a large and important island in the Indian Ocean, about 300 miles from the coast of Africa, from which it is separated by the Mozambique Channel. Cape Amber, its northern extremity, is situate in S. Lat. 12°, whence it extends southward, slightly inclining to the W., about 937 English miles, to Cape St Mary, in S. Lat. 25°40'. Its extreme western shore is in E. Long. 43°10', and its most easterly cape in E. Long. 50°30'. The breadth of the island increases gradually from the northern point to the centre, where it is widest, being about 350 miles across; while the average breadth of the southern portion is about 250 miles. It has been estimated to contain 150,000,000, or even 200,000,000 acres of land; and though such estimates, in the absence of actual measurements, can only be regarded as approximations to its actual extent, its surface is equal to three-fourths of the territory of France, and larger than Great Britain and Ireland combined.

The coasts of Madagascar contain a number of bays and harbours, some of them spacious and sheltered, and capable of affording excellent and secure anchorage for shipping of the largest dimensions. Among these may be specified Diego Suarez Bay, or British Sound, near the north-eastern extremity of the island; Port Loquez, Antongil Bay, and the Bay of St Luce, on the eastern coast. Tamatave and Foule Pointe, though the most frequented ports on this side of the island, are only open roadsteads, protected by reefs of coral. St Augustine's Bay, a port of frequent resort for vessels trading to the N.W. coast, and ships engaged in the whale fishery, Tolga Bay, Boiana, Bambetoka, Majambo, Narenda, Pasandava, and Chimpaykee Bays, are the most important on the western coast. There are several small islands adjacent to the northern shores of Madagascar, of which St Mary's, 31 miles long and 2 or 3 miles broad, on the eastern coast, and Nosibé, a somewhat larger and more compact island, on the N.W. coast, are the most important. Both these small islands are now occupied by the French, the latter having been taken possession of by them in 1840.

The physical aspect of the country is varied. The shores of the northern parts, and some portions of the south-eastern coast, are bold and precipitous,—the high land and mountain ranges extending to the sea; but in general the coast is low and flat for a distance varying from 10 to 50 miles on the eastern side of the island, and from 50 to 100 miles in some parts of the western coast. The low land is generally covered with luxuriant vegetation; and trees of large size and abundant foliage often extend to within a few yards of high-water mark. At varying distances from the coast the country rises gradually towards the interior, where the land is highest, being 6000 feet above the level of the sea. The ascent from the low lands along the coast to the high central regions consists, especially on the eastern side, of a succession of ranges of mountains, or hills, running in a direction parallel with the coast, and 500 or 600 feet high. The mountain ranges are occasionally separated by fertile plains of several miles in width, but more frequently by a narrow valley only, or a mountain stream. With one or two exceptions, the loftiest mountains of the island are in the interior, and rise from the most elevated portions of the central provinces. The highest of these is Ankaratra, a basaltic pile, on a range of gneiss or granite mountains, about 50 miles to the S. of the capital. Next to Ankaratra, Andringitra, to the N.W. of the capital, and Angavo, near the boundary, between Ankova and Ankay, about 60 miles to the eastward of the capital, together with Iangogora, near the northern extremity of the island, are reported as the highest mountains in Madagascar, and are computed to be between 8000 and 12,000 feet above the sea.

The valleys are numerous; some of them extensive, fertile, and remarkably beautiful. The soil is occasionally marshy and wet, but is in general the most prolific and extensively cultivated in the country. Belia, in the country of the Sakalavas, to the S.W. of the capital; Ambolo, in the province of Anosy, to the S.E.; Angavo, situate in Ankay, between the lofty mountain of the same name and Ifaty; and Betsimitatatra, to the W. of the capital, are among the most celebrated valleys in the island. They vary from 4 to 10 miles in breadth, and from 40 to 60 miles in length, and are generally populous, fertile, and extensively cultivated. Besides the valleys, there are extensive plains; one to the W. of the capital, being nearly 100 miles across. These are sometimes comparatively barren, but more frequently covered with thick coarse grass.

