THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE OF MADAGASCAR.
The East Coast of the Island—The West Coast—Travels of M. Grandidier—Maps of Madagascar—Mr. Cameron’s Survey—Additions made by us—Size of Madagascar—The Mountain-mass along its centre—Terraces on all sides—The Malagasy people a single race—Their Three Tribes and their Sub-divisions—The Malagasy not an African race—Their Malay origin—Evidence supplied by their Language—New Words from Arabic, French and English—Reference to Madagascar by Marco Paolo—Early Navigation of the Eastern Seas very extensive—Phœnician, Hindu, Chinese and Malay—Madagascar colonised by Malays—Three independent Movements—Traditions of the Hovas—Their Arrival in Imerina—Conquest of the Vazimba—Increase in Imerina—Their recent History—Ralambo and his Descendants—Impóin and his consolidation of the Kingdom—Radáma—State of the Country, of Social Life and of the Sakalava Tribes in his day—The people still a federation of tribes—Their Institutions—Their steady growth in Civilisation, as well as in Religious Character.
CHAPTER VI.
THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE OF MADAGASCAR.
Comparatively little has hitherto been written on the geography of Madagascar. French travellers and English officers, as well as missionaries, have landed on the east coast and have journeyed up to the Capital: and the character of the country along their route has been fully and frequently described. The eastern coast of the island has hitherto been better known to us than any other portion. The splendid Bay of Diego Suarez; the wooded promontory on the east of Antongil Bay; the colony of Benyowsky and the Isle of Ste. Marie; Foule Point and Tamatave; the lake of Nósibé and the lagoons which follow it; Andevoranto and Máhanóro and Mánanzára; the limestone cliffs of Anósy, the rich vale of Ambólo, and the settlement of Port Dauphin; these are the points referred to by successive writers from Flacourt downwards: and all that needs to be said about them will be found carefully compiled in Ellis’s History of Madagascar, written nearly forty years ago.
Of the western part of Madagascar we know very little; though from the breadth and richness of its provinces we should like to know a great deal. Mr. Boothby in the time of Charles I. and Drury, in the days of Queen Anne, give us information respecting St. Augustine’s Bay. Captain Owen and the officers of the English navy, who in 1824 laid down so much of the coast line, have dwelt upon the great harbours of the north-west. To M. Guillain we are indebted for information respecting the same quarter, the island of Nosibé, the Hova settlements near Pasandava Bay, the town and port of Mojangá, and the Sákaláva districts as far as Morondáva; and we owe much to Mr. Lyons Macleod, formerly Consul at Mozambique, and still more to Mr. Ellis’s History, for giving us a summary of this information. During his visits to the island, Mr. Ellis scarcely touched the question of its geography; he took no observations and prepared no maps: though to the botany of the island and to the facts connected with the moral condition of the people he added greatly.
The traveller who has seen most of Madagascar previous to our visit is M. Grandidier. This gentleman spent several years in the island between 1865 and 1870; and devoted much time and strength to the examination of several of its districts. He lived for a considerable time on the north-east and the west coasts: he travelled up from Mojangá to the Capital; crossed the island through the Betsileo province; and visited the almost unknown district of the Sihánaka tribe. His observations have not yet been given to the world; he has read to the Geographical Society of Paris, and has published, a sketch of his travels; and has published a general map of the island on a moderate scale, far more correct than anything which has preceded it. But the geographical world yet waits for the complete story, which he promises them in ten or twelve volumes. He was well known to our missionaries and respected by them.
All recent maps of Madagascar (except Grandidier’s) are traceable to two sources. The coast line was laid down by Capt. Owen and his companions in 1824. The detail of the interior is derived from the map of Colonel Lloyd, published in 1849 by Mr. Arrowsmith: and Colonel Lloyd’s memoir on the geography of the island will be found in vol. xx. of the Royal Geographical Society’s Journal. In regard to this map Colonel Lloyd says: “The coast line may be depended on as tolerably exact, having been reduced from the various nautical surveys. For the detail of the interior I cannot claim the slightest pretensions to correctness. It is only an attempt to form approximately some foundation for future inquiries, and more correct and extensive research.” Notwithstanding this frank disclaimer, editors and writers have gone on copying this map down to the present time.
In this important matter I have felt personally interested for several years. Anxious at one time to provide for the Directors a good map of the interior, we found that exact details were wanting. We knew the names of prominent mountains, rivers and stations, but where to place them no one could say. The Directors then applied to our missionaries in the island: and several excellent journals and sketch maps were communicated in reply. The principal contribution to our effort was this. Mr. Cameron the senior member of the mission, after carefully fixing the position of Antanánarivo, commenced a triangulation of the plain of Imerina: and step by step prepared a most valuable map of those portions of the province contiguous to the capital: the defect of the map was, that though it indicated the chief positions, it did not exhibit the form and height of the ground.
Aware that part of our duty would require us to visit the whole of the central portions of the island, my colleague and I prepared to take advantage of our opportunities and add something at least to the knowledge of these provinces possessed by the geographical world. We carried out our purpose under the happiest auspices. We were everywhere received as friends. We invariably informed the Prime Minister of our movements and proceedings; we were at liberty to go where we liked, and we experienced nothing but hospitality and kindness. By special permission we photographed the Queen’s Palace and the Royal tombs; we planted our theodolite, compass and tripods on the tops of hills and in the open markets; and we let every one know that we were anxious to make a correct map of the country for their use as well as ours.