An important element in the lower town is the Hindu and Arab houses, which are employed both as residences for their owners and as safe storehouses for goods. They are built on the Indian pattern: they are of solid material, stone or brick, cemented with lime dug from the hill; they are of two or three stories; have flat roofs and terraces, and contain small rooms. There are about forty of these houses in the town: they have been built by Malagasy workmen, look rough and coarse: and are wholly wanting in the neatness and finish which are given to such houses in Calcutta or Bombay. The town has two mosques: one for the Arab merchants: and one for the Mahomedan traders from Bombay, whose customs doubtless differ in some points from one another. Rival muezzins, morning and evening, summon the faithful to their prayers.
The number of houses amounts to 1327: and the entire population reaches probably to ten thousand. The Hova element is very strong. The Indian adults are about fifty. There are a few Sákalávas in both towns: and the African slaves, universally called by the Malagasy “Mojambikas,” are very numerous. Their skin is very dark: and they have thick lips and curling hair. But they are not pure negroes. They belong to various tribes on the east coast of Africa, who all understand more or less the Swahili language.
The port of Mojangá has long been known to history. The entire districts of Ambóngo and Iboina belonged originally to the Sákalávas tribes. But the Arab traders from East Africa and the Persian Gulf found them out centuries ago: and it was from them that Marco Paolo heard about the island. Several generations back these Arab merchants made themselves strong as advisers of the Sakalava princes; and all last century they had the chief power in their hands. They held the fort on the hill; were masters of the trading settlement. And of course were deeply involved in the slave trade. The high-handed proceedings of the Portuguese fleets, and the later piracies of Captain Kyd and his companions had crippled their commerce, but had not destroyed it: and as the Indian trade, after the days of Admiral Watson and the destruction of Saverndrog once more grew secure, the strength of the Arab trade also was renewed. Mojangá was a strong place in 1824: the town was then a mile long; and it contained a considerable population of Arab blood, “whose fathers had been there from time immemorial.” Radáma had cast his eyes on the district and in 1824, he had his first expedition down to the coast. He was seconded with great energy and skill by his brother-in-law and cousin, Rámanétaka; and Mojangá and all its companions fell into his hands. The district rose in rebellion the following year: but it was again subdued, and Rámanétaka was appointed the first governor. The town is said to have been burnt, a thing quite probable; but it must have been rebuilt. It was far more seriously affected by the stoppage of the slave trade, on which Radáma insisted; according to his recent treaties with the English government. Since then, with varying fortunes, it has remained in Hova hands.
With the year 1874 the British India Steam Navigation Company have made an enterprising attempt to increase the trade of Mojangá, by linking it on to their steam lines to Zanzibar and Aden. Having obtained a ten years’ contract with the French government to carry the mails from Zanzibar, through the Comóro Islands to Nósibé, of their own accord they have extended the steamer’s course, without contract, from Nosibe to Mojangá: and during 1874 a visit has been paid to the port once a month. The effort is a most praiseworthy one. It deserves to succeed. Its success would prove a great benefit to the island. But what are its prospects?
Fully developed, the export and import trade of Mojangá should include two distinct elements: the local trade (among the garrison towns and the Sakalávas of the district): and the through trade with the Central Provinces and the Capital, Antanánarivo. In favour of this through trade, is the consideration that the gradients of the country are easy; and were villages planted in line, as they might easily be, at short distances through Noman’s land, the entire line of traffic could be made safe, as well as easy, and the direct connection with Europe would be complete. On the other side it has to be remembered that that direct trade is of moderate value; that the bearers are thoroughly used to the Tamatave road; and that they asked twenty-six shillings a man for the Mojangá trip, as against ten shillings a man for that to Tamatave. The chief element of the outward trade of the island is bullocks and hides; and as sailing ships carry these articles between Port Louis and Tamatave, they are available for bringing the direct imports at cheaper rates of freight than would prevail in the purely steam line from Mojangá.
What then are the prospects of the local trade? Hitherto it has been very poor for three reasons. The Sakalava population in the whole district is not numerous: the people are poor, ignorant and uncivilised: they have few wants: they get fish from the rivers; plantains from their gardens; beef from their flocks and herds: their houses cost them a little labour: a few hides will purchase their clothes: at present they produce little more than they can use: they sell a few hides, a little rice, a little bees’ wax. The Hova officers and garrisons in the district are poor: they live upon the public allowances: they are numerous: they produce very little: the idlers and hangers-on form a little army: what money have they with which to purchase goods? The largest portion of the public allowances consists of food of various kinds: only a certain surplus gathers in the hands of the chief officers: and they are the only traders. This brings up the third difficulty in the way of trade: a difficulty felt all over Madagascar. The number of masters, of various grades, doing nothing, living without pay, and living on what they can squeeze out of slaves and clients below them, is countless. Christian justice is softening down these things; but changes in the laws and life of the people are essential to any great improvement. And even with these changes we must give the people time to adapt themselves to their new circumstances: while vested interests die out and public opinion becomes settled and grows strong.
We spent a most pleasant Sabbath with our friends in Mojangá. In the morning we worshipped with the church in the garrison: in the afternoon, we attended the church in the lower town. We saw a good deal of the fine old governor and his family. And we were specially pleased with the young pastor, Rakótobáo; of whom Sir Bartle Frere spoke so kindly in his letters to the Foreign Office and in his address at Exeter Hall. From the sermons he preached to-day; from his views about church life and discipline; and from the spiritual influence he is exercising over the two congregations here, we judged him worthy of all the commendation he received and even of more. He has only been here eighteen months, and things have greatly improved.
We learned that the ordinary attendance in one of these churches is three hundred: in the other, two hundred and thirty. There are fifty-six members in the two: and all join together in celebrating the communion. They have among them six preachers and six deacons. There are sixty children in the school: of whom thirty can read well. Some thirty adults can read. Six or seven Sakalavas attend worship. In receiving members, they follow the rule prevailing at the Capital of two months’ probation; then the case comes before the whole church. In a similar way, if a member goes astray, he is visited and counsel given him; if unrepentant, he is dealt with by the whole church. In visiting the twelve churches in the district in 1871, the pastor formed schools in them all.
The Sakalavas as a people have not yet been reached. In some places as at Trabonjy, a number of them attend worship; but they need to be dealt with very cautiously to prevent their going off altogether. Their regard for Christianity is more a sign of their political relation to the Hovas than a token that the gospel has fairly taken hold of them. Work among the Sakalavas has yet to begin at the beginning.
We asked ourselves whether we should recommend the Board to place an English missionary in this district. Our judgment is that such an appointment is most desirable. We would not urge the Board to enter upon new ground, and commence an entirely new mission. But all the good in the Sihanaka Mission and in this Mojangá district has sprung from our old work; is based upon it; and in order to complete the old, these elements in it should without delay be heartily followed up. We should thus consolidate and strengthen the good already existing; we should gather new fruit from past efforts; and prepare the way for new movements and local extensions by the native churches themselves.