MADAGASCAR.

West Coast Times, Issue 287, 24 August 1866, Page 3

MADAGASCAR.

(i-r6m fritE poiti ; tattls OAz'istlrflj

.tu^e 27.) ,

•;-( , - j Tamatave, June 16. The new, English' treaty wilt now soon come into force; and is much wanted, a§ the following little incident, which happened, this morning, appears to show. Wishing to send a few geese to a friend In Mauritius, I seiit them to the laiiclihg»Jjiftce ih.a cfage, with a bag ( of gadflyl neb for iheir sustenance (Wing their |iasssge to. Mauritius Aftfer the usual HeJay catisea by the ixOn-jittendarice \mtil a late hour in the morning of the Customs officials, the geese were passed through upon my paying a custom duty of 45c., and everything seemed propitious, when a soldier connected with the Cuktom-house made the astounding discovery that the sack contained seed, bi* paddy-rice ; and I /fras ordered to V break up", the rice in a mortar, to prevent it frdm'gerritiuating) in Ma'urii tius, in accordance with the ancient Malagash policy, which forbids the exportation of seeds or females. After some more delay, and a fee to a laborer to pound the rice and destroy its germinating qualities, the sack of rice was passed, when it was proposed to examine the geese to determiiie their seS, and detain any females in the Customhouse, which motion, however, I set iiside; by declaring that I should report such an absiirdity to the superior officers of the Custom-house. The whole affair seemed so goose-like and ridicuWs that, in pouptihg, the (nine) geese hi the cage, t involuntarily included, In the count the Custom-house soldier whose zeal had occasioned the delay, thereby making a total of ten.' ■■ ,t have just returned from the battery after being present at the receptibii given to the British Consul, who in proposing the Governor's health made a short speech, to the effect that the treaty made for the benefit of the English and Malagash had been approved •of by the Queen of England, and ratifications would be exchanged in a short time. The Consul complimented the Governor upon the improvements and order of Tamataye, and congratulated him upon the fact that unruly tribes were giving in their adhesion to thje Qtieen, and afterwards he expressed &,fyope thai the Malagash would, be eiy Ebled to. form a satisfactory , JYench treaty. Numbers of natives and British subjects were in attendance, and a consular salute was jfired .from the battery t 'the following i 3 the speech in.question: — " Governor and Officers of Tamatave, — My return to and presence among you this day, is proof of the continuance of the friendship which happily exists between Queen Victoria aid the Queen of MadagSseixr. ' t am ,bapjpy -to .inform you that the treaty that t concluded" last year between Her Majesty Queen Victoria and the Queen Rasoherina has been approved and ratified, and that I fiin the bearer of the ratification, which JviU shortly be f orwarded to your Qiieen by a Jxustworthy .agent. I. feel sure &at- X^ueen - Rasoherina, the Prime Minister, aiid ,HpVa Groverhtaent; will faithfully fulfil the engagements' that £hey have , contracted. On my side I shall require and exact, from British Subjects a due performance of their part bi the agreement, I am glad to hear that Queen Rasoherina, the Prime Minister, and officers of Tananarivo are well, and that the Queen's power and authority are becoming daily consolidated by . the submission of different tribes, and that fier Majesty is really becoming Queen of Madagascar. I beg to compliment you on the improvements which have taken place, and are taking btace, at Tamatave;, -due to your good administration and the execution of four orders by your officers. I beg to prbpbse the health of Governor Rahorolahy and his family." . It is understood here that the English missionary Ellis, who left Madagascar for England last year, is preparing a valuable and copious work upon Madagascar. Mr Ellis remained at the capital for several years at the time of most momentous .political and social hhkn^es ainoftg the Malagash, and at the time of the death of King Radamo and of other important events. He was completely in the confidence of the chiefs and headsmen, and has procured gome curious old manuscripts and maps written and arranged by .Hovas, purporting to throw some light upon the ancient history of Madagascar and its reported ancient inhabitants, the " Vazhnba," who are said to be now extinct. In reading a paper recently before the Royal Geographical Society of London, Mr Ellis stated that Ankova, the province- of the Hovas, was the most important of the twenty-two provinces into which the island is divided, and is 150 miles in length by nearly 100 in breadth. Mount Ankanatra, in the South West of Ankova, is one of the highest mountains in the island, being about 13,000 feet above the level of the sea. In all probability it has not yet been ascended by any human being, certainly not by any European (a fine chance for the Alpine Club). Ankova is almost d< stitute of trees, but is bordered on three sides by forests. It is a singular fact that while the do- ' mestic ox is the humped Indian species the vast herds of wild cattle are all of the straight-backed kind. The sacred cities of Ankova are twelve in number. They derive their sanctity from having been the birth-places, abodes, or burial places, of the monarchs. Europeans are forbidden to enter the sacred cities. Many of them are places of large size, but have not yet been laid down upon the maps of Madagascar. The belief in the influence of the spirits of the ancestors of the monarchs is one of the chief features of the Malagash religion ; it enters into all the most important ceremonies and

