Antananarivo, the capital, at which we at length arrived, after a journey of three hundred miles, is a very curious place.  It is built on an oval hill, nearly two miles in length, rising four or five hundred feet above the surrounding country, and is seven thousand feet higher than the level of the sea.  On the highest part of the hill, and forming a conspicuous object, is the palace of the queen.  It is sixty feet high, with a lofty and steep roof, with attic windows, and is surrounded by balconies, one above, the other.  The top is surmounted by a huge golden eagle, with outspread wings, which looks as if able to have a tough fight with the one which overshadowed the articles from the United States at, the Great Exhibition.