The country is well watered, even in the high and central regions. The rivers are numerous, and some of them large, winding their way, under different names, 150 or 200 miles from their sources to the sea. The mouths of the rivers are generally choked with sand, and though some of them on the N.W. coast are navigable for small craft for a considerable distance from the coast, they are but little used for purposes of inland navigation. The Sam-baho and Betsibooka are said to be navigable for boats for the distance of 150 miles from the sea. The Ikopa, Maniatra, Matetanana, and Mangoro, are among the largest rivers in Madagascar; the greater part of them find an outlet on the western coast. Extensive lakes stretch along the eastern coast for nearly 200 miles, and at intervals communicate with the sea. Others exist in different parts of the island, and are celebrated for their extent or beauty; some of them being 100 miles long, and occasionally studded with islands, and surrounded by the most luxuriant vegetation. Some of them abound with fish, which are highly prized by the inhabitants residing on their borders. Saririaka (literally, image, or portrait of the ocean); Imania, in the Sakalava country; Insangora, in the province of the Antsianaka; and Itasy, in Imerina, are among the most remarkable.

Fountains and springs are numerous and valuable, especially those situated in the more elevated provinces, where they are called by the people rano-velona (living waters). Besides these, mineral waters and medicinal springs, of great reputed virtue, are occasionally met with; and thermal or hot springs, some of unusually high temperature, are of frequent occurrence.

The geology of Madagascar has yet to be examined and described; and little is at present known respecting it, beyond the aspect of some of its more prominent features in the parts most accessible to Europeans. The successive ridges of mountains, or hills, between the eastern coast and the interior, seem to consist of primary rocks; gneiss, granite, quartz, sometimes of a beautiful pink colour, at others in large transparent masses, are frequently met with; basalt and large beds of clay are also to be seen. In the central and southern parts of the island slate formations and limestone, with imbedded fossils, have been found. Iron of excellent quality is plentiful near the surface of the ground in some of the central provinces, and is so abundant in one of the mountains—Ambohimiangavo—that it is called Iron Mountain. Coal has also been found on more than one spot in the northern parts of the island. No attempts have been made to ascertain the extent or quality of the coal; but iron has long been wrought by the natives into such implements of war, agriculture, or domestic use, as their grade of civilization required. Copper and other minerals are said to exist in the country; but all the copper that is seen in the possession of the natives seems to have been obtained from foreigners.

The climate is very unequal, both in relation to its salubrity and temperature. In the high northern and central districts it is salubrious, and many very aged people are to be met with among the inhabitants. In the northern regions showers of sleet often fall; and in the central districts the ground is occasionally covered with hoar frost, and ice is seen among the mountains during the winter season. The fluctuations of the temperature are often extreme; the thermometer ranging from 40° to 80° in the same day. The seasons of rain are periodical and regular. The climate of the low lands, and the vicinity of the coast throughout the whole islands, is exceedingly unhealthy. The heat during great part of the year is intense, the rain frequent, vegetation rank and luxuriant, and fevers of an intermittent and typhoid character severe, and very frequently fatal to Europeans and the natives of the more salubrious districts. The miasma is most virulent between the months of November and April, and during this time the natives of the interior avoid visiting the coast, and few trading vessels resort to the ports.

The central districts of the island are comparatively sterile, though some are covered with thick tall grass; but all the low land, the intervening regions, and some of the higher portions of the country, are clothed with verdure. Immense forests, 40 or 50 miles in breadth, traverse, with occasional interruptions, parts of nearly all the provinces of the island. These forests abound with large and durable timber, suitable for carpentry and ship-building. Woods valuable for cabinet work, viz., a species of mahogany, and ebony, are also met with. But the botany of Madagascar, regarded from a scientific or economic point of view, presents a rich and extensive field as yet scarcely penetrated. Two botanists from Germany, who visited the island more than thirty years ago, mention that among 400 plants which they collected, 100 were new or undescribed species, and 200 new varieties. The plants already known are rare and valuable, and some of them peculiar to the island; among the latter may be mentioned the Urania speciosa, or traveller's tree, which not only furnishes to the traveller or the labourer, at all seasons, a cool, sweet, and wholesome beverage, but is also extensively employed in the structure of the native dwellings, as well as for a variety of domestic purposes; the Sagus rustic, which provides clothing for so large a portion of the lower classes of the people; several species of cotton; the poisonous Tangena, which has been rendered so destructive of human life among the people; the splendid Poissoniana regia, and the Colvillea racemosa, 40 or 50 feet high, and which, when covered every year, the one with scarlet, the other with yellow flowers, are among the most gorgeous and magnificent of vegetable productions. Also the curious and elegant lattice-leaved plant Oeirandra fenestrata. Several kinds of spices are indigenous, as are also different species of indigo; plants yielding the gum-copal and gum-elastic, and numerous varieties of dye-woods, are also found. Honey and wax abound in the wooded parts of the island.