influences, the actions, and policies of Rozatti.

Tamatave is at present as dull and Wow, a" place ns it is possible for a eivilis'ed beirig ib live.'iri, dnq. tfye rioricohesive partiples — Malaga'sh, .French, CreoU, English, and ; Lascar — inf;o which society is divided, iiey'dr amalgamate the one with the other. There is no club, hotel, restaurant, theatre, oi* place of public amusement, with the exception d/driebilliard-i'oom, where the dbove-.nieiitioiie'd nbri^cdliesitd particles sometimes meet find amuse themselves with billiards ot impromptu boxing,- as the case may Be. As almost e^-ery^ member of the community is engaged more or less in commercial pursuits, there is considerable , jealousy and rivalry in business matters, and everyonfe isolates himself In his otvn house or hut like Diogenes in his tub, or like a spidfer in its web. Social gatherings, such jis dinn#s, &c., are rare, and balls tind' dances; eispept among the Malagash, are unheard 6f. At seven or eight p.m., houses are closed aiid people (foreigners) go to bed. The air of the place is moist, damp, clammy, and unwholesome, and the foreigners look wan, sickly, wasted and discontented. No one seems to enjoy life. An unnatural soieirin stillness broods over everything ; there is no exubei'aiice, and no energy ; both mind and body feel oppressed. There is no daughter from groups of (merry !) children, whp are thin and ailing, and seem to feel tiie ever present and all pervading fever miasma. The water obtained from wells suuk in iJie dirty, sand is, of bad quality and filled with impurities. The damp is so great that salt and sugar become almost liquids, and matches do not strike easily. Even pigs look solemn, and dogs, cats', cluckS;; fowls, and geese, are thin and are often visited by disease. The most wretchedly thin beef is sold in the dirty bazaar or mark it, suggesting thoughts of bullocks that have died of disease 1 . Foreigners never seem to become acclimatised, and those who h'avp baeii here longest generally look worst. Cooks a?e bad ard dirty, it being almost impossible to get a" wellcooked meal ; the supply of milk for coffee or tea is uncertain, and the sole surviving baker in the place has no flour, so that at present we have no bread, and all this on the shores of a magnificent island only three days' sail from Slauritius, the constant intercourse that we have with which place being in my opinion the only thing that prevents us from being"; absorbed into the barbarism by which we are surrounded. How long are the riches of Madagascar, its mines of coal and gold, and its splendid timber and soil, to be shut cut from the world ?

