Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-10-12
rvrHELAND OF THE HOVAs.


Ashe told the story Of his travels 10 a
SAY reporter theother evening it sounded
more like an interesting narrative Of adj
ra-ture IRON the world OF fiction than the
actual experience Of young naval officer
in the line u duty. "FOr a long time 1
had felt a desire 70 explore some Of the
unknown eastern Countries said Lieut..
Sbufaldt. ssbut il was not until year after
bqd volunteered my services 70 explore
Nsdacascar that I was authorized TO do
So. The course pursued by the French IN
that country rendered IL advisable that
some stems should be taken by this gov
eminent TO obtain information Of gen.
eral nature regarding the country for
commercial reasons. A cable message
from the Secretary OF the Navy detached
ma early last spring from my vessel in
China and sent me on special duty in the
shape 81 a trip through Madagascar. /
Had no instructions regarding the expe-
F.ti0u and everything was left 10 my own
Judgment. ] went as far as that country
Iu the Pensacola and then made nv Way
direct o. the capital, AntananariYO. Now,
20 give YOU an idea of the country and
what was before me you must know that
it is an immense island, considerably
larger than the republic Of France, with
a population Of about 5000 900. The
Ereater part Of it is entirely unknown and
occupied by various tribes, who are for
the most part utterly uncivilized and
wholly barbarOus.
THE RULING PEOPLE.
however, have reached quite a high degree
NJ civilization and have extended their
power through a great portion Of the land
and would probably succeed in subduing
the whole country but for the opposition
Il the French. These people are called
H1vas. and are entirely distinct from any
other inhabitants. They correspond ex-
actly with the Malay type, while the rest
n the tribes all have the African charac-
teristics. The suppOsitiOn is that centu-
rias ago these people must have landed
on the shores from some Of the Eastern
countries and settled there. IL was i'm
possible for them to dwell near the marshy
maIari0us shore, so they pushed their
way % the elevated plateaus Of the inte-
ri-r. where they still are. They have alb
soIute control Of about $1,000 square miles.
They are equal 70 the japanese in ciyili-
zatiOn. and are a progressive, intelligent
people. The capital has about 800 white
residents, principally missionaries, and
some of the buildings are beautiful.
THE QUEEN
Las her palace there. By the way, she is
only I9 years old and is a very pretty girl.
Her husband Is 60 years old and is the
Prime Minister. The HOvas are literally
surrounded by these hostile nations that
4 spoke Of They have partly CONQUERED
them an except the SkalaVas, who in
habit the entire western part Of the island.
one 0t the most important questions that
the country has to deal with is slavery
Great numbers Of slaves were annually
brought from Africa, and all Of these
tribes kept their slaves. About twenty
years ago the Queen emancipated them,
but the Sakalayas never recognized the
emancipation. They have immense herds
1f cattle. which are cared for by the slaves
81 macaOs, and without them their herds
would run wild. As L said, / made my
WaT tU the capital, but that was an easy
mp. without danger as the civilizing eff
-ect 90 the HOvas Is considerable in the
eastern part OF the Island. 1t was through
the wild Sakalava country that my expe-
l5t'cu proper was to be made. remained
at the capital three weeks perfecting the
arrangements. had two interviews with
-le Queen. and l guess / was the first
white man 70 shake her by the hand.
shortly after arriving l gained her sane
ton to the expedition, and l saw her
again Just as / was about to start. She
iufrusted 90 me letters to the President.
which I have Just delivered to him in
person.
THE EAPEDITIONARY FORCE.
.-I gathered about me forces amounting
Go tl0," continued TIE Lieutenant. ssThey
were an either natives or slaves, with the
exception OF myself and three miners who
volunteered 10 20, two Englishmen and an
American. At last we started on our
Journey 0f 600 miles 10 the western coast.
lt was slow and attended with many dan
Eer0us disasters. The hostile Sakalavas
lowered about Us during the entire Jour
ley but only yentured twice to make an
attack upon our party. They were re-
pulsed both times, with loss to nv party
cf - men. They were dreadful-lOOking
autaEonIsts-thOseS akalavas. Their phys
zeal proportions We're superb. The simple
ar5ech cloth was their only apparel, and
their bodies were creased until they re-
lected the sunlight like mirrors, They
seemed TO have no fear Of firearms. but
tleT made the attack with a savage veil.
Eac- man carried tive assegEis, throwing
them one at time as he ran towards
US They soon found that they could not
conquer our party and had to be content
with togging our steps, lying in wait for
any poor straggler who was unable to
Aeap up. mad bOdy-guard Of macaOs,
VINO were continually about me. Some of
them were always ahead while on the
march, and during the fights they gath
cred about me and protected me so well
mat was not wounded once. 1t was
TERRIBLE JOURNEY.
The deadly fever played havoc with my
forces. Indeed we all had it, and my
white companions succumbed to it. The
disease IS Intermittent. and is accOmpa-
NED With the most terrible vomiting and
rrlcllnE- and utter prOstratiOn, rendering
lt utterly impossible TO eat anything. 1t
"as not the fever itself which killed my
men. but The complete exhaustion which
resulted from IL. Then, too. the natives,
el' were bare legged, suffered terribly
-rlu liberated sores. The long wet grass
Llrou-1 which we travelled in early morn
.l~s would cut their flesh, and the heat Of
t1e sun would produce ugly fostering
e-le,- which rendered them almost unfit
itF travel. livery day l would sit before
my tent and distribute the contents of nv
4ledicne chest among the suffering ones.
tle journey lasted 81 days, and when we
reached the coast / had but 15S men re-
naming. With only % out Of 600 killed.
you can Judge Of the rayages Of disease
among ms forces.
W e erected some bamboo Notifications
ana lad plenty Of ammunition, and were
@..y 10 Keep on the following savages."
" nat na0 you intended 70 do upon
reaeaing the cOastf' interrupted the re-
porter.
Ivy Ell, OF course. had no idea of re-
tracing my steps, and ] expected to be
seupeled % build a canoe and cross the
mozambique channel in it. As luck
would have It, the boats OF a Swedish
PARK which had gone TO pieces on the
elAsl couple Of years before lad been
saved. found them on the bank of a
creek. where they had been dragged by
- natives, who, being ignorant OF how
q Use them, had left them there. / Sc
.e-t-d the largest one and went TO work
q repair her. l caulked her up tight,
-s-1d g sail and put to sea I'm her with
-.-r or the slaves. 1 had no compass and
s.eered a westward course by the sun. 1
AaeW u 1 could keep on / would strike
--ll' 4 ielt sure / couldn't pass Cape
toN 2, which was nearly 1000 miles to the
se-llward, and / knew land was as far
--i-l as could 90. 1t was the season of
- monsoons, and there was a pretty
lazy sea on. We were out ten days
IN THE MOZAMBIQUE CHANNEL,
---4 Wien we struck land found we were
---t let miles south Of Mozambique, to
--c1 place / made my way By sailing
-l'lg the COAST
-'-1 you suffer any serious results from
eAtosure Of the eXpeditiOnY' asked
aen i got % shore 1 was utterly eX-
4