Among the plants used as food, rice is the most abundant and universal, though arrow-root is the principal article of food among the Sakalavas on the western coast. Besides these, there are yams, manioc, sweet potatoes, and sugar-cane. To these have been added millet, maize, and potatoes. Among the fruits, the cocoa-nut plantain, or banana, of which there are several species peculiar to the island, and of excellent quality; citrons, oranges, melons, mangoes, and peaches. Domestic poultry are abundant; there are also several kinds of pheasants, and a small species of partridge. The guinea-fowl, both wild and tame, exists in considerable numbers. Turkeys, geese, and ducks, and a superior kind of domestic fowl, have been introduced, thrive well, and are exported in large numbers to Mauritius and the Isle of Bourbon. Waterfowl, in considerable abundance, are found among the lakes and marshy parts of the island. Pigeons and parrots inhabit the woods; and among the feathered tribes birds of the falcon genus are frequently seen. A kind of ostrich is said to resort to the most solitary parts of the island; and the existence of an immense bird in the island is proved by the gigantic fossil eggs which have been found near St Augustine's Bay, and are now in the museum at Paris.

Horned cattle, wild and tame, are the most abundant and important of the quadrupeds. The former, in immense herds, roam over the remote, unfrequented parts of the island, seldom disturbed by the hunters. Tame cattle, which are of the buffalo breed, are reared in great numbers as food and for exportation. Sheep in small numbers are fed in Imerina, and pigs in some of the districts. Wild hogs exist in the woods, together with wild dogs and cats, baboons, monkeys, raccoons, lemurs, foxes, and squirrels, and the rare and singular animal the Cheiromyx Madagascariensis, or Aye-aye, of which only one skeleton has yet reached Europe. Tame dogs are kept in the villages; but cats, being considered creatures of evil omen, are rarely seen, and rats and mice consequently swarm in all the habitable parts of the island. Scorpions are numerous, large, and venomous. Few of the serpents are poisonous, though many are unusually large, and are said to attack and destroy a quadruped. Crocodiles abound in the rivers and shallow waters, and often prove fatal to travellers and cattle when fording the streams. They are large and powerful reptiles, measuring 15 or 17, and sometimes even upwards of 20 feet in length. In the southern parts of the island they are said to be exceedingly fierce and dangerous, at times attacking and upsetting the frail canoes of the natives, and preying upon the voyagers; yet such is the superstitious feeling of the people towards the crocodile, that though they would seek protection from it by charms or prayers, they would not injure or attempt to kill one, even in self-defence.

Agriculture is but in its infancy. Rice is cultivated extensively, and the plantations wrought and irrigated with commendable industry and skill; other articles are only cultivated to a small extent, and as supplementary to the rice, which is the staple food of the inhabitants. The implement chiefly in use is a strong iron spade, with a long, straight handle. The labours of the field are chiefly performed by male and female slaves, and oxen are not used, either for tillage or as beasts of burden, excepting when they are driven over the fields to pulverize the soil; and the few horses which they possess are kept for riding.

Though the native manufactures are not numerous, they indicate no deficient capabilities in the people. They fabricate articles of jewellery in gold and silver with much taste and skill, and work well in iron and wood. Their matting, platted or woven by the hand, is not only large and strong, but some kinds fine and beautiful in quality and pattern. Their native stuffs, woven from the fibrous parts of the rufia leaves, and their lambs, or native dresses, in cotton and silk, though wrought in the simplest looms, are often beautiful and durable fabrics.

