The Express.
London, England, 1858-09-14 00:00:00

MADAGASCAR.

A letter in the Nord contains some particulars
respecting Madagascar, which, at this present
moment, when the French have just made it one of
their naval stations, and when there has been much
talk of both French and English projected expedi-
tions thither, are not without interest. The French
writer soya:
The station of the eastern oust of Africa will form the
seventh of our naval stations; the others being the western
coast of Africa, India and China, the Pacific Ocean, the
western coast of America, the Antilles, Newfoundland, and
Iceland. I will commence by speaking of the
_poaseesiona
we actually occupy on the east coast of Africa. Besides the
floe Wend of Reunion (formerly the le's of Prance), 1;0
leagues from Madagascar, we peewees on theahores of this great
Wand, the Woof Mario, Nose-Be, and Mayot.e, the last being
the bead steam of this little goverment. The island tf
St. Marie, called by the people of Madagascar Nceei-Ibra-
him, is situate towards the eastern point of Madagascar,
from which it is separated by a channel five kilometres
wide ; it is 48 kilometres in length, from 8 to 12 in width.
An arm of the sea treverees its southern portion, dividing
it into two parts. It is surrounded in a great measure by
resfa, but to the north there Is pretty good anchoring ground,
and Port Louis, the capital of the island, is an exoellent
port. In the middle of this port is • little island, called
Madame, strongly defended, and on which are the barracks,
storehouses, and dockyard. Not far off, on a mountain, are
the ruins of a monument mantling the first occupation; it Is
pyramid, from the middle of whieh a great tree eprings, and
on whose sides are carved the arms of Palace and of the
East India Company. The cession of the Island was made
on the 30th July, 1760, by Beti, daughter of the last Prinoe
of Foulepointe, to Louts XV., represented by M. Came, a
naval officer. The only compensation for the cession wee
" • certain quantity of goods proper and suitable fur her." It
was abandoned at the time of the Revolution, btu Count
Mold again caused possession to be taken on the 16th Oct.
1818, by B iron Marken, and the French agents were well
reoeived by the natives. Next year a garrison of 60 mut
was placed there. In 1821 the Preach government, desirous
to develops agriculture in our colonies, sent men and
money to St. Marie. The first attempts were unfortunate ,•
they were badly directed, diseases afflicted the colonists, and
the result era. • total failure. Just thee, February, 1822,
an English corvette arrived at. Port Louis, and its dbm-
minder, Mr. Moresby, demanded by what right the French
were establahed there, and what they proposed doing at
Made . M. Bylvain Roux, commandant of the island.
rep lid that he acted in virtue of orders from the king, and
that Madagascar was French. An animated discussion
ensued between the Governor of Bourbon and the Governor
of the Mauritius, who declared Madagascar an independent
island. It was subsequently that Radom& ebbed to seise
the povereiginZ of the island, and to mush tbo numerous
chiefs who recognised our auseraimetd. Radices, however,
never contested our right of property in Sr. Mode. They
continued to fortify the port, which in 11 326 had 76 white
men and 182 blacks in the service of the colony, and 100
more on the pmpet ties of some colonists. Two man-of•wer
ware stationed there; but the conduct of Radama brought
things to that point, that in 1828 it was necessary to think
of forming an expidttion, and to station 300 men of black
troops at Port Louis.% The expedition undertaken in 1829
failed. One of the first acts of Louis Philippe's government
was to traumata St. Merle, but occupation was soon resumed.
In 1840 our government felt the importance of increasing OUT
naval power in those latitude., and acquired in July the
island of Nosel-Be and Nomi- Cumba ; in 1841, the
island of Nose- Mitsiou and surrounding Wet., and
the island of Negri-Felt ; the Sultan of Mayotte
ceded his island on the 26th of April, 1841. All
these cessions were obtained from tribes friendly to
Prime, end who felt themselves unable to bold their own
again. Ire Novas. Thenceforward we had an important
pontion in the Mozambique Channel ; all these islands are
ritual" between Madagascar end the continent. Idaritte
alone, one of the Comers Islands, is 60 or 70 league, from
the shore; the others are in sit notions analogous to that of
Si Maris. Mayotte end Nossi-Be were at once ocengied,
and sines then have annually increased in importance.
Msyotte,'espeeially, is on the way to become en Important
colony ; it is 21 miles long, and has an area of 30,000
hectares. A sham of mountain crone. it from north to
south, The Preach establehment is at Point Choi, when
the land is very fertile. The Wand is w
has excellent water, pasturage, and some
anchoring places. Nossi-BE has • smiling and fertile as-
aspect ; the centre oecupli d by mountains, has 30,000 hectare&
of wood. The establishment la on the banks of a little river,
and his received the name of Hell Ville, fens Admiral Heil,
o.vanor of Bourbon, when pomession wee taken. Of the
other islands belonging to us, Noarti-Cambia, not a league
from Novi-BE, is very populate, and has magnificent vegeta-
bon. Nord-Pali, eight miles from Nord-BE, is rich fn
Tie, grounds. According to the West documents that have
reacted the /dietary of Marine end the Colonies, the '
population of Mayotte and its dependencies is as follows:
Mayotte, 6,829 inhabitants, of which 3,748 were men; ,
Noel-Bed, 16,178 7,790 men; St. Marie, 6,560, 2,489 men. '
To these are to be added 600 or 000 floating population, 62
functionaries and employee, 200 menet European troops, sod
250 black truope. At St. Marie, the gmwth of sugar is at-
taining a great development ; in 1854, 339.121 kilogrammes
of sugar were exported thence to France. In this situation
Prance his inUttary establishments easy of development on
the two masts of Madagascar; and, moreover, Mayotte gives
her an excellent position. With mina to Muscat and
Einziger, points towards which French trade begins
to direct itself, the opening of the great reed by
the Red Sea (Suez) will augment the •tmyoetanoe
of this colony, which will thus find Ite f con-
siderably nearer to the mother country, and will be the ad-
vanced poet of our eolonial power in these latitudes. I will
hereafter trace the history of our rights to Madagascar, end
it will be seen that M. Sylvan Roux, cepteene de Plialtal4
and commandent at Si. Marie, was completely right when he
replied to Captain Moresby, of the British corvette Menai,
" that all the bland belonged to France, and that he pro-
tested, by anticipation, against any infringement on her
right of Moriarty.'
The last news received from Madagascar is to the
effect that Ranavalo, Queen of that island, was very
seriously ill. iler decease would, it is said, have a
great ii,tluence en the future affairs of that country.

The Marquis of Dalhousie, accompanied by Lady
3aiah Rarasay sad Colons! Ramsay, has arrived at Dal-
housie Cools, his seat hi Scotland, fro. Malvern wens.

The Canterbury Oa:ette says :—" Sir William
Somerville, veto 6106 the Thing of parliament has been on
a continental tour, 101 l a visit yesterday (Monday) to his
constituents end friend, in this coy, by whom he was re-
ceived with hearty congratalailuna. The honourable baronet
does not appear near so lusty as he need to be. Illness
brought Lim down, and the carts of a political life have
kept him so."