MADAGASCAR.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume I, Issue 7, 10 November 1883, Page 2

MADAGASCAR.

(Communicated.) In the present position of affairs in Europe some account of the Island of Madagascar may be interesting. The Island is intersected from North to South by a range of mountains, some ten thousand f<-et in height. It contains from 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 inhabitants. The people are of two distinct races, Hova and Sakalava respectively. The capital Antananarivo, is centrally situated, being near the middle of the Island. It contains the palace of the Queen of Madagascar, and is a well built city, the houses being chiefly composed of red brick. The wide and beautiful river Thopa runs near the city, and is navigable for several hundred miles, spreading in broad and glittering sheets of silver and bounded by long fields of green rice and sugar cane. /Antananarivo is the capital of the Hovas, who constitute by far the more numerous and powerful race. The Hova army consists of some eighty thousand fighting men, of these some twenty four thousand are drilled in English fashion. Ten years back the Hova Government engaged an English S Tgeant from the Mauritius t» instruct several regiments in Engli-h drill, tne manual, the platoon, and the b iyonet exercise of our own is practised. An amusing description is given by an eyewitness of the morning drill of a battalion some twelve hundred strong. The Sergeant, it appears, possessed a remarkably stentorian

voice, and It la the ambition of the Hova officer to aduln to this Biandurd in th B respect, as in every other. The General, on this occasion, first taking a good breath, gave the word of command, so energetically as to reduce him, for a short time, to a condition of total collapse. Every officer on the ground repeated the order in the same manner, creating a deafening uproar. The writer remarks that at lunch, after the military performances, conversation was limited, the officers having previously shouted themselves hoarse.

The ttcops were dressed in white, and armed with Remingtons. They were scrupulously ckan and in good order. Provisions in Antananarivo* are remarkably cheap. Geese and turkeys are sold at from twopence to fourpence each. Figs are sold at one dollar or four shillings sterling The price of fat cattle Is sixteen shillings per head., .S’dr eightponce a traveller purchased more water melons, mangoes and pineapples than hi* suite of twenty men could cany. The chief sea-port on the East Coast Is lamaUve, late the scene of French operations. Here the trade of the Island finds its principal outktj numerous English, French, Tudlun merchants have residences here, engaged In trading with the Hovas, The East side of the Island is almost exclusively occupied by this race, who have strong disposition to encourage English and Tudian trade, in preference to that of France. The French are disliked by the Hovas, who dread nothing more than the proposed protectorate. Whatever French influence is established iu the island is on the West Coast among the Sakalava*, the weaker and les* civilised tribe. Even here French trade and interest is little encouraged, The Sakalav&s are untutored savages, pure and simple. The Hovas are already in an advanced state of civlization. Both are

physically fine races. The first Intention of the French was apparently to make interest

with the Sakalavas. to induce them to throw off their allegiance to the Hova Government and thus gradually attain territory through the weaker race.

The Sakalava ovfer |vVhlch France has raised ,her claim of protection, includes Several hundred miles of tropical pountfy. It comprises vast terraces of fertile ground rising to the mountains, numerous hills clad with dense forest, valleys with jungle undergrowth, and fields of tall reed—like grass. It is intersected by a mighty river leading te the oceay; a hundred miles away, interspersed with islands and navigable to river steamers. Crocodiles hi k amdng the reeds“and bush Jon the mud b iks w lich peep up here aid there above the wafers.

There .ia a largej|tract of country lying between that of the Hovas and that of the Sakalavas. It is a sort of no man’s land, where neither race dare to dwells permanently. It is known in Madagascar as “The lt contains the best feeding ground for cattle in the Island. I’h'ere Is excellent grass, and the whole is well watered. There are hundreds of miles of rolling ground} well watered, well wooded, well grassed. The Hovas graze immense herds of cattle there at certain seasons, though in peril from the SakalaVas, Numerous Missionaries UVA labouring in Madagascar, and Christian influences are rapidly spreading. At Antananarivo the churches are filled on Sunday with well dressed, attentive congregations. There are trained Native preachers and colleges for the instruction of youth. There is a large boarding school for Hovan girls, under the care of an English lady. The pupils make surprising progress. The descriptions reminds one of, our bent Native schools for the training of Maori girls in Now Zealand, and appear to be conducted iiiUeH on the sa»*ie principles. They loam reading, writing, sowing and housekeeping, in the evening-, while some knit or stitch others play or sing, sometimes English hymns and songs, sometimes their own Hova melodies. The Hova women occupy a degrading, social position, and their condition is anything but good. They possess many excellent Qualities, and a giant peculiar beatify of their own. They are inltatlve, gentle, and remarkably sensitive to ameli* M ing influences. In nothing b this shown more than in the marked difference between the girls trained at the school and the uneducated. The trained girls are modest, neat, graceful, and even ladylike. They are in great demand as wives among the better Hass of Hova men. The musical instrument upon which they l play is a sort of harp called a vallcha. It is J formed of a hollow bamboo cane, with the fibre out into threads and strung so as tb yield the scale, when touched with the finger. The notes are musical, soft and pleasant, Ou the West Coast Mojanga is the chief settlement of the Sakalavas. It contains about 12,000 inhabitants, among whom are numerous Tudlan traders, and there are English and American trading depots. Madagascar possesses no naval power, the centres of her commerce being inland, So little of seamanship is known that the Natives never venture out of sight of land, or sail after dark. They anchor close to the shore at sundown, and with daylight recommence th«ir coastal voyage. Passaudava Bay, which was the first portion of Madagascar claimed by the French, lies to the north, and is a splendid stretch of land-locked water, in which all the navies in the world might ride at ease, and without doubt, it would form a first-rate station for a naval power. The French press began by clamouring for a protectorate over the whole of the Northern portion of Madagascar, hence the events which followed, the injudicious procedure of the French Admiral and the shelling of Tamatave. Si.ice that occurrence the French have occupied Tamatave, but devices up to the middle of September state that the French are, in reality, in a state of siego in the city. Thtir own acti m was ruined. The Hovas hr.d cut ofl all supplies from the surrounding country, and were encamped around, making frequent night attacks upon their invaders, and continually receing reinforcements from the capital. Large numbers of French soldiers were fever stricken and incapacitated from duty. Out of 70 men 50 were sick, A lengthy proclamation hr.s been published by the Sakalava chiefs, deal ing with the French claims on their territory. They deny the statement of France that they made the no.’th-west sea coast over to French protection, declaring that such land belongs only to the Queen of Madagascar. Queen Kanavola, who, it may be remembered, paid a visit to England some years ago, to solicit the friendship of Queen Victoria, died on the 13th July last, and a successor has been appo’nted, who bears the simple name of K- z findrahetz, which, however, she is to change for that of Kanavola, which has long been bornce by Madagascar sovereigns. <