Madagascar, its history and people ... With a map

Front matter

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Preface

. of Andevoranto — the ancient capital of the once independent and powerful Betsimisaraka tribe. Much also has been gleaned from the private journals of friends and fellow-travellers. The works of Mr Ellis, Mr J. Sibree, jun., and others, have been frequently consulted ; and I hereby acknowledge my obligations to those able and well-informed authorities upon all that relates to Madagascar and the Malagasy. London, 1884. CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE I. FROM LONDON TO TAMATAVE, ... 1 II. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND, . 24 HI. TRIBAL DIVISIONS — CONQUEST BY THE HOVAS, . 42 IV. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, PAST AND PRESENT, . 59 V. RITES AND CEREMONIES, CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS, 79 VI. A CANOE VOYAGE ALONG THE EAST COAST LAKES, 94 VII. VISIT TO THE COURT AND CAPITAL OF THE HOVAS, . . . . .118 VIII. IN PERILS BY SEA, . . . .142 IX.

THE GREAT NORTH-EAST, . . .168 X. NEW GROUND, . • . . . 191 XI. MEDICAL EXPERIENCES, . . . 224 XII. THE CORONATION OF RANAVALONA III., . 243 XIII. PROGRESS IN THE PAST — PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE, ..... CONTENT.S. X XIV. HINTS TO TRAVELLERS, . . . 287 XV. FLORA, FAUNA, AND LANGUAGE, . . 311 XVI. AN OUTLINE GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY OF USE FUL WORDS AND TERMS, . . . 329 XVII. CONCLUSION, ..... 342 TABLE OF PRINCIPAL EVENTS AND DATES IN THE HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR, . . . 353 NAMES OF THE VARIOUS TRIBES OF MADAGASCAR AND THEIR LOCATION, WITH THE PRINCIPAL GEO GRAPHICAL POINTS, .... 354 ITINERARY FROM TAMATAVE TO THE CAPITAL, . MADAGASCAR. CHAPTEE I. FROM LONDON TO TAMATAVE. In June 1874, I was commissioned by authority to proceed to the east coast of Madagascar, in connection with work of an educational and in dustrial character which had been inaugurated amongst the Betsimisaraka tribe by some English societies.

I shared at the time the prevailing ignorance of people at home as to the country and its inhabitants, and the island in which I was destined to pass several eventful years of hopeful labour was then a veritable terra incognita to me. I turned at once to the best sources of information then available as to the land and its inhabitants, but on my actual arrival in the island I found that, after all, no pen however brilliant, or pencil however facile, had succeeded in doing A MADAGASCAR. anything like justice to the great natural beauty of the country, or the many peculiar and interest ing characteristics of its population. So im perfect was the knowledge of Madagascar even amongst the generally well-informed classes, that, at the time I was preparing to sail, some of my friends were full of commiseration for what they regarded as my unhappy fate in being banished to an inhospitable island in the centre of the ocean, where cannibalism was rampant, and where cold missionary in various forms was the universal article of diet.

One remarked that he had always heard that the Terra del Fuegians, whom he evidently re garded as the near neighbours of the Malagasy, were remarkable for their treachery and ferocity ; and with a cruel frankness another friend said his " Farewell," with an expression of his opinion as to the absurdity of any hope on his part of seeing me again. On a bright June morning, then, I bought my last daily paper — that crowning achievement of our modern civilisation — at London Bridge, and took train for Gravesend, off' which port the gallant but somewhat ungraceful and aged ship Sea Breeze was lying, awaiting her captain and passengers. Her usual occupation was that of a Mauritius suo-ar-drover, and her caro-o in consequence generally consisted of innumerable casks of molasses and strong rum. On this occa sion she was freighted out with a general cargo, consisting of machinery, Manchester goods, and stores for the English colony at the capital of Madagascar ; and amongst the passengers were a bishop and his family, some half-dozen mis sionaries and school teachers, and other per sons, whose homes and avocations were in the far East.

The passage was long — nearly one hundred days — and uneventful. The usual excitement of the first whale, the first shark, and the incessant exercise of the gentle craft with hook and line over the stern rail in fine weather, and books, journals, im promptu concerts or entertainments in the saloon in times of storm, or on disagreeable nights, helped to make a very commonplace voyage a little less monotonous. But life on board a sailing-ship after the thirtieth day must be a little wearying; and having crossed the line, and obedi ently, if not gracefully, submitted to the ancient and somewhat tyrannical and overbearing de mands and usages of the court of Neptune, at this particular point of our progress we hailed with delight the offer of our genial captain to give us a day's ramble upon the rocky, and, as we after wards found, not at all cheerful island of Trinidad, in -the South Atlantic.

The sensation of feeling MADAGASCAR. once more the unyielding earth under foot was very pleasing ; and the scrambles over the scori ated and slaggy surface, which resembled a vast red cinder-heap, and had evidently been in the remote past the scene of action of an active volcano, were healthful and enjoyable. An amusing incident attended the hauling up on deck of our first shark. The brute had been anxiously waited for, and at length secured by a huge bait of salt pork, cunningly disposed upon a fearful -looking three-pronged hook of curious manufacture. AVe had got him on deck by the aid of " all hands," when by some means, in our anxiety to examine his points more closely, or perhaps through the sudden cessation of tension, the hook released itself from the jaws of the captive, who proceeded to survey the crowd with expressive gestures.

He began to show signs of agility and a disposition to act up to his character of an insatiable glutton always in search of prey. There was an expression in his eye, and an ominous click of his jaws, which clearly meant mischief, and his unabashed de meanour under the circumstances was a sight to remember. He was rushing open-mouthed to wards the entrance to the companion, in search (with a refinement of taste which was creditable to him) of a bishop, or a naval lieutenant (vve had one on board), or a naturalist, or perhaps only a humble schoolmaster, just as one of our lady passengers put up her head to walk out on deck, entirely unconscious of the proximity of such a visitant. She speedily took in the position and her head, however, and beat a retreat, to the great disappointment doubtless of the wretched shark, who had now complete possession of the poop-deck — crew, officers, and pas sengers all having shown a remarkable unanimity in their desire to seek other and more remote points of vantage, whence they could witness without danger the eccentricities of their new " find."

The whole scene was, however, brought to a summary close by a daring and reckless sea man, who advanced upon the enemy armed with a wooden handspike. Watching his opportunity, he' thrust his extemporised weapon into the open jaws of the creature, and by this simple method destroyed effectually all its powers of doing further injury. Shark cutlets are sometimes belauded, and are even said by some enthusiasts to be preferable to a beef-steak ; but having in a weak moment tasted shark, I prefer beef. One cannot help remarking the odd kind of sentiment which exists in the "foc'sle" and amongst the sailors for anything connected with the shark. The head or jaws are carefully preserved, the backbone is polished and converted into a walk ing-stick, and the fins have also some peculiar MADAGASCAR. virtue according to " Jack "-lore, which I fear I have forgotten now.

The exciting rumour on shipboard of the existence of herds of wild pigs upon the island, had induced several of our party to arm themselves with spears and death-dealing rifles ; but we found on effecting a landing;*, which we did after considerable difficulty, that there was nothing more formidable to encounter than a vast flock of stupid-looking gannets and red-pouched and paddle-winged penguins. These creatures were so tame, or wanting in sense, that they did not deign to rise even when we laid ruthless hands upon them, to stroke and admire their handsome plumage, and bear them away in triumph to our ship, to skin and preserve at our leisure, and to send back to our friends in England as mementoes of the passage out. A small white bird, with a very graceful figure and plaintive cry, also shared the place with the gannets and penguins, and came and nestled upon our arms or shoulders with the greatest confidence.

It was almost painful to witness, however, the mistrust and shyness with which the whole feathered and pouched population soon began to regard us, after the firing of the guns and the death of one or two members of their community ; and before we left the rock, they approved, by instinct, the unwisdom of putting trust in man, for they conveyed themselves to the highest and most in accessible peaks, from which they surveyed our movements with quaking cries and utterances of terror and despair. As we left Trinidad to return to the Sea Breeze, which awaited us in the offing, we were suddenly exposed to a danger which is not uncommon in these waters. The wind, striking the hioh and rugo-ed cliffs of the island, rushes through the enormous fissures, and falls upon the waters with great violence, in the shape of a miniature cyclone, which rushes over the surface, raising a furious wash in its wake, and exhausting itself at length out in the open sea.

The only safety is to down sail instantly, or the boat will be twisted round and round for a few minutes like a mere cork, and then overturned in the foaming billows. We were unconscious of this local peril ; and whilst we were busily engaged in examining the spoils we had brought off with us, we were suddenly startled by seeing the vigilant captain snatch out his knife and cut the rope which supported the sail of our little craft. The loosened sail fell with a crash amongst us, but not a moment too soon ; for we instantly heard a sharp whistling sound, and saw the waters all around us washing and foaming, and lashed with fearful energy by the circular storm which passed over our heads, and away into the distance, happily MADAGASCAR. without further incident. The reality of the danger, however, and the visible presence of two huge sharks, following steadily in our rear, with their noses about two feet from the shallow bul wark of the heavily laden boat, gave us a con siderable scare ; and one of our scientific friends, who always carried a certain quantity of whisky about him, in which to put any specimens of rare insects he might meet with, in the excitement drew the cork of his flask, and hastily swallowed the cordial, utterly oblivious of the fine spider which he had only recently deposited for preser vation in the spirit.

The habits and appearance of the shoals of flying fish which suddenly start up out of the placid waters at this point of the voyage, are always entertaining and worthy of note. The idea of a fish with wings is novel; but the sight of a flock of these delicate and nicely fashioned creatures in full flight, some yards above the crest of the waves, when pursued by a porpoise or other enemy of their kind, is a spectacle which borders on the marvellous. The flashing of their sides in the bright sunlight, and the almost noiseless motion with which they glide through space, are very noticeable. They fall back into their native element as suddenly as they rise from it ; but an unfortunate member of the finny crowd some times loses his way or his centre of gravity, and falls upon the deck, where he is at once eagerly inspected, the ever-changing hues of his gleaming skin or fins duly admired, and then, alas ! he descends to the kitchen, to reappear at breakfast next morning as a dainty and not unwelcome addition to the ordinary fare of the cabin table.

We were tempted once, when delayed in.the region of perpetual calms, to man a boat, and, armed with harpoon and rifle, the captain in command, and the bishop, a keen sportsman by the way, and a splen did shot, at the helm, the rest of us toiling at the, on that occasion certainly, labouring oar, to ven ture over what proved to be some miles of calm undulating sea, with a broiling sun overhead, on the trail of some huge black-looking objects which had attracted our attention early in the morning from the deck of the Sea Breeze, and had at once and effectually aroused all the hunting and harry in g propensities of our English natures. The uncertainty as to the precise nature of the game we were pursuing, of course added zest to the chase ; and we were breathless with excitement and rowing when we at length drew near to the spot which was to be the scene, we all felt con vinced, of no uncertain victory on our parts.

But a silence, as intense as it was eloquent, fell upon us as the uplifted harpoon and the strono* arm of one of the best of captains and truest of men were arrested in mid-air ; the epis- MADAGASGAR. copal rifle, all ready for the fray, was softly but firmly lowered ; and as the huge monsters, some fifty or more, having gone under for a moment, presumably to hold a council of war on seeing the approach of the militant expedition, now rose up in their strength to the surface with a unity of purpose and a series of snorts and violent plungings, which lashed the water on all sides of us with mountains of foam, and threatened the tiny boat with instant destruction, we, as others have done before us, thought discretion the highest form of valour, and beat a hasty retreat from the presence of the overwhelming foe, and retired slowly and by the nearest route to our ark of safety, which awaited us in the dis tance, looking verily " like a painted ship upon a painted ocean."

We had unwittingly disturbed a school of blackfish, as they are called popularly by seamen — huge, coaly-skinned, full-eyed mon sters, who, in their playfulness, would have made short work of the whole bench of bishops. As it was, we luckily escaped any damage — although the force with which these creatures can strike is only equalled by that of the whale itself, to which species they naturally belong. We were followed at Trinidad in a few days by the yacht of the Earl of Crawford and Bal carres, then Lord Lindsay. His lordship, in the pursuit of his favourite science, had organised an expedition, entirely at his own expense, to Mauri tius, to observe the transit of Venus. The party, on landing from the yacht, were very much sur prised to find a lady's woollen wrapper, evidently only lately dropped, and recent footmarks, which revealed the presence of fashionable boots at no very distant period, upon the sands of a tiny rill of pure sweet water, which flowed at the bottom of a deep fissure in the rocks ; and various were the conjectures of the bewildered spectators as to how these signs of fashionable female attire could have come there.

It was clearly the puzzle of the "fly in the amber" repeated; or perhaps, nearer still, that of the human footprint which so disconcerted the immortal Crusoe. Whether the mystery of the fashionable shawl left beside the little fountain on this desolate rock in mid-ocean was ever solved by the finders we cannot say. We should presume not, however, as a friend afterwards assured me that a year or two ago he had seen the relic of Trinidad preserved in a northern museum, where it was regarded with considerable interest, not un mixed with pathos, as the only remains of some unfortunate victims of the unknown terrors of the deep. We may say, however, that the shawl had been left behind and forgotten by one of the ladies of our party. The long passage by the Cape to Tamatave has MADAGASCAR. several advantages, and, amongst others, I might mention a very important one from a hygeian point of view.

It braces up the constitution undoubtedly for a prolonged residence in the hot and enervating climate, and amongst the feverish swamps and marshes of the east coast. It also gradually prepares the whole physical system for those new conditions of life into which we enter when making our home in the tropics. This question of acclimatisation cannot be overlooked ; and the best and readiest means of securing it is of the first importance to a dweller in Madagascar, where success in any undertaking is almost entirely a matter of good health and spirits and carefully sustained energy; and therefore a voyage out by sailing-ship is not, as many might suppose at first sight, a pure waste of time. A brief call at the Cape is often the first introduction the outward-bound passengers have to anything like genuine unconventional colonial or foreign life ; and as the anchor falls in the grand harbour, overshadowed by the Table Moun tain, eager eyes are strained landwards to catch a glimpse of strange scenes, and glean something of the altogether fresh and striking beauty of these lands, where, to the untravelled English mind, everything in nature seems to be fashioned upon a vast and strangely lavish scale.

The weather off the Cape is generally rough, and the winds are keen and cold ; so that the passengers, who had been tempted to throw off their warmer clothing during the passage of the balmy mid-Atlantic, are again glad to shelter themselves behind dreadnoughts and heavy furs. This is the spot, on a wild and tempestuous night, to go up in the dark hours of the middle watch upon deck, and take in, from the lips of some old salt, the weird legend of the " Flying Dutchman," so dear to sailors and so terribly fascinating to landsmen. Onward through the fierce but silent drift of the great Agulhas current we go, and making for the north-west, with a considerable anterior period, however, of southing, we soon welcome overhead the creaking cry of the boat swain-bird, which hovers over us, with its small body, and one long plume drooping from its tail, and reveals by its presence the cheering fact that our voyage is complete, and that we shall soon sight the lofty eminences of Peter Bot and the Poose, which mountains are the earliest recog nisable features of the hospitable and beautiful Mauritius ; or, as she proudly but not inaptly styles herself on her official banner, the Star of the Isles of the Indian Sea.

Here warm greetings are in store for us, and with that remarkable air of sincere and generous kindness which distinguishes English colonists MADAGASCAR. abroad, we are literally overwhelmed with offers of hospitality on all sides. The harbour of Port Louis, the chief town of the Mauritius, at once arrests the attention of the visitor. Its waters are of great depth and of marvellous purity, so that the forests of coral trees, and fantastic masses of mountain and valley and rugged counterscarp, which lie deep beneath the translucent waves, are plainly visible to the delighted and astonished beholder, as he leans over the ship's rail, and gazes into their white and sinuous recesses, through which are floating continually myriads of small glittering fish, and occasionally, in silence and solitude, a grim specimen of the terror of these seas, the ravenous shark.

The first impressions of a visitor, upon landing on the busy quays of Port Louis, are on the whole pleasing. A sense of bewilderment comes over us — for a short time only, however — as we pass along the crowded streets, and first experience the great contrast between the bustle and activity of the full flow of oriental life which is all around us, and the quiet and monotony of our days at sea. The polyglot population, the oriental air of the whole place, the entire absence of European equipages, the domes of a Mohammedan mosque, the open portals of the Indian temples, the ubiquitous Chinee sitting at his shop-door at every turn and corner, the turbaned coachmen, the dashing carioles, and the roll of the tom-tom, with the bejewelled and gorgeous Indians throng ing every thoroughfare of the town, cannot fail to present an ever-changing picture of wonder and delight to the newly arrived European.

The town, lying spread out in its triangular plain, at the foot of the famous Peter Bot mountain — a name which speaks of the Dutch origin of the colony — with its splendid and capacious harbour in front, and a massive, picturesque background of rugged mountains and serrated table-land, is well adapted for a military or naval display; and the authorities had evidently made the most of the situation on a certain brilliant June afternoon some years ago, when we paid it an unexpected visit, and found it en fete in honour of the reigning Sultan of the Comoro O O Islands, who was just returning to his native shores after a rather lengthened sojourn in the Mauritius. The shipping at the anchorage, and the numerous masts of the consular establish ments on shore, were gay with streamers and flags of all nations ; the great guns of the forts above boomed at impressive intervals from the ramparts over the town ; and at the landing place a company of the ill-fated regiment, soon after routed by Cetewayo at Isandula, was drawn MADAGASCAR. up to form a guard of honour, and imparted quite a homely English look to the scene.

The then Lieutenant-Governor of the Mauritius, Sir G. F. Bowen, K.C.B., with some of the privileged State officials, were grouped upon the pier, eagerly discussing the latest war news from the Cape ; and at a becoming distance were small crowds of the always animated, gaily clad, and diverse inhabitants of the colony. AVith that generous thoughtfulness and ready tact in dealing with the intricacies of Eastern character, for which he stands out pre-eminently amongst that noble line of satraps by whose wisdom and high personal gifts we have been able for so long to govern our distant dependencies, not only with honour to ourselves, but without loss of comfort or dignity to them, Sir George Bowen had drawn around him, on the occasion to which I refer, some of the dig nity which becomes the representative of his illus trious sovereign, to say " Farewell," and wish a prosperous voyage, and a long and peaceful reign to his Highness Abdullah Mohammed Hadji II., Sultan of Johanna, and the chief of the islands of the Comoro group.

I found that Sultan Ab dullah had for some time suffered from cataract, which at length brought total blindness, and he had been induced to visit the Mauritius for the purpose of availing himself of the valuable ser vices of the medical men of the colony. A very successful operation was performed, and the sight of the Sultan restored, to his intense delight ; and he was now returning to his island-home, filled with warm sentiments of gratitude, and admira tion, and wonder at what appeared to him the miraculous power of the Mauritian surgeons and oculists. As the guest of the Imperial Govern ment, the Sultan had been shown everything that was thought likely to be of use to him on his return to Johanna"; and as he stepped on board his own good ship Genetiv from the Governor's barge, there was a kindly look of tender gratefulness and regret at parting upon his swarthy but intelligent features, which was very interesting and touching to witness, and which did not fail to awaken a fresh interest in the little ocean-kingdom over which he ruled.

Many kindly eyes followed the Genetiv, and many good wishes, as she drew out to sea, with our own familiar colours at the main ; the royal ensign of Johanna, bearing the crescent and the open hand, displayed at the fore ; and the genial Sultan — a tall hale man of about fifty perhaps, wearing the green turban, which marks the lineal descendants of the great Prophet — bowing and waving his " salaam " from the poop-deck where he stood, surrounded by his sons, his prime minister, and chief officers of his suite. One result of this visit has been the ratification of a B MADAGASCAR. new treaty between England and this sovereign, by which considerable injury is done to the slave trade ; and the operations of the chief traders, who have hitherto found a too ready welcome in the Comoros, are considerably circumscribed.

From Mauritius to Madagascar is often a voyage of only a day; but sometimes it is extended to a week, or even twenty-one days, if the wind is contrary. Travellers proceeding to Tamatave vid Mauri tius have sometimes to re-embark at Port Louis, and take passage for the land of the Hovas in one of the numerous bullock-vessels which are employed to bring cattle and rice to Mauritius. As the meat-market there is almost entirely de pendent upon the Malagasy for its supplies, these vessels are frequently passing between the islands during the summer months. A considerable sum is charged for passengers ; the accommodation is abominable, the food almost uneatable, and the danger very considerable. Only vessels already condemned as unfit for use in every other part of the world are put upon this line of commerce, and the bullock-trade with Tamatave has been well described as the " Botany Bay " of shipping.

This particular quarter of the world is remarkable for the special dangers to which those who tra verse its waters are liable at certain seasons of the year ; and whilst the Pacific is known for its freedom from anything in the nature of storms, and the Atlantic for its gales and tempests, the Indian Ocean alone is swept by periodic bursts of hurricane and cyclone, which rush across its surface with terrific violence, carrying devasta tion and ruin in their course over land and sea. The Mauritius is about the centre of the field of these circular storms; and consequently, for long periods every year, the surrounding seas are full of peril even to the best found vessels and most experienced navigators. Few persons, therefore, who have been in the neighbourhood of these islands, have quite escaped without some expe rience of the dangers and hazards which attend the passage of Madagascar waters at any time.