Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1858-08-07

THE ISLAND OF MADAGASCAR, ITS
GEOGRAPHY, CLIMATE AND PRO-
DUCTIONS.
PoRr LOUIS. MArR1r1rs. Anril 8. 1858.

PoRT LOUIS, MAURITfUs, April 3, 1858.
Editors Of Tie T,urelir Little has been
heard or known of the great island of Madagas-
car since the expulsion of the English mission
aries some years since, who for time abored
with so much success that high expectations
were created of the speedy civilization of the
people and their conversion from hcathanism to
Christianity. Little indeed was ever known
with accuracy of the interior ofthe country for,
island though it is it is larger than several Eu-
ropean kingdoms both in territory and popula-
ton. While spending fortnight in Port Lou
is, the capital of the island of Mauritius, made
theacquaintance ofan intelligent and very agree
able native of Madagascar, who spoke the Eng
lish language with iluency and precision, and
besides is admitted to be sincere Christian
convert by those who know him best. He is a
member of Rev. Mr.. Mclrwn's Scotch church,
and is sexton. Before knowing his history, he
had won my affection and respect by the sim
plicity of his manners, his intelligence, and a
certain air of unostentatious benevolence good
nature and integrity he bore about him. Though
dnrk-colorcd. he was not a negro, and his feat
ures. 50 far from being of the Hottentot or
kaffre type, would be pronounced good if not
handsome in a European or an American. His
hair was not straight nor was it curly while
his mind was active, and his motion graceful.
ut bSipiiESA W u ldct vi ulOOuf
the African and the Arab, as is the case with a
large part of the population of the island. A
considerable number of his country have been
brought to Mauritius by commerce or persecu-
ton, where they met with glad reception from
Bishop Ryan and other clergymen, who intro
duccd some of them into their schools, and gave
to all whatever Christian instruction was in their
power. Besides this, was SO fortunate as to
meet with a mass of reliable information re-
spccting Madagascar, which had recently been
collected by the Hon. Edward C.. Frome, Sur
veyor General of Mauritius. The enterprise of
DIR. Livingstone, which he is at this very hour
on his way back to Africa to carry to its COM
petion, on the banks of the great river Zambisi,
where he intends to plant an English colony.
and establish Christian missions, aided by the
material support of the English government to
the amount of one hundred and twenty-five
thousand dollars, and by the fervent good wishes
OF the whole British nation, gives an addition
al interest to Madagascar, since only the Straits
or Channel of Mozambique, about two hundred
miles wide, separate the island from the COLONY
1t may be destined, i'll the course of Providence
to make this colony the agent to cyilize and
chrstianize the island, many of those inhabi-
tants have shown their sincerity and depth of
conviction by bravely enduring martyrdom for
the Gospel, while great numbers retain their be-
forests, waiting for the advent of better day,
or some heaycn-sent deliverer. Should that
day come, or that deliyerer arrive, the greatest
of problems Of Central African civilization will
be solved by agencies and influences set to work
on the eastern coast of the continent, where the
least has been attempted and the least expected.
The history and geographical position of
Madagascar may be summed up in few lines
The island was not discovered or if discovered,
was not visited, till October, 1906, in the reign
of Henry VII. Of England. when the Portuguese
navigator, Lorenzo Ameida, made it known to
the world, by whom for time it was called St.
Lawrence. In the reign of Henry w. it was
called the Isle of Dauphin by the French, and
by Marco Poo the celebrated traveller, at the
end of the fifteenth century, Maiaster. 1t is
said by some that the natives on the coast do
not call it Madagascar, but Nosindambo, i. e.,
the Island Of Wild Hogs. Other figurative ex-
pressions are used as names for the island, as
"Ambony Tany"" " Ambony Lintra," &c. sig
nfyng " on the GARTH" beneath the skies" or
" in the midst of the food
Madagascar is separated from Africa by the
Mozambique Channel, which is about two hum
dred miles wide. Its distance from the Cape
of Good Hope is fourteen hundred and fifty
miles, and from Mauritius four hundred and
fifty, and from the Isle of Bourbon three hun
dred and fifty, which lies between it and Maur-
titus. Its greatest ledgth from north to south
is one thousand miles, and its breadth from east
to west three hundred and fifty miles The su-
perficial area is estimated at not less than two
hundred and twenty thousand square miles, or
a territory five times and one half larger than
the State of New York, and nearly twice as large
as the whole of New England Situated south
of the equator, and extending from latitude Il
degrees 81 minutes to % degrees ~ minutes
south, the aspect and climate of the island of
fer much variety. So fertile is the soil, that in
the language of Scripture, it may be said to
flow with milk and honey" and while it pro-
duces rice, silk, cotton, spices, and magnificent
timbers it abounds in mineral wealth of every
description.
The interior of the island is considerably ele-
waited, and the slope down to the sea undulates
into beautiful wales, watered by rivulets and riv-
ers, the soil in general consisting of dccomposed
granite, of the richest fertility. Many of the
rivers are large, and nayigabe into the interior,
but their entrances are almost always blocked
up by sand banks, especially on the eastern
coast This is caused by the roll of the sea
from east to west on the eastern coast, and by
the incessant currents which set in from the
Mozambique channel on the other. This OBJ
struction of the elux of the rivers has caused
the formation of vast marshes on the coast and
the consequent generation of miasma produc-
ing the dreaded and fatal malady called the
Madagascar fever, which is as fatal to the ma
tives as to foreigners. The high lands of Mad
agascar, however, in the interior, are remark
ably healthy, and the temperature delightful,
the elevation being 5000 feet above the level of
the sea.
On the eastern coast there are two distinct
seasons, the "ine season." which commences in
May and terminates in the middle of October,
during which the heat is moderate, and strong
breezes renew the air and dissipatc the efHuva
created by the stagnant waters the second, or
"bad season." begins in October and continues
till April. The hottest and most unhealthy
season occurs in the three first months of the
year, during which the country is inundated
with floods of rain. The wind is calm, or blows
lightly from the northeast by day, and from the