The commerce of the island, though at present but trifling, is capable of almost unlimited extension. The chief articles of export are—cattle, poultry, rice, rufia cloth, matting, a kind of grass hat, woven by hand, light and durable; gums, and bees' wax. Coffee would grow well in many parts of the island, indigo might be produced to almost any extent, and both might furnish valuable articles of export. Good sugar has been made, but at present the cane is only cultivated for purposes of food, or for distilling from its juice a strong, fiery sort of arrack, the use of which is extended among the people, especially at the ports, and threatens to produce the most disastrous consequences. Other articles of export might be produced in a country so fertile and extensive; and rice might, with but comparatively little additional labour, be raised in much larger quantities than it is produced at present. It is scarcely possible to conceive of a soil more adapted for the cultivation of rice than that of many parts of Madagascar, or more fertile than in favourable seasons it often proves; a single bushel of seed yielding, under their most skilful modes of culture, in a favourable season, one hundred bushels of grain. The crop, when ripe, is reaped, dried, and threshed on the ground. Their process of thrashing consists in taking up large handfuls of rice and straw, and beating the ears on a stone or portion of rock fixed in the midst of a dry, hard, thrashing-floor, prepared for that purpose in some central spot easily accessible from the cultivated fields. When the grain is threshed, it is carried on the heads of slaves to the granaries of their owners. These granaries vary in structure in different parts of the island. On the eastern coast and to the southward, the grain is stored in small houses raised on posts, with projecting ledges, to prevent the access of rats and mice. At the capital and some of the central provinces, the rice is preserved in granaries built of clay, in the form of a cone, with only one aperture on the summit. Some of these granaries are built above ground adjacent to the dwellings of their owners; others are constructed of the same form and dimensions underground, the aperture at the top, generally about a foot below the surface, being covered with a stone, and then the hollow filled up with earth composing the surface of the court-yard, in which the underground granary is usually sunk. Rice by these means is often preserved for a great length of time in excellent condition. With land so fertile and adapted for the growth of such abundant crops of rice as the plantations in the interior often yield, it might be raised for exportation to almost any extent; but the absence of canals and public roads, and all means of land carriage, precludes the possibility of conveying the produce of many of the provinces to the seaports, excepting in comparatively small quantities, and thus impedes very materially the development of the resources of the island. The government has been deterred from constructing or encouraging the formation of public roads, from an apprehension of the facilities they would afford to a hostile force invading the country and seeking to penetrate the interior. The want of good roads, therefore, though detrimental to their commercial interests, is preferred by them as a means of security. This disadvantage might be, to a great extent, compensated in some of the provinces by greater attention to the means of carriage by water. The late Radama commenced the work of connecting some of the principal lakes on the eastern coast by means of a canal, but since his death the work has been discontinued. Boats, better adapted for conveying grain in larger quantities to the places adjacent to the ports, and accessible by water, might be constructed, and would assist in augmenting the exports from the island. Their imports are chiefly cotton and woollen goods, wearing apparel, articles of domestic use, fire-arms, ammunition, wines, and liquors; and to these other articles will doubtless be added as their means of purchasing them increase. The Hovas, the paramount race in the country, exhibit many of the elements of a thoroughly commercial people; keenness in trade seems to be intuitive with many, and the love of bartering almost a passion among all; scarcely any engagement interferes with the market, and multitudes employ themselves in hawking goods of foreign or domestic manufacture about the country for sale. In this occupation many persons of rank and property employ their slaves, giving them a percentage on the amount or the profit of their sales. The dealings of the Hovas are seldom transactions of barter or exchange, but usually money purchases. The only coins they use are Spanish dollars, and very recently five-franc French pieces. For all the cattle exported these silver coins alone are received in payment. The Malagasy have no native currency; and for ordinary use among themselves, the Spanish dollar is cut into halves, quarters, eighths, and smaller portions, even to the seventy-second part of a dollar. The cut pieces of the dollar are weighed in every instance, and a pair of money scales, with their appropriate iron weights, are not only considered essential in every house, but are often seen thrust into the girdles of the men when employed in their ordinary avocations. Money-changers are a distinct class among the traders, and the rate at which whole dollars and cut silver are exchanged fluctuates almost daily at the capital and other principal places, as the one or the other are most in demand. In other parts of the island, especially those remote from the capital or the ports visited by shipping, the trade among the inhabitants is carried on to a great extent by exchange, or barter. Several attempts have been made by the foreign traders to induce the natives to receive gold coin in payment for cattle and other articles, but hitherto without success. The Hovas are not ignorant of the relative value of gold and silver, but at present seem only to value the former for the manufacture of jewellery and other articles of personal ornament.

