Thirty years in Madagascar

by Thomas T. Matthews

These were some of the enormities brought against M. Laroche, and so he was ultimately recalled. He had set his heart on freeing the slaves. He was allowed to emancipate them, and did so on the last day of his governor-generalship.

When the Malagasy found that they had been betrayed they were greatly enraged, and said: ‘Well, the French may rule in Antanànarìvo, but they shall not rule here,’ and thousands rose against the new régime. This was a grave mistake, after things had gone so far; for what could they do with their spears, knives, and old flint-locks against French guns and rifles? If they had possessed arms, ammunition, and leaders, or any means of getting them, they might easily have wiped out the few French who were then in the island. Though it will scarcely be believed, yet there were some French credulous enough to think and say that the London Missionary Society supplied the natives with arms!

When the rising took place the French had not troops enough to cope with the situation, and reinforcements had to be sent for from Europe. In a very short time most parts of the central provinces were in a state of open rebellion, the backbone of the rising being the old heathen party, and the more disorderly masses of the population. For a time they were spoken of as fàhavàlo (enemies), but afterwards they were called mènalàmba (red plaids), because they coloured their cotton plaids with the red soil of the country, in order that they might not easily be recognized at a distance.

The rising really began within a few weeks after the French occupation of the capital, and had its origin in the rising of the Zànakàntitra tribe at Àmboànana in West Imèrina, after the murder of the Hova soldiers and officers, and the massacre of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson and child. The authorities had due warning of what was brewing, and if prompt measures had been taken, as they ought to have been, in the interests of all parties, the rising might have been put down very easily at the cost of a few lives; and thousands of lives—French and Malagasy—would thus have been saved. As the warnings came from the then hated British missionaries, who better knew the people and their feelings, they were only sneered at, and no attention paid to them. The French also had warning of the state of things in the south of Imèrina, but nothing was done, with the result that three French gentlemen, who went south then, were murdered on the road. They had slept at the London Missionary Society’s mission house at Tsìafàhy the previous night, had been warned of their danger, and of the great risk they were running, but they only laughed. Next day they were murdered.

Those who rose were led by fanatical sorcerers and such like, and their object was to drive, not only the French, but all white men of whatsoever nationality out of the country, and restore the old political and religious régime. Their numbers swelled rapidly, especially as they forced into their service all the able-bodied men they came across. Growing in audacity as they grew in numbers, they committed depredations and atrocities of all kinds, destroying all the churches and chapels they came across, burning the houses, threatening, and even taking the lives of some of those connected with the missionaries, while the rest were carried off into captivity. Soldiers were sent out to disperse them, and large numbers of Malagasy were killed as they rushed up boldly, time after time, to within a few yards of the French guns, trusting in the gun-charms, which they wore in profusion, and in the power of a certain idol named Ravòlòlona. This undisciplined rabble soon learned that they were no match for the troops sent out against them, and in a comparatively short time they tendered their submission. But soon after the insurrection was quelled in the west it broke out in other places. On some parts of the east coast the people rose, apparently not so much against the Europeans as against the Hovas, many of whom had for so long misruled and oppressed them.

‘In the eastern part of Imèrina, and even beyond its outskirts, rebellion was also rife, and numerous bands of insurgents prowled about the country committing various acts of brigandage and violence. They were concentrated chiefly on the road leading from Tàmatàve to the capital. Many of the convoys of men carrying goods from the coast were waylaid and dispossessed of their loads, the bearers being shot or speared if they offered any resistance.

‘Though the first insurgents in the west had given in their submission, others arose to take their place, and among various acts of violence committed by these desperate men must be reckoned, as the saddest of all, the assassination of our friends Messrs. Escande and Minault, Protestant missionaries of the Paris Missionary Society, who happened to be travelling through that part of the country at the time. In many distant places, too, anarchy reigned supreme, and for months the peaceable members of the community were at the mercy of prowling bands of lawless men, who, in the attempt to gain their ends, scrupled at no deed of violence. It became impossible for Europeans, and even for natives, to travel anywhere in the island without danger, a state of things the very reverse of that which had existed for so many years; for, except in certain remote places, the last thought that entered the mind of the traveller was that of danger. As, for a time, the French and native troops were insufficient to quell the revolt, the excited mobs drew nearer and nearer the capital, and for some weeks large conflagrations—schools, churches, or even whole villages set on fire by the rebels—were to be seen from the capital almost nightly. In one instance, a village was burnt within a mile of the capital, and no one would have been surprised if, at any time, an attempt had been made to fire the capital itself.

‘By this time many parts of the country, and more especially Imèrina, were in a state of seething anarchy, such as had never before been witnessed in the island, and vigorous and severe measures were necessary to repress it. To the work of pacification General Gallieni set himself. The greater part of the country was placed under martial law and divided up into military districts, outposts of soldiers were stationed in the more disaffected territories, many of the native government officials, who were supposed to be implicated, were banished or shot, and the rebels were attacked at numerous points, the undisciplined natives being worsted at every encounter, large numbers of them perishing. Accusations were also rife, and, as is always the case at such times, many innocent persons along with the guilty doubtless suffered death. But this energetic action soon began to tell; the insurgents were gradually dispersed, or from stress of other circumstances returned to their homes, and the leaders of the movement gave in their submission one after another, until finally (towards the close of 1897) the whole country, except the remote west and south, had once again settled down into peace.

‘The rebellion had brought nothing but disaster to all parties, and more especially to the natives. Their rice-fields had been neglected, and famine not only stared them in the face, but also, to some extent, overtook them. Their cattle had been raided, their rice-stores rifled, their houses looted, many of their villages burnt down, large tracts of territory practically devastated, and, most serious of all, great numbers of the people had suffered death, either at the hands of the rebels, from destitution, or from other causes. The rebellion had doubtless also something to do with the conversion of the island from a protectorate into an actual colony. The French too had suffered, for to them the repression of the insurrection meant the loss of life and treasure. The merchants, moreover, were losers, for during a considerable period trade was practically at a standstill. The various missions were also subjected to considerable losses. A large amount of property, including missionary residences, a sanatorium, a leper establishment, &c., were destroyed. Of the churches which, however, belonged to the natives associated with the various missions, including the Roman Catholic, the Anglican, the Friends’, the Lutheran, and our own, some 750 in number were burnt down or otherwise destroyed, about 500 of which were under the care of the London Missionary Society. Many of the pastors, preachers, evangelists, teachers, and prominent leaders in religious work, being connected more or less with foreigners, were made the chief objects of persecution by the rebels, and large numbers of them had to resort to flight in order to save their lives, leaving their property behind to be looted. Some of those that were caught, bravely refusing to forswear Christ and join in the revolt, were cruelly murdered.

‘The authority of the Hova sovereigns, though far-reaching, had never been more than nominal over certain parts of the island, and in some was even completely nil. In the highland regions of the interior, and all along the eastern slopes of the island, with the sole exception of a few districts inhabited by small tribes of Tanàla in the neighbourhood of Ikòngo, who were semi-independent, the authority of the queen was supreme. In the west, however, certain tribes, chiefly of the Sàkalàva, had maintained an independence more or less complete. Ruled over by innumerable kings and chiefs, they lived in a state of chronic rivalry and petty internecine warfare. Constant cattle-lifting and slave-raiding amongst the various tribes, which brought untold misery upon the inhabitants, had become an established curse, and travelling in the country was in general attended with considerable danger. A Hova military station existed here and there, but, for the most part, exerted little influence or authority over the surrounding people.