Thirty years in Madagascar

by Thomas T. Matthews

The province of Vònizòngo is one of the central provinces of Madagascar, situated about forty miles to the north-west of Antanànarìvo, the capital. It lies between two ranges of high hills, and is bounded on the north, south, and west by two large rivers, the Ikòpa and Bètsibòka, or to speak more precisely still, by two branches of one river, the Bètsibòka, or Kàtsèpo. Within these two branches of the Kàtsèpo lies Vònizòngo proper. It has no very extensive valleys (though in a sense about half of the province is one long, wide valley); but small fertile valleys abound, where large quantities of rice are grown. Like other parts of the island, the province formerly was split up into numerous subdivisions. The five most important places were Fihàonana, Fierènana, Ankàzobè, Isoàvina, and Miàntso.

Vònizòngo was never conquered, but the Andrìandàhy, or chiefs, submitted themselves to the rule of the Hova government on certain conditions. Originally the whole province was under a number of chiefs, or petty kinglets, very similar to the chiefs of the Scottish highlands in former times; and, of course, there was much intestine warfare. Every large village had its own chief or kinglet, who was lord and master of all it contained, either as slaves or vahòaka (clansmen). The people were almost at the absolute disposal of their chief, and hence generally followed blindly as he led to good or evil. In several cases I discovered that the chief had been chosen pastor of the church in his village, apparently for no other reason than that as chief of the village the people thought he ought to be also pastor and head of the church.

This arrangement, with all its drawbacks, was perhaps not the worst that could have been made, in the then ignorant and semi-heathen state of the people, and in the absence of proper men to undertake the duties of the pastorate. It must be remembered, and gratefully acknowledged, that to many of these pastor-chiefs the Church of Christ in Vònizòngo owed a great deal. Some of the most devoted of the martyrs came of their number, as Ràmitràha for one, and many of the most earnest and zealous of the pastors and preachers of our own time were also drawn from this class.

Vònizòngo was a province that had always been renowned for having an unusual number of petty chiefs. These generally claimed exemption from certain kinds of government service, such as digging, fetching wood from the forest, and assisting in building palaces for the sovereign. A number of these petty chiefs were chosen by Radàma I, to assist in cultivating some land at Foule Pointe, on the east coast, where he formed a colony; and on the service being declined by them, as incompatible with their dignity as chiefs, Radàma yielded the point; but he still availed himself of their services, by ordering that, as carrying a spade would be derogatory to their dignity, carrying a musket could not, and they must, therefore, honourably serve with the army in his wars. Hence there was a far larger number from Vònizòngo in the army than from any other province in the island.

The inhabitants of Vònizòngo were notorious in former times for their attachment to charms and idols. They have now for years been famous for their affection for the Gospel, their knowledge of it, and trust in it. In the year 1828, three of the natives of this province were executed for making òdy mahèry—powerful medicines or spells; in other words for being sorcerers. During the persecution, fourteen from Vònizòngo were put to death for their love to the Lord Jesus Christ.

From the time that the first missionaries arrived at Antanànarìvo, in 1820, a number of the people of Vònizòngo came into contact with them; and when they opened their first schools, they had several young men from the province as pupils, some of whom were for years among the most devoted pastors of the district. To certain of these, such as the late Razàka, the pastor of the mother-church at Fihàonana, we owed, under God, almost all that had been done in the province for the advancement of the Redeemer’s Kingdom. I was told that Mr. Johns, who to the day of his death had a deep interest in Vònizòngo, first visited Vònizòngo in 1832, when he gathered ‘the seekers after God’ into six small congregations, and afterwards began schools at Fihàonana, Fierènana, Ankàzobè, Miàramanjàka, Àndrambàzana, and Ìsoàvina.

The hut in which we lived for nearly two years in the village of Fihàonana, stood on the site of the hut in which the first small congregation used to meet thirtynine years before our arrival. The mother of the chief of Fihàonana was the first convert, and her eldest son, Ràmitràha, became the first preacher to the small church. A third son was second pastor of the church at Fihàonana whilst we were in Madagascar.

The people have always had the highest respect for the memories of these devoted missionaries who first carried the glad tidings of the Gospel to Madagascar. They often spoke most affectionately of them and their work. For the Rev. Mr. Johns and the Rev. Mr. Griffiths they entertained a more than ordinary regard. The year after the churches were founded in Vònizòngo, Radàma I died; but the churches seem to have made progress for some years. Even after the expulsion of the missionaries, when they were entirely at the mercy of Queen Rànavàlona I, they flourished and gained strength. When matters had assumed a really serious aspect at the capital, all was still quiet in Vònizòngo. This may be accounted for in part by the distance of Vònizòngo from the capital, in part also by the small numbers of government officials there, compared with the rest of the country.

After the mission was reopened in 1862, Vònizòngo was visited for the first time by the Rev. W. E. Cousins. He paid a second visit in May, 1864, after which visit he wrote: ‘This district formed a hiding-place for many of those who fled from the capital, and from it many of the most steadfast martyrs came. Nothing would so rejoice the Christians of Vònizòngo as the appointment of a missionary to reside among them, and take charge of the churches in the district.’

Of course the people in most of the large villages were very anxious that the missionary should settle in their particular village; but after the most careful consideration of all claims we came to the conclusion that Fihàonana, ‘The Home of the Martyrs,’ where was located the mother-church of the province around which clustered so many sacred associations, memories of the martyrs and of the persecutions of former times, was decidedly the most suitable place for the new mission station, and every year of our stay in the island proved the wisdom of this decision.