The government of the country was, until the reign of the late King Radama, exercised by a number of princes, or rulers, independent of each other. The personal will of each ruler was the supreme law, which all living under his authority were required to obey. This government was nevertheless, to a certain extent, representative, and embodied in its practical working a recognition of the will of the people. A number of the principal persons in each province or territory, governed by a single chief, were always associated with the supreme ruler in administering the government, which was maintained according to certain traditional usages recognised alike by all parties. Besides this, appeals were made on all great occasions to the people, who were summoned to public assemblies, called kabarys, when the wishes or requirements of the ruler were made known, and the people were required to express their opinions; and though the latter were generally expected to concur, without questioning, in the proposals that were made, they were thus recognised as parties concerned, and plans were sometimes modified in consequence of the proceedings at the public kabarys.

By the natives themselves Madagascar is divided politically into twenty-two provinces, and these provinces often comprise two or three smaller political or territorial subdivisions, as in the case of Ankova, the central province of the island, and the province of the Hovas, which includes Imerina, Imamo, and Vonizongo. Sometimes the province and its chief town, or village, are designated by the same name, as in Mahavelona and Tamatave, though the inhabitants of both these and the adjoining provinces are called Betsimesaraka. At other times the province and its inhabitants are called by the same name, as in Antsianaka and Betseleco. In other instances a large extent of country is called by one name and its inhabitants by another, as in the S.W. coast, where the country was called Menabe, the inhabitants, Sakalavas; and each large division of the island has its own local usages and laws.

The late King Radama succeeded during his reign, which terminated in 1828, in obtaining, by conquest or treaty, the subjection and adhesion of all the independent rulers in Madagascar, and thus became the acknowledged sovereign of the whole island. And although he allowed no authority or law above his own will, even this arbitrary and absolute rule, exercised as it was in carrying into effect his own enactments, and supported, moreover, by the military organizations introduced among the Hovas during his reign, was nevertheless administered with a large measure of regard to previously existing usages among the people. The system of government established by Radama has, with but slight alteration, been continued by his successor. The present government of Madagascar may therefore be regarded as a sort of combination of pure military despotism and limited monarchy; the former, though greatly preponderating, being modified by certain acknowledged requirements from the sovereign, and traditional and hereditary rights and usages on the part of the people. The sovereign of Madagascar claims nominally the right and authority to do whatever he pleases with the lives and property of his subjects; but traditions and customs have in a number of instances the force of law, which the sovereign deems it needful to respect; and to some extent the opinion of the people, as expressed through their subordinate and local authorities, is considered, and their will to a certain extent regarded. For though the power of the sovereign is nominally absolute, and he is lord of the soil, owner of all property, and master of all the people, and disobedience to his orders would be followed by confiscation of property, loss of liberty, and most likely of life, long-established usages seem to require the appearance at least of equity and justice in the proceedings of the ruler, and the exercise of this power conformably with acknowledged rights of the people. No sovereign would feel himself safe whose rule was condemned by the majority of his people; but a sovereign whose rule was wise and just would be regarded with admiration and veneration, as a being almost more than human. On one occasion a sovereign of this character was apparently near his death, and the diviners said that a human sacrifice was required for the preservation of his life. When this was made known to the people, an individual came forward and offered to die for the preservation of his sovereign; his offer was accepted, though his life was ultimately spared.

