The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-07 00:00:00

MADAGASCAR.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—l have the pleasure to forward you a copy
of the report of the proceedings of the Embassy
despatched to Madagascar for the purpose of con-
gratulating King Radama 11. on his accession to
the throne. I also have hurriedly thrown together
a few remarks, with the hope that they may prove
acceptable.
The eyes of Europeans have been for some time
past open to the importance of this most productive
country. It has, however, only been for the last
few months that a door has been opened for the
reintroduction of European influence. The report
will. furnish you with the most important facts in
connexion with the mission, and I shall endeavour
to fill up a fewpages with facts which could scarcely
find a place in a formal document of the kind,
Queen Ranavalo died on the 16th of August, and
the scene that occurred on the occasion is worth
noting. It was related to me by one of the officers
of the palace. For three weeks previously a large
number of officers and soldiers had been constantly

mounting guard outside the palace. On that event-
. ful morning their inquiries were, as usual, an-
swered vaguely, and about two hours afterwards it
was ascertained that the Queen was dead. In an
involuntary tumult of joy the officers and soldiers
threw their shields, swords, and assaigais up into
the air, and I can easily conceive demonstrated their
joy in many other unmistakable ways. They saw
immediately, however, that this was mistaken po-
licy, and endeavoured to correct it by sending a
report through the city that the Queen was much
feebler. But their behaviour, and the news they
attempted to circulate, were evidently too incon-
gruous for the latter to obtain belief.
It appears to have been with considerable diffi-
culty that Prince Rakoto (now Radama II.) suc-
ceeded in asserting his claim to the throne and main-
taining his right. He is the son of the late Queen,
but no more like her than light to dark. He, in
fact, errs in policy in an altogether opposite way,
by being too lenient. An unsuccessful competitor
for the throne, named Rambousalama, a cousin of
the King, was allowed to go unscathed, and is, or
was at the time the Embassy left Antananarivo, in
what the King is pleased to term " honourable
captivity."
What the consequence of this leniency will be it
is impossible to foresee. It is certain that Rambou-
salama has adherents in the capital, if not in the
King's palace, and should any revolution succeed,
and Rambousalama attain his object, things will be
worse than ever. The avowed desire of Rambou-
salama is to carry out the Queen's policy in all its
horrible completeness.
It is, perhaps, one of the most curious facts on
record in the history of any nation, civilized or not,
that after 30 years had passed, during which blood
ran like water in Antananarivo, the son of that very
Queen should absolutely refuse to sanction the exe-
cution of his bitterest enemy when he had him in his
power. Such is the fact. King Radama 11. has be-
gun his reign upon the broad principle that he will
not shed blood. The only way in which the King
resented the attempt to supplant him was by caus-
ing a number of the followers of Rambousalama to
be branded on the forehead and banished into a
distant province.
The experience of the Embassy goes far to sub-
stantiate thoroughly the statements made by fra-
mer travellers with regard to the wholesale mas-
sacres perpetrated under the Queen's authority.
One c flicer, high in rank, told me that during a very
few ware that he had been engaged in active ser-
vice he had seen, in the aggregate, at least 100,000
men put to death after successful actions. No pri-
soners were kept ; the men were immediately
slaughtered in a systematic way, 1,000 at a time,
and the women and children were sold as slaves.
The Hovah officer who narrated this to me added,
in an innocent way, that he could not bear to see
fathers and children, husbands and wives separated,
and he used to weep sometimes. This fact came to
the Queen's cars, and he was no longer sent on such
expeditions. The tribe of Beosileos is that which
principally suffered from the Queen's barbarities.
TiaLir province is nearly due south of the Hovahs'
legitimate territory.
The persecutions among the Christians are really
astonishing in their details. The reports of former
travellers are, as far as my experience went, per-
fectly trustworthy in this respect also. Chain gangs
of from 1.5 to 20 hapless beings used to perambulate
the country dependent upon chance for subsistence.
'When death relieved one of them from his grievous
burden of life the vacant chain was dragged about
by the remainder, and this continued until the
chain had done its cruel work,
I had a visit from several Christians the night
before leaving Antananarivo. One was a poor
old woman, about 70 years of age. She had, 11
years 13,,f0re, been chained together withel7 other
victims. They died one by one, and she for four
years had dragged the vacant chain after her. The
iron collar had worn deeply into her neck, and the
mark of the chain was also plainly visible on her
ankle. I saw several others who had been sufferers
in a similar way. They had been released only two
months before, at the accession of the King.
It is difficult to ascertain how many Christians
were put to death—some say 2,000, others a great
many more. They were usually crucified, being
bound on with cords, and stoned while on the cross.
The crag mentioned by former travellers, down
which those charged with any crime were thrown,
is about 50 or 60 feet in perpendicular height ; the
face of the rocks continues at a steep incline for
about 300 feet. The whole is overgrown with
prickly pear.
A most singular uncertainty has hitherto existed
with regard to the distance from the coast to the
capital. Mr. Ellis has omitted to noticee it in the
work he published some four years ago, and no re-
liable information has been received since. The mem-
bers of the embassy were gravely assured that it
might be travelled over in two days if moderate ex-
pedition were used. We found that with our bag-
gage and numerous attendants it was impossible to
travel fast, I should think it might be accomplished
in six days, a very limited quantity of baggage
being a sins qua non.
The scenery of the country through which our
route lay is to some extent described in the report ;
I shall therefore only allude to one or two peculiar
Spots.

'While travelling in canoes we passed through a
harrow channel connecting two lakes. This deserves
It few words of description, as I have been unable
to find any previous account of it. It is termed
ll'
Itano mainte," literally "black water," and well
it deserves the name. It is about three miles in
length, and not more than seven feet wide, there
being hardly room to force the canoes along. The
dense, rank, tropical vegetation on both sides
arches over, and for the entire distance light is
nearly excluded. There is a dead silence, and when
we passed through there was not a breath of
wind sufficient to stir a leaf. Right and left we
saw an endless complication of interarching roots,
while the maze of stems and plants in all stages of
decay effectually shut out the free air of Heaven.
The Arum is very abundant, and grows to the
height of at least 12ft.
The tract of country contained between a point
of 25 miles west of the lakes, and another about 100
miles west, is, I venture to say, as healthy as any
part of the world. This tract is devoted to no pur-
pose but that of pasture land. One'may indeed pass
over many miles of the finest grazing country with-
out seeing any living human being, or even a bul-
lock. In fact, there seems to be rather a scarcity of
animal life in Madagascar. There are wild cattle,
which, singularly enough, have no hump, while
those bred for exportation, upon which Mauritius
and Bourbon depend entirely for supplies of fresh
beef, have the hump largely developed. The dimen-
sions of some of the fatted cattle are prodigious. At
Antananarivo one was presented to the members of
the mission of which the measurement was as fol-
lows—viz. round the base of the hump, sft. bin.
,
girth aft. ; measurement round the hind quarters,
sft. 9in.

The forests resound with the cry of various kinds
of lemurs. The Aye-ave is very difficult to be ob-
tained, and it appears to- 'be almost impossible to re-
tain one alive in captivity, even in its native coun-
try, for any length of time, 1 lywi told At I3niatitTe