Eye View of Madagascar” in H.W. Bates (ed.), Illustrated Travels (London: Cassell, Petter and Galpin, 1869), 87) Illustration 5.2 Ambohimanambola. (Source: Painting by John Aiton Lyall, NAM) xv 74 75 90 90 93 102 108 110 113 114 120 147 149 153 201 205 xvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Illustration 5.3 Illustration 5.4 Illustration 5.5 Illustration 6.1 Illustration 6.2 Illustration 7.1 Illustration 7.2 Rakelimalaza. (Source: John A. Patten and Edward Shillito, The Martyr Church and Its Book (London: British and Foreign Bible Society, 1935), 20) Ramahavaly. (sampy right; cover left). (Source: Patten and Shillito, Martyr Church, 20) Ambatomanga. (Source: Samuel Pasfield Oliver, Madagascar and the Malagasy (London: Day & Son, 1866), 43) Slave Barber and Palanquin Porters, Mauritius, 1818. (Source: by Pierre Chasselat (1753–1814), after the drawing by A. Taumay, in Louis de Freycinet, Voyage autour du monde, entrepris par ordre du Roi, sous le ministère et conformément aux instructions de S. Exc. M. Le Vicomte de Bouchage, Secrétaire d’État au Département de la marine, executé sur les corvettes de S.M. l’Oranie et la Physicienne, pendant les années 1817, 1818, 1819 et 1820… (Paris: Pillet Ainé, 1826) Mauritian Bullocker off Fort Dauphin, 1830. (In Arthur Frankland, Ten Weeks Leave of Absence: Cruise from Mauritius to Madagascar and East Coast of Africa, Plymouth and West Devon Record Office ref. 216) Belombre Estate. (Source: https://www.heritageresorts. mu/le-chateau-de-bel-ombre (accessed 10 Feb 2018) with permission from Heritage Bel Ombre) Botanic Gardens, Pamplemousse c. 1919. (Source: Edward Hart, “The Botanic Garden of Pamplemousses” Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information [Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew] 6/7 [1919], 283) 207 207 214 235 263 280 291 LIST OF MAPS Map 3.1 Map 3.2 Map 4.1 Map 5.1 Map 5.2 Map 7.1 The Western Indian Ocean. (Drawn by Carl Hughes, Indian Ocean World Centre (IOWC), McGill University) The Merina Empire c. 1825–95. (Drawn by Carl Hughes, IOWC) Antananarivo: British properties mid-1828. (Produced by Carl Hughes, IOWC) Lislet Geoffroy’s map of Madagascar (1819). (Source: Lislet Geoffroy, Memoir and Notice Explanatory of a Chart of Madagascar and the North-eastern Archipelago of Mauritius (London: John Murray, 1819), frontispiece) Antananarivo-Tamatave Route. (Source: Gwyn Campbell, “Forest Depletion in Imperial Madagascar, c.1790–61” in Sandra Evers, Gwyn Campbell, and Michael Lambek (eds.), Contest for Land in Madagascar. Environment, Ancestors and Development (Leiden: Brill, 2013), 67) Botanic Gardens, Pamplemousse 1829. (Source: CO 167/107, NAK) 92 98 157 200 220 287 xvii LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1 Table 3.1 Table 3.2 Table 3.3 Table 5.1 Table 5.2 Table 6.1 Table 6.2 Table 6.3 Table 7.1 Table 7.2 Manufacturing in Paisley, 1789 Mauritius government expenditure on the Madagascar Mission, 1813–26 (£) Madagascar: New tariffs, 24 April 1828 Lyall’s Madagascar Mission expenses, June–July 1828 Expenditure of the Merina Court’s Compensation to Lyall, May 1828 Contingent expenses, incurred on account of the Madagascar Mission, 1829 The equivalent Indian convicts in Madagascar, 1825 Mauritius: Government Blacks (November 1828) Lyall: Expenses on Mauritius, 1828 Expenses of Madagascar Mission, 1827–30 3 95 113 116 212 215 242 244 245 302 303 xix