The duties of the sovereign are onerous and varied. He is not only supreme ruler, ordering all affairs, enacting all laws, and superintending their execution; he is also supreme judge, and punishment of death can only be inflicted by his authority; he is likewise commander-in-chief of all the forces of the kingdom; and he is, moreover, chief priest, officiating personally in the religious rites at the national festivals. He has no officially appointed council, but may call to his assistance whomsoever he chooses, consult them unitedly or separately as he pleases, and follow their advice or his own as he deems preferable. Radama, it is said, was accustomed to consult his chief officers repeatedly in reference to any measures of policy which he was contemplating, and then decide according to his own judgment. The sovereignty is hereditary, as are also most of the offices of the government; yet both rank and office are acquired by merit. In both cases they are the gift of the sovereign, but grade in society descends hereditarily. Though the sovereignty is hereditary, the ruling sovereign has the right of nominating his successor, with such limitations and conditions as he may judge fit, and nothing less than armed insurrection would set aside such nomination, if officially or publicly announced to the people. The arming and training the troops of Madagascar according to the European manner, accomplished by Radama about thirty years ago, as well as the uniting of the whole island under one sovereignty, changed to a great extent the system of government, which is now, considering the partial civilization of the people, elaborately organized and highly centralized. The rank in the army is reckoned by numbers, commencing with the privates, whose rank is 1, and rising through all the intermediate grades in the service to that of the commander-in-chief, whose rank is 14, and is the highest beneath the sovereign. The same gradations of rank extend to all civil officers of the government, and impart a military character to the whole. The rank of any individual is derived from the sovereign, by whom it may be increased on account of merit, or reduced by way of fine or penalty for offence. In some of the provinces, hereditary rulers still exercise jurisdiction; but the governors of these are usually appointed by the sovereign, and are at the same time chief commanders of the military posts in the districts. The laws or edicts of the sovereign are proclaimed to the people in the capital, and the country immediately adjacent, by the sovereign in person, or by some of the supreme judges or other high officers. On these occasions the people are summoned to attend, and are generally expected to express their assent, or to propose any alterations they may desire. The laws and requirements of the sovereign are sent to the governors or chiefs of the provinces by regular messengers, and are promulgated publicly to the people, generally in the market-place; and it devolves on the heads of thousands and heads of hundreds to secure their due observance in their respective villages. There is also a sort of military police charged with maintaining order, preventing theft, arresting delinquents, &c.

Justice is administered by magistrates or judges appointed by the sovereign; the sittings of the judges are public, generally in the open air. The ordeal of the tangena, or drinking of poison-water, is very frequently resorted to in order to prove the innocence or guilt of the parties accused. The revenue of the sovereign is limited as compared with the amount of property in the island, the riches of many of the nobles, as well as the numbers of persons in government employ. The want of a more ample revenue operates unfavourably upon the people, leading often to great oppression,—large supplies, viz., provision for the army, felling timber, quarrying stones, and all kinds of public work, are required to be furnished without any payment whatever. The people are not insensible to the advantages of good government, but would much prefer a better mode of sustaining it, as it is said that a tax, even to one-fourth of the produce of the land, would be less oppressive than the present system. The revenue of the sovereign is derived from spoil taken in war, chiefly cattle and slaves; donations of money on certain occasions, as acknowledgments of sovereignty; a tenth of all the produce of the country; a sort of poll-tax on all slaves; one-fifth of the profits of goods taken to the capital and sold, excepting in public market; and a duty of 10 per cent. on all foreign imports and exports; the first-fruits of harvest, an annual tax on each spade, as a sort of rental for the land cultivated, and a small tax on each house. In addition to these sources of revenue, a portion of all fines imposed by the judges, one-third of the price of all persons sold into slavery on account of debt, and the property of all who die in consequence of drinking the tangena, or poison-water, belongs to the sovereign. The court of the sovereign at the capital of the kingdom is maintained in considerable pomp, and with numerous attendants. The troops of the sovereign are estimated at 40,000 men, a considerable proportion of whom are armed with muskets; and some idea of the number of government employés, and of the progress of education under the patronage of Radama, may be gathered from the fact that, while in the year 1818, when the first missionary arrived in the island, the king (Radama) employed only one writer, in 1836, when the missionaries left, no fewer than 4000 writers were employed by the queen's government.

