THE LAST KABARY.
THE QUEEN’S LAKE, ANTANANARIVO.
CHAPTER XV
THE CONQUEST OF MADAGASCAR
‘The dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of violence.’—Psalm lxxiv. 20.
The following extracts from the Ten Years’ Review of the Madagascar Mission, 1891–1900, published by the London Missionary Society, will show the steps which led up to the conquest of the island by France.
‘A treaty concluded at Tàmatàve, on December 17, 1885, after the desultory Franco-Malagasy hostilities, which had continued at intervals for three years and a half, conceded certain rights and privileges to the government of the French Republic which no other foreign power enjoyed. Difficulties and disputes arose from time to time, however, on various points directly bearing on the treaty, and notably on the two following: the validity of the appendix which was added to the agreement, and the rights of the native government to issue exequaturs to the foreign consuls. As time wore on the tension between the two parties became more and more strained, until at last the French government, feeling the situation to be intolerable, determined to make one final and serious effort to bring the Malagasy government to submission by peaceful means, and, with this end in view, sent out in October, 1894, a plenipotentiary in the person of M. Le Myre de Vilers, who, a short time previously, had been resident-general of the island. But, as the queen and prime minister were unwilling to yield to his demands, his mission proved abortive, and he returned to France. The French government decided, therefore, to settle the matter once for all by force of arms.
‘An expeditionary force, under the command of General Duchesne, with General de Torcy as chief of the staff, and consisting of 658 officers and 14,773 men, with about 6,000 auxiliary conductors and baggage-bearers, 641 horses, 6,630 mules, 5,040 Lefebvre carts, and 46 pieces of artillery, was dispatched in the early part of 1895 to compel submission to the French demands. Besides this military force, a naval division of nine or ten vessels operated on the coast, and kept the inhabitants in continual alarm by the occasional firing of shells. A considerable proportion of the troops consisted of Algerians, Dahomeyans, and Senegalese.
‘The first detachment of soldiers, under General Metzinger, was landed at Mojangà, the chief port on the north-west coast, which was to form the base of operations. General Duchesne arrived there on May 6, and by the 18th, preliminary skirmishes having already taken place in the neighbourhood, everything was in readiness for an advance. The difficulties to be encountered proved greater than had been anticipated. Arrangements had been made for transporting the forces from Mojangà to Mèvatanàna (about two-fifths of the distance to the capital) by way of the river Bètsibòka. But this was found, for one reason or another, to be, to a large extent, impracticable. Attention was turned, therefore, to the task of widening the native path running alongside the river, so as to allow the transport of the baggage and ammunition by means of Lefebvre wagons. It was chiefly during these operations, carried on in a hot and fever-stricken territory, that the French lost so many lives from disease.
‘Having established himself firmly at Màngasoàvina, General Duchesne, knowing that the rainy season was approaching, determined to desist from the attempt to continue the new road, the construction of which had occupied so much time, and had cost so much labour and sacrifice of life, and decided to take forward a flying column to seize Antanànarìvo. He had learned from experience that, in spite of the vastly superior numbers of the Malagasy soldiers, little was to be feared from any opposition on their part—retreat from one position to another, after firing a few random shots, being mostly the order of the day. We might say much on the disorganized condition of the native army, the feeble resistance offered by it, and the general corruption prevailing at head quarters at the time. Certain it is that the Malagasy had but little idea of the military strength and skill of their opponents. The flying column consisted of 237 officers, 4,013 men, 1,515 conductors, with nearly 3,000 mules. The commissariat was provided with rations for twenty-two days. The Hovas were driven from point to point, and, after a forced march of sixteen days, the French troops found themselves encamped a little to the east of Antanànarìvo. Only those who were here at the time can adequately imagine the excitement of the people, which had been growing day by day, as it became increasingly evident that the French troops were not to be resisted in their onward progress; and now that they were at their very doors, their excitement was at blood-heat. The capital was crowded with soldiers, who were stationed in various parts of the town; but it was evident from their condition that little could be expected from them. We feared, and we had feared all along, that the government might lose its control of the people, and that the country might become a prey to riotous and murderous mobs; and it says a great deal for the authorities that they were able to keep well in hand the reins of power during the whole time when feeling ran so high. Even when the French were close at hand, and when the town was filled with thousands of people armed with guns, spears, swords, large knives, or cudgels, perfect order was preserved, and, so far as we remember, not the slightest sign was manifested, outwardly at least, of any hostile feeling towards the foreigners who had chosen to remain.
‘The night before the town was taken was as peaceful as usual. The thought of the coming noise of battle and the threatening horrors of the morrow doubtless increased the sense of calm that prevailed. By six o’clock in the morning of September 30 all was astir in the French camp, and the Hova soldiers were ranging themselves for defence on the various small hills about half a mile east of the capital, which run north and south parallel to the ridge on which the city is built. About eight or nine o’clock the French troops were seen descending the hills three or four miles to the east into the valley which separated them from the bulk of the Hova forces, where they could no longer be seen from the capital. Fighting had by this time commenced in earnest. Repeated volleys, directed against the Hovas on the hills, were heard from the valley below, and many stray bullets fell into the town. Although the Hova soldiers did, to some extent, redeem their character in this their final struggle, and though their artillery more especially was served at one or two points with considerable skill and bravery, still it was evident that the forces were neither properly led nor efficiently organized.