„ With reference to the financial statement of the late Colonial Treasurer the " Lyttelton Times" of the 18th instant' says :— " The severe check which the financial measures of the present Government necessarily give to the prosperity of Canterbury, must not be allowed io blind us to some excellent points kbout them. The financial statement of Mr Jollip is about as clear and succinct as it could possibly be.' Among other tilings', it relieves our anxieties about the loan of one hiindrdd thousand pounds to Auckland. The money heia io be refunded somehow or other before the end of this presbnt year. The charge for the colonial forces is not excessive. It stands on the estimates for eighty-two thousand five hundred pounds. The alarming expenditure which absorbs our provincial three-eighths of Customs Revenue is mainly caused by the outstanding obligations to the military settlers in the Waikata. In addition to the sum of four hundred and eleven thon- 1 sand pounds already paid on behalf of that anomalous arid absiird scheme of the Whit-aker-Eox administration, upwards of two hundred thousand pounds remain to be paid. Heiice all our {axes; Waika'to is the monetary Maelstrom which enguipha our revenues: This plain statement of the case seems fo point out a very satisfactory remedy for our grievances. Let Mi 1 Yogelnow bring on his motion to guarantee to the provinces their wonted three-eighths of the Customs rerenues; and let the cost of the standing army of the North be apportioned among the Northern provinces. This will do no more than take from, them what they are destined to lose under the proposed- Governmental -scheme — their three-eighths of the Customs Eevenue. On the other hand, the balance of L 179.000, remaining unappropriated from the ; Three Million Loan, may well be allowed to go to the militarj settlers of the Waikato. Mr Jollio has, for some reason or other best known to himself, kept this little balance of tho loan out of view in summing up his income for the year. There can be no doubt he would find uses for it, without any troublesome appropriation being prescribed by the House of Representatives!. But it is very certain that his attention will be drawn to it, and the liberty further taken of deciding how it is to be expended. We have already stated our view of the subject ; and, looking at it from a Middle Island point of view,, we think our suggestion a very liberal as well as a very reasonable one."

In Ins report upon Nelson's Creek the " Grey River Argus" correspondent writes : — "In my last communication I informe'l you that the No. 1, or principal party now working the main creek, had, after much perseverence, been compelled to register tlieiv claim, on account of the frequent floods and consequent damage to their works. Tlieiv registration has now expired, they have again collected together, and resolved to commence working this important claim. Most of the shareholders have had a month's wandering about, principally up the Little Grey. They have done nothing, and consequently have come to the above resolve. They have the good wishes of all the residents here j the proving of this ground is of much importance to tho miners and tradesmen in the neighborhood, as it will open up ground that will last for a long time, of course providing that it tuvai Qttt payable. Theii' powerful water

wheel ie again in order,' and wo may hope that the next week will prove suflicion* time to determine if this extensive creek and flat are to ho worked or not. Tho largo water fafio th'rtt I hare repeatedly spoken of as Farrell and p'arty's; is drawing towards completion. Tlie shareholder's confidently hope and eXpad (hat another two weeds' wjll free 1 the Arator upon the terrace. has been a formidable undertaking, having takon tills largo party of eight men over five months to construct. They will, however, have a long job before them, which is believed to be payftbie by thoso men able to judge of tho value of the groUlid \ in fact, portions of it havo been mrido to pay -frith carrying" the dirt some d,ißtancb, and washing it by slow processes, so that it should pay handsomely with a t good ground sluice-head of water, sifch' a# wilt .be at the command of this party. Austrian George and party's race is paying much better than it did at first. It is well ascertained that this party have a large amount of good ground that will take them somo time to work. Several other smaller races that havo been brought in here and in the neighborhood are working, and supposed td be yielding good return's. There is, however; biit little other" available water thtfn can be brought into the3o ferrpces without too much labor,} but there is no doubt that all the ground irdt be ultimately worked. The suggestion I made in my last with regard to deep sinking has been much discussed by the miners here and in other g'ulliea, and I hope will lead to some practical results, as all agree with me that the bottom from which the gold iirtß been hitherto procured is nothing but a false one. Busi* ness is very dull both here aud in German Gnlly, three mile? from here ; but I hear that the deep ground in the latter is turning out well. Altogether the mining prospects of the district are decidedly not tei-y encouraging at preßcntj although there are hopes that in the summer some of the neighboring creeks and gullies may be further tried, and found to be' payable."