The religious opinions of the Malagasy are exceedingly vague, indefinite, and crude, their mythology disjointed and fragmentary, and their acts of worship apparently unimpressive and infrequent. Their idols, or objects of superstitious regard, make scarcely any appeal to the senses or feelings, except to their fears; nevertheless, they cling tenaciously to the creed or belief which has been handed down from their ancestors, and surrender themselves unscrupulously to its influence. They are not destitute of ideas respecting a supreme, invisible, and mighty spiritual being, whom they call God; yet it is exceedingly difficult to arrive at the exact ideas which they associate with the word, as it is used for objects utterly incompatible with each other. Their religion seems to consist in a belief in the power of the spirits of their ancestors; hence, the spirits of the ancestors of the reigning family are regarded as among the chief objects of national worship and trust. Other objects of worship seem rather to be charms than idols. Their belief in charms of various kinds is universal, as is also their belief in witchcraft, sorcery, and divination, and likewise in a species of fatalism, or stern, inevitable, immutable destiny. They have no temples, or altars, or priesthood; their visible objects of worship are kept in houses considered sacred, and prohibited, except to certain persons appointed as their keepers. Offerings, or presents, are made to those having the custody of the idols, and requests are preferred; but they are generally brief ejaculations, deprecating anger, and imploring wealth or some other temporal good. Most of their calamities are ascribed to sorcery, or the agency of invisible and malignant beings, against whom charms alone afford protection; and almost every transaction of life, and often even life itself, is dependent on divination; as in the event of birth on days esteemed lucky, or the reverse, in which case it depends on the diviner of the infant's destiny whether or not it is to be permitted to live. Their ordeals are exceedingly sanguinary, delusive, and cruel, and their religion has in no degree tended to enlighten the understanding, or improve the character of its adherents; while it has, so far as it has operated, retarded their civilization. Their ideas of a future state are as dark and unsatisfactory as their religion during their present life; not that they are destitute of all belief of a future life, but it is uncertain, unsatisfactory, and unwelcome, and death at times as alarming as irresistible. The ceremonies connected with death and interment are numerous and costly; and the tombs of their chiefs (piles of stones of large dimensions) are among the most striking and impressive of their antiquities.

It has been said, that at one time the Arabic language was understood and written by a few individuals, probably of Arabic descent, residing on the south-eastern coast; but previously to the year 1820 education and letters were unknown in Madagascar; neither had they any hieroglyphic or picture writing, or any of the rudier methods of recording events which have prevailed among some nations in the early periods of their history. At the time above mentioned, the English missionaries of the London Missionary Society commenced their labours at the capital, under the auspices of the king, and with all the assistance he was able to afford them. They formed an alphabet, and fixed the orthography for the language, adopting the common European characters to express the native sounds; subsequently they prepared grammars and vocabularies of the language, printed elementary books, and finally translated the Bible into the Malagasy language. Their efforts to teach reading and writing were at first attended with great difficulties, on account of the great aversion of the people to all innovation in their established usages, and from an apprehension of the liberty and safety of their children, as few foreigners, excepting slave-traders, had visited the capital. These difficulties were, however, at length overcome; and during the reign of Radama the schools were not only increased in the capital, but extended to the provinces, and it is estimated that 10,000 or 15,000 scholars were educated. After the death of Radama, the enlightened patron of education among his people, schools and teaching were discouraged, and in a few years entirely prohibited throughout the island. But so self-evident were the advantages and enjoyments of education, and such the earnest desire of those who already possessed them to perpetuate it, that although no public means of education existed, it seems to have been considered as a part of parental duty to educate the children, especially the boys in each family. The degree of proficiency attained by the men and boys belonging to the families of those who had been originally taught in the schools of the mission, shows that great attention and time must have been devoted to their instruction; and although the present government (1857) is not favourable to education, the Hovas, the only portion of the inhabitants among whom it has ever prevailed, seem determined that it shall not be lost, while multitudes of the young are eager for instruction and books. A number of them are very imperfectly acquainted with English; and had the schools continued, many would before this have acquired a degree of proficiency which would have placed within their reach the rich treasures which that language contains. As it is, considering the prohibition of public schools by the government, the amount of education among the Hovas is remarkable. All books treating on the subject of religion being prohibited, and even their possession subjecting to very severe penalties, while few were prepared by the missionaries in which religion was omitted, the people may be said to be almost destitute of books; still, so far as the Hovas are concerned, they are not an uneducated people. The entire Bible, a translation of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, and a number of other books of a Christian and educational character exist in the Malagasy language, together with grammars and dictionaries prepared by the missionaries during their residence upon the island.

The early history of Madagascar is necessarily involved in great obscurity on account of the absence of all records