Gold in Madagascar.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 1, Issue 47, 8 July 1890, Page 3

Gold in Madagascar.

A correspondent writes from Madagascar'.—§ince my arrival in this country, after an absence of three years, I find “gold,” and scarcely anything but “gold,” the topic of the day. Jpdeedj Ihadnotbeen many day* at

Tamatave ere I saw practical evidence of the belief in this. I found the town overrun with poor emigrants, chiefly Mauritius and Bourbon, and every incoming steamer adding to the number. The last French mail arrived ere my departure for the capital, brought over 120 men, women, and children, most of whom were almost penniless. Such as a flotsam and jetsem of helpless human-

ity I have seldom seen. They are under the impression they have come to an Eldorado ; but it does not take long

after landing to find out their mistake. Fortunately for these adventurers, food is plentiful, and cheap, especially in the country, and they can live on very little. On my journey to the capital I passed a poor fellow on the tramp to the goldfields of Macratanarivo, on the west coast; he told me he had heard so often the cry of “ Gold, heaps of gold, being found, and only waiting for the getting,” in Madagascar, he had been tempted to come and try his luck. He had formerly been in the police force of Mauritius, and being out of employment he.was advised to prove what he had heard so much about. I should imagine him to be almost penniless, as he lived just as the natives do, and lodged amongst them in the villages he passed through. He was a fine, good-looking fellow,’ and I felt sorry for the hardships he was undergoing, and was glad to assist him with some of my spare provisions. But these are not the people required here as yet. What the country greatly needs is a number of experienced Australian and Transvaal diggers; with their strength and knowledge of the situation, to come -and make a good headway for others to follow. Concerning the location and distribu-

tion of the gold, there are numberless stories floating about, It m being' found in scores. of places in various parts of the country, and I was shown a fine specimen from near Tamatave, on the east .coast. Some enthusiasts are ready to believe : that the island will prove another: El Dorado,- People are already making large purchases. An Englishman who had just; arrived at

ie i capital from the country told me

that,on his journey, up he saw thousands of natives working gold in various parts on account of the Government. It is forced labour, and-the people have not only; to work on weekdays, but on Sundays too. Children are even taken from the schools for this work. I myself went out to the west of the capital, about fifteen miles, yesterday to a place where the Government have been: ..working gold—operations are suspended at present—to see where they had been working, and I collected a grain of gold after washing a little earth on a plate in a stream close by. There are signs everywhere of the riches to be gathered from the earth of this fine virgin country. The Madagascar Government is bound to open up the island. They are, of course, in much need of money, the French disturbance having impoverished them to a great extent. I had hot long been at the capital ere I noticed what had similarly struck me on landing at Tamatave—namely, : that the French influence is making itself very strongly felt in these towns, which after the earnest labours of our English and other Protestant missionaries for so many years, must be a disheartening spectacle to them. One very noticeable change is in the slave-market. Formerly not more than 20 or, at most, 30 slaves were exposed there for sale, and transactions took place in such a quiet way that they were not noticed; indeed the natives appeared ashaned to acknowledge complicity in slave-trading. But when I visited the market the other day, over 200 slaves of both sexes, men, women, and children, were on offer, and there was little or no reluctance on the part of the owners to quote prices.