Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-08-10


years rather nor lose you.
But he had only to wait one. lies
gold and tothcr was gilt, said Mary ON
her wedding day." anu she was right.
THE TAKING OF TAMATAvE.
How the Madagascar Town was Bonn
barded by the French.
The correspondent of the London Times
at Tamatave gives the following description
of the bombartlment On May 31st the
Flore cast anchor here, and on the evening
of June 1st the French consul intimated to
all the consuls here that an ulimatum had
been handed by him to the governor Of Tam
atave, in which certain conditions were I'M
posed, failing the acceptance of which by
the Hova government hostililies would CON-
mence five minutes after midnight on June
$40. The conditions were as folows:-
/. The recognition by the Hovas of all
rights accruing to France by virtue of for
mer treaties and which the Hova govern
ment had repudiated.
g The right Of acquiring land.
g. An indemnity of 1000, 000f for claims
made by French citizens for breach of agree
ment by the Hovas.
When these Ubiquitous demands were
made known all the European residents here
thought they would never be accepted by the
lIovas, and at once preparations were made
by many of them for the outbreak of hostili
ties. On the 81 inst. the governor of the
fort was informed that should any prepare
lions for defence be made by him previous to
reply being given the vessels then in har'
Dor would open fire on the battery at once.
| This intimation from the Admiral caused O
panic among the native population, and the
wives OF the Ilova officers left the town i'm
mcdiatcy fOi the interior. The excitement
in the town being SO great Captain Johnstont
OF the Dryad, thought ii advisable to send q
guard of nineteen marines for the British
consulate. These came ON shore ON June T.
and steam cutter and pinuacc were placed
at the disposal of any one caring To embark,
which stayed nDlred near the landing plac,
| night and day in case of any outbreak OF til,
populacc.
AT seven p. M, on Saturday, the 9th, the
| reply to the ultimatum was received by the
French Consul, who Immediately Informed
his colleagues tina. negative answer hat
been given, and in consequence he was about
| to proceed on board the Florc AT nine p.
m, he with the other French officials and d
| few remaining citizens, embarked on board
| The few of us now remaining on shore cx.
pected to hear very shortly the booming OF
the French artillery. We were, however,
disappointed that night, and had TO be con-
tent with watching the electric light on
board the Florc illuminating the coast from
Point Tanio to Elastic Point The electric
light was regarded by the natives with awe.
heard one of them say that the white men
had caught the comet and had brought ii
with them to fight the llovas with. Another
replied that he thought that the French were
attempting to fire the town with it.
At half-past six a. m, warning shot was
fired by the Boursaint and Immediately huge
trcolor flags were hoisted on all the masts
and spauker Blooms of all the French men.oi-
war In harbor. After an interval of two
minutes the Flore fired the first shell at the
battery, apparently doing no mischief. lmme-
diatcly all the other vessels opened fire, which
was carried on with great rapidity for nearly
two hours The Grouse, transport, with
French refugees on board, was throwing
shells into Tanio Point and the village of
Ampaualana, some four miles distant from
Tamatave.
The lIovas set several fires in the custom
house and other places but they were extn-
guished by the Europeans and their work.
men. A shell from the Forfait fired the mar
ket, and great destruction would have been
caused if some Europeans, assisted by one or
two Maabars and three or four OF the Brit
ish guard, had not ex,inguished sufficient of
the burning timber and by pulling down
fences arrested the further progress Of the
flames
From half-past eight to midday the firing
from the ships was irregular, and evidently
not directed at the battery. The Hovas
were seen to clear out of the fort at about
half-past seven in good order, deploying in
two columns and going westward TO fort
about five miles inland. The Hovas did not
fire one shot in reply to the French guns.
After twelve aud until evening one shot per
half hour was fired by the ships in the direc-
ton of NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS., the fort the
Hovas were supposed to have returned to.
The shells, as far as could be seen, failed to
reach that place.
During the day Admiral Pierre informed
all the consuls that fire had broken out in
the market-the act of an incendiary-and
that as Captain Johnstonc of the Dryad had
landed troops 10 guard the British consulate
and property he assumed the responsibility of
any injury done. All of us on shore were anX-
i1usly expecting the French troops to land
after the Hovas had cleared out, and take
possessions of the town and fort in order that
pillaging and firing in the town would be put
a stop to, but no. the French Admiral sent
word to the French house clerks on shore
that il they would guarantee that the Hovai
had actually evacuated the battery he would
Immediately land 800 men. This unrcason-
able request Of the admiral's to ask civilians
to risk their lives TO see if any Hovas were in
the fort was of course, not complied with,
so that for another night We were at the mer-
cy of any ruthless marauders that might I'M
der cover of the night plumber and fire the
town.
Early next morning the French landed
200 men without opposition and at
half past seven signalling on the Hovas
Fort flagstaff announced to us the entry
there of the French troops. To GU:
establishment the French flag was not hoist
ed. After some days the flag was holstcd in
the battery, and the consuls Informed that
they had no longer any Jurisdiction in Tam
atavc. Tamatavc is said to be in state Of
siege, and military law has been promulgat-
ed. All Africans and Asatics are to be
guaranteed by Europeans or they will be cx-
PEELED from the European town.