Evening star., 1942-06-23
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory, Field
And Study
By Thomas r. Henri.

BIZ Thomas r. Henri.
An inseparable community of ghosts
and flesh and blood human beings.
Such is the great and mysterious island
of Madagascar. occupied by the British
to prevent it falling into the hands of
the Japanese.
Perhaps nowhere else on the earth's
surface is the barrier between the dead
and the living so tenuous as in this land
of dank, fearsomely silent forests and
high, dry deserts, according to Smith
sonian Institution anthropologists.
Nearly everywhere, although with
striking differences in details rejecting
various cultural influences, the primitive
religion and magic has been In the past
centered almost entirely In rites for pla-
eating the spirits of the ancestors, sup
posed to have all-powerful control over
the affairs of the living. This Is fairly
common in primitive societies, the
Smithsonian anthropologists say, but
seldom is the belief so all-pervading as
among this negroid- -Malayan people.
The dead dwell amidst the living, in
visible but following the same ways OF
life that they knew in the flesh.
The veneration is chiefly for ghosts
In the family line As described by the
Jesuit missionary, the Rev. H. M. Du-
bois, for the Betsileo, one Of the major
tribes Of the Madagascar plateau. the
family may be considered analogous to
a Jungle vine 1t grows luxuriouSly from
a single root, perhaps making an almost
impossible tangle over many acres. But
all comes from the one root, constant
connection with which must be main-
tanned or the whole system dies.
But for such tribe as the Betsileo
death, in the sense in. which it is re-
garded by other peoples, cannot be con-
ceded to the ancestors. 1t would mean
break in the vine, cutting OIL some
part OF it from the roots.
At first, the anthropologists explain,
one might assume that there was a
common culture over the whole island,
peopled by a common stock and varying
in their ways Of life only with the di-
verse environment. Upon closer exami-
nation, however, this concept breaks
down. The Malagasy are a varied stock
whose customs have tended more to con-
verge than diverge through the centu-
ries.
Racial origins are vague. Madagascar
lies too close to Africa. It's people seem
basically negroid. Yet it is highly doubt
full II Africa was their homeland. They
speak, for example, very early form OF
the yo-Polynesian root language.
1t is unlikely that this would have been
imposed over so large an area by later
Malayan - Javanese - immigrants and
castaways who were more or less absorb
ed in the general stock. Moreover, the
channel between the east coast Of Africa
and the west coast of Madagascar is
difficult to traverse and the African
tribes Of that area never were seagoing
people. The culture shows no distinctly
African features and the slight traces
here and there easily could have been
introduced by slaves.
The most widely accepted belief at
present is that the basic population was
composed of negroid people who arrived
very early, probably found the island
uninhabited, and spread over the entire
area. In some of the tribes. however,
there are legends Of the "vazimba," :"
malevolent ghosts of still earlier race
of whom little trace remains in the pres
ent stock
Probably much later came various
groups of Polynesians of superior culture
and ability. 1t amounted, however, to
an infiltration rather than a conquest.
The newcomers imposed themselves as
reigning dynasties on villages, several of
which were joined together to form a
tribe. Still later came long series of
tribal wars, and the eventual establish
ment of a kingdom embracing most OF
the island
Among the latest immigrants before
the coming of the white man were Arabs.
One group of these, study of the ira
ditions indicates, arrived sometime be-
fore the rise of Mohammed, since there
is no mention of the prophet in their
traditions. Still later came other Arab
groups. who have provided ruling dy-
nasties for several of the tribes. There
also has been considerable immigration
from India, mostly within historic times.
The movement of these population
groups has been generally from east to
west, with the result that the earlier
and more primitive stock are found in
their greatest purity on the west coast.
But Madagascans have never constituted
truly primitive people. The land
never was suited to hunting or food
gathering groups. The earliest settlers
were probably fairly well advanced agri-
culturaliSts who brought with them from
Oceania their basic crop, rice.
The different environment have
brought about profound differences. The
east coast, in general, is densely forested,
hot and humid. Rice, formerly culti-
vated in primitive fashion, has been the
basis of life and economy. To the west
ward is the high plateau, about 5000
feet above sea level, quite arid and al
most treeless. Here life depends on
cattle, although considerable rice and
sweet potatoes are grown The houses,
mostly of sun-burned brick, sometimes
are fairly substantial. The climate is at
least endurable for white men. There
are occasional frosts. The west coast has
an atmosphere most suggestive of East
Africa, with large areas of relatively open
country and others of dense, thorny