MADAGASCAR 175 Jovern nent. rrny. Although these changes have as yet only affected about a fourth part of the whole population, there is reason to believe that the influences at work in the centre of the island will eventually affect all the different tribes. Missionary work is also carried on by English Episcopalians (S. F. G.), Norwegian Lutherans, and French Roman Catholics. The government of Madagascar during the present century has been and still is monarchical theoretically despotic, but practi cally limited in various ways. Radama I. and Ranavalona I. were much more absolute sovereigns than those before or after them, but even they were largely restrained by public opinion. New laws are announced at large assemblies of the people, whose consent is asked, and always given through the headmen of the different divisions of native society ; and this custom is no doubt a sur vival " from a time when the popular assent was not a merely for mal act, as it has now almost entirely become. The large disci plined army formed by Radama I. aided much in changing what was formerly a somewhat limited monarchy into an absolute one. The H6va queen s authority is maintained over the central and eastern portions of Madagascar, and at almost all the ports, by governors appointed by the queen, ajid supported by small garrisons of Hova troops. At the same time the chiefs of the various tribes are left in possession of a good deal of their former honours and influence, so long as they acknowledge the suzerainty of the H6va sovereign, and perform a certain amount of Government service. The present queen and her predecessor have both been married to the prime minister, a man of great ability and sagacity, who, by his position as husband and chief adviser of the sovereign, is the virtual ruler of the country. Chiefly owing to his influence, the last five or six years have been marked by the introduction of several measures tending to modify the government of the country and improve the administration. The purpose of these new laws is to weaken the old oppressive feudal system ; to remodel the army ; to appoint a kind of local magistracy and registrars ; to encourage education ; and to form a responsible ministry, with departments of justice, war, education, agriculture, commerce, revenue, &c. Owing to the conservative habits of the people, considerable time will probably elapse before all these measures are carried into effect, but their mere enactment is a proof of the progress of enlightened ideas. Until lately the military service has been very oppressive upon certain classes, being for life, and without any pay; but it is. now to be made compulsory upon all, and for short periods only. The Hova army has been variously estimated at from 30,000 to 40,000 men, although it is popularly termed ny Fblo-alin-dahy, i.e., "the Ten ten-thousand men." Military rank is reckoned by num bers, from one " honour," that of a private, to sixteen " honours," the rank of the highest officer ; but several of the English words for different ranks are employed, as a sergeant, captain, general, istice. marshal, &c. Justice has hitherto been administered by a number of unpaid judges appointed by the sovereign, and they generally sit in the open air. There appears to be a somewhat small amount of crimes of violence; but cattle-stealing raids made by one tribe upon another are a frequent cause of petty wars away from the H6va avenue, authority. The revenue of the Government is derived from customs duties, first fruits, fines and confiscation of offenders property, and a money offering called hasina, presented on a great variety of occasions both to the sovereign in person and to her representa tives ; and these are supplemented by "benevolences" (in the mediaeval sense of the word) levied upon the people for occasional state necessities. Besides these, the Government claims the unpaid service of ail classes of the community for all kinds of public work. Consuls appointed by the English, French, and American Govern- ments are accredited to the Malagasy sovereign, and the queen has a consul in England, and a consular agent at Mauritius. During the late Lord Clarendon s tenure of office as foreign secretary an understanding was come to between the English and French Governments by which it was agreed that each power should respect the independence of Madagascar ; and, although the intrigues of Jesuit priests have more than once fomented difficulties between the native Government and the French, it may be hoped that the home authorities in France will still refuse to interfere, and will allow the Malagasy undisturbed by fear of foreign invasion quietly to advance in that path of progress which they have for some years been following with such happy results. The best prospects for the future of the country would appear to be bound up in the gradual consolidation of the central Hova authority over the whole island, bringing to every part of it those civilizing and enlightening influences which have already worked such changes in the central provinces. Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, is by far the largest city in the island. It has about 100,000 inhabitants, and has been almost rebuilt during the last twelve years, the old timber and rush houses being nearly all replaced by much larger and more substan tial ones of sun-dried brick and stone, constructed in European fashion. A group of royal palaces, with lofty roofs and stone- arched verandahs, crowns the summit of the ridge on and around which the city is built, and hardly less conspicuous is the grand )reign !a- pital. new residence of the prime minister. Four handsome stone memorial churches, with spires or towers, mark the spots where the Christian martyrs suffered ; and other prominent buildings are the Chapel Royal, the Norwegian and the Roman Catholic churches, the London Missionary College, the London Missionary Society and the Friends normal schools, mission hospitals, the court of justice, and numerous large Congregational churches of sun-dried brick. Next to the capital in size are the port of Mojanga, on the north- Other west coast, with about 14,000 inhabitants; Tamatave, the chief towii.s. eastern port, and Fianaraiitsoa, the chief town of the Betsileo, each with about 6000 people ; and Ambohimanga, the old capital of Imerina, with about 5000. There are very few places besides these with as many as 5000 people, and the majority of native towns are small. The population is dense in two or three districts only, and Populf! the entire island is variously estimated to contain from four to tion. five millions of inhabitants. Literature. A. considerable number of books have been written upon Madagas-
- ar, both in the English and French languages, but many of the latter are of little
now in course of publication in twenty-eight 4tovols. by M. Alfred Gi andidicr, en titled, Iliitoire Katurelle, Physique, et Politique de Madagascar. Of this magnum opus four volumes are already issued. Of books treating of the country generally, the following are the most note worthy : Hamond, Madagascar, the Richest and most Frvitfull Island in the World, London, 1643 ; Boothby, A Breife Discovery or description of the most i/es Comores, Paris, 1840 ; Guillain, Documents sur . . . Ja partie occidentale d navlvo, 1875 ; Mullens, Tuelve Months in Madagascar, London, 1875; Blanchani, L lle de Madagascar, Paris, 1875 ; Dahle, Madagascar og dets Beboere, Chrk- tiania, 1876-78; The Antananarivo Annual, Nos. i.-v., 1875-81; and Sibree. The Great African Island, London, 1880, and "The Arts and Commerce of Madagascar." Jour. Soc. Arts, June 4, 1880. Philology. Houtinan, Spraak ende woord boek in de Maleische ende et Detsimisara, Bourbon, 1842; R. C. Missionaries Dictionnaire Frangais- Malgache, R<$union,1853, and Dictionnaire Malgache-Franc.ais, Reunion, 1855; Van der Tuuk, " Outlines of a Grammar of the Malagasy Language," Jour. Roy. Asiat. Soc., 1860; Ailloud, Grammaire Malgache-Hbva, Antananarivo, 1872; W. E. Cousins, Concise Introduction to the Study of the Malagasy Language as spoken in Imerina, Antan., 1873 ; Sewell, Diksionary Eng. sy Mai., Antan., 1875 ; 1 tltt. OUU., -IOIO. JJCO1UU3 U113.-MJ 11IC115 U1U OCVeltll VCUUdVlO jm^Ul 3 UJ* -L- ttlllU 111 the yearly numbers of The Antananarivo Animal (ante), and a number of short vocabularies of coast and other dialects of Malagasy in the notes of various exploratory journeys published at Antananarivo, noticed below. Scientific: General and Exploratory. Vinson, Voyage a, Madagascar, Paris, 1865; Coignet, "Excursion sur la Cote Nord-est de 1 Ile de Madagascar," Provinces of Madagascar," Proc. Roy. Geog. Soc., January 1875 ; Sibree, South- Life, London, 1880 ; Cowan, The Bara Land, Antan., 1881 ; Id., " Explora tions in South Madagascar," Proc. Roy. Geog. Soc., Sept. 1882. The best general map of Madagascar is that published by Rev. Dr Mullens in 1879, which is to a large scale (12J miles to the inch), and includes almost every journey made up to that date, but is somewhat deficient as regards the delineation of the physical geography. Zoology. Klug, " Insekten von Madagaskar," in Kiin. Ak. der Wissenschaftcn, Berlin, 1832; Boisduval, Faune Entomologiquc de Madagascar, &c., Paris, 1833 ; Owen, Monograph on the Aye-aye, London, 1863; Vinson, Araneides des lies Re- vnion, Madagascar, &c., Paris, 18G3 ; Bates, " Natural History of Madagascar, Proc. Zool. Soc., 18C3; Sclater, "Mammalsof Madagascar," Quart. Jour. Sci., April 1864 ; Pollen and Van Dam, Recherches sur la Faune de Madagascar et ses Depcn- dances, 5 vols., Leydcn, 1867 sq. ; Hartlaub, Die Vogel Madagascar und der benachbarten Inselgi uppen, Halle, 1877 ; " Reliquiae Rutenbergianoe Zoologie," in the Bremen Naturwissenschaftliche Verein, April 1881 ; also very numerous articles on Madagascar animals, birds, &c., in Proc. Zool. Soc., 1863-81, and in Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., 1803-81. Botany. Du Petit Thouars, Histoire des Vegetaux recueiUes sur les isles de . . . Madagascar, Paris, 1804; "-Floras Madagascaricnsis fragments," in Annales des Sciences Naturelles, 4 sen, vols. vi., viii., ix. ; Davidson.
"Account, Historical and Physiological, of the Madagascar Poison Ordeal