Journeying on to Manjákàndrían, and thence by the lake of Vinánynóny to Betáfo, we found objects of deepest interest at every step. Shapely valleys and lofty hills, covered with gneiss boulders, were before and around us. Below Anzázamadínika a little river runs through a narrow ravine, and the boulders have so rolled in and filled the ravine that for a quarter of a mile the river disappears under ground. Mounting the opposite bank we were confronted by a fine conical hill, Tsi-áfak-alíka, “that which a dog cannot climb.” West of Manjákàndrían is a lofty hill, Márovítsika, “many ants;” and beyond it another, in an exposed position, Bémásoándro, “having plenty of sun.” To the south of the village is the hill of Bé-vóha, “thoroughly open.” In this part of our journey we were constantly crossing small streams that take their rise in the roots of Ankárat; and it was a great pleasure, six months afterwards, when travelling through Ménabé, to meet them again as large rivers, and to see in the distance the great hills at whose foot we had encamped. The lake of Vinánynóny is formed by one of these streams, flowing strong and clear from under the lava; it is two miles square; and is drained to the west by the Sahomby river, which becomes a large stream and finally joins the Kitsamby.
Beyond Vinánynóny we came into the long, closed alleys of the Vava Vato, a vast collection of serrated ridges of pure felspar granite. We struck them on the north-east side and passed through their eastern valleys. Six months later we mounted their central ridges and stood on the loftiest peak of the whole, the great rock of Iávohaikia. I will speak of them more particularly at that point. From these alleys we came again on to the red clay; and descending rapidly, two thousand feet, into the deep basin of Betáfo, encamped in the grounds of the Norwegian Mission.
I will not dilate here upon the beauties of this noble basin, cut out of the clay deposits by the upheavings of earthquakes and the action of powerful streams; or describe its thousands of rice terraces cut in the hill-sides, from which twenty thousand people, year by year, gather their golden harvest. I will pass over our visit to the hot springs; the garden-walls of black lava in the lower villages; the fine cascade of the Loalambo; the royal tombs of the ancient line of Betáfo kings, and the hill-fortress on the south, from which they commanded the country. Nor will I pause to describe the old craters which we found so abundant; the great lava-field in their midst; and the lime-pits and deposits of Sirabé. All these we saw to greater advantage at a later time and learned to understand more fully. Many of the Norwegian brethren were absent also from their spheres of labour, through sickness or on duty; but we visited them again and heard more completely about their work. Only one did we see on our present journey, Mr. Rosaas; and from him and his good wife at Sirabé we received the heartiest welcome.
From Sirabé to Ambositra we kept the western road, down the valley of the Mánandóna and found throughout it objects of interest, of which (like most others above referred to) books contain no notice. West of the Mánandóna is a noble granite mass, the hills of Ibéty. The Mánandóna valley is a fine rice plain; and its river has but a narrow outlet through the granite range. When a heavy flood comes suddenly down from the long valleys of Ankárat, the valley is submerged; it “gets a bath,” as the name implies, until the waters can pass off through the ravine to the Mania. Beyond the point where the river goes west, the valley is continued southward between high and precipitous hills. Beyond Ambohimanjáka, again, where we stayed, the valley is covered with huge boulders of graphite granite; and to the south of Iláka and its broad rice basin, the ravines are numerous and deep. We never had in Madagascar a journey so difficult or distressing, as the travel of that long Saturday morning, when we were carried over the narrow paths, up and down the steep ravines which immediately open upon the Mania. But we forgot our troubles and our hunger, when we reached the open valley of the Mania, and saw the waters tumbling in creamy foam over the huge boulders with which for three hundred yards the stream is barred. These boulders form a natural bridge; and we crossed the river, jumping short distances from one to another, while the river ran boiling and foaming between and underneath them. All around us were lofty cones, mountain masses, rugged precipices. The sight was truly grand, and we lingered over it long.
The men had eaten nothing all day; but we found some quiet villages higher up the river and the rain compelled us to remain. We had narrow quarters in a real Betsileo house, surrounded by the live stock of the proprietor. The family goose was “sitting;” the fowls were active and hungry; the mice ran busily about us; the ducks quacked at intervals all night; and the cocks crowed early in the morning. I slept soundly through it all, as did Mr. Cameron in his little tent outside. Mr. Pillans however was not so happy. We left early the next day; and after a rapid run of two hours down a long slope, we arrived in good time for service at the town of Ambositra. Here we found our colleague Mr. Cousins, who had come from the Capital by the direct road, and had brought us English letters; and here we spent two delightful days.
We had now reached the Betsileo Province. Ambositra is the chief town of its northern division, and is 4320 feet above the sea. It stands on a low hill, in the centre of a wide, well-watered basin: it contains over two hundred houses; and numerous villages, and small clumps of houses termed “válas,” are scattered over the basin, among the fertile fields. The basin is bounded by lofty hills on the east and west; other valleys are found behind these hills, though the population which they contain is thinner. On the east, about fifteen miles away, is the town of Mády, on the Mády river; it also has several villages in its neighbourhood. To an English eye, and to the eye of a missionary who knows anything of India or China, the country appears thinly peopled. Some of the first missionaries who came and looked at this district, doubted whether it was of sufficient importance to constitute it a principal station of the mission. My colleague and I had little hesitation on the subject at our first visit. Upon our return, after traversing the entire province, we felt no doubt whatever. On the contrary, in relation to the country generally we deem Ambositra a place of great importance. Within the district are some five thousand “hetra” or holdings, representing as many families, and about thirty thousand people. The town contains a thousand people; and twenty thousand lie within a half-day’s journey from it. Eight congregations are connected with the central church, and five others with the church at Mády. Ambositra lies on the high road from the Capital: its broad, rich valley, full of people, is a refreshing resting-place for those who have traversed the granite moors and valleys, north and west; the forest and its rough ridges are beyond Mády to the east, with a road into the Tánála district; and on the south, scarcely a village is seen for a whole day, among the rocky lines of hill which cross the country.
We were glad to see congregations of more than three hundred people in the chapel, during both services on the Sunday of our arrival; although a large number of the residents were at Fianáran with the Queen. We were heartily thanked for our visit. And a formal deputation of the chief members and elders of the church, on the following day, warmly pressed a request on us that we should secure for them the appointment of an English missionary. Happily we were all of one mind on the subject. At a later stage of our visit, Mr. Brockway volunteered to remove to the station; and Mrs. Brockway and he have long since settled at Ambositra, with excellent prospects of usefulness.
Having spent a quiet Monday in surveying the basin of Ambositra and given our men a holiday, we proceeded south the following day to the chief town of the second division of the province, the town of Zoma-Nándihízana. We passed on the road several isolated valleys, empty of inhabitants; and rested at midday under the noble rocks of a ridge 5680 feet high, which crossed the country, called Angávo or “the heights.” We next entered a strip of the “primeval forest,” which here projects into the open country; and then suddenly descended twelve hundred feet, down the valley, to our resting-place. The whole Betsileo country is celebrated for its rice terraces. They are cut on the hill-side wherever a spring pours its water from the rock. But amongst all the results of industry and ingenuity which we saw in the province, we admired none so much as the hundreds of green terraces that were cut on the face of this amphitheatre in the hills above Nandihizana. Several streams rise in the neighbouring hills and forest; and they are made to do ample service before they escape into the rocky ravine at the bottom of the basin, and find their way into the Sákaláva plains.
The next part of our journey lay along the crest of one of the clay ridges; having deep valleys on the east and west, with parallel ridges and valleys, three or four in number, on each side. Far away on the east were three towering hills in the forest, overhanging the great wall above the valley of the Tanála. From, this lofty ridge, 4900 feet above the sea, we had a fine view of the country to a great distance on each side. It was very regular in its lines of hills; and the valleys between were green and fair: but the wild south-easter blew hard and cold, and we did not wonder that when the forest is once cut down, it is almost impossible to replace it. At noon we rested at a small village a mile from Ikiangára, near which are several remarkable tombs; and an ancient fortress on an isolated hill. The fort was defended by six or seven fosses, cut like rings deep into the slope of the hill; and must have been very difficult of approach. These fosses abound in all parts of the country. Their sides are perpendicular: they are from ten to twenty feet broad, and about sixteen feet deep. They are to be crossed generally at only one point, where the clay has been left solid; and here will be found the city gate. Old Ambositra, now deserted, to the south of the present town, is a good specimen of a fortified town. Except for the guarding of the cattle, these deep ditches are in these peaceful days a great inconvenience to every one. They are often planted with plantain and other tropical trees, which benefit by their warm shelter. After a short day’s run we reached the town of Ambóhinamboárina.
This town has a larger population than Nándihízana: but it is by no means a pleasant place. Dirty and full of pigs it stands on the slope of a hill, under a high ridge; it has deep fosses on the land side, and on other three sides it is enclosed by the Fanindróna river, recently strengthened by the waters of the Isáhatóny. The rice valleys are numerous in the neighbourhood: and there are some thirty small villages scattered about it. A cleaner and more open place of residence, with useful labours, would be found in the neighbouring valley of Ikála. This basin is two miles square, level and full of villages, of which the largest, Maharivo, has a chapel. On the west side of the basin are two enormous promontories of gneiss rock, jutting from a mountain mass much higher than themselves, while great boulders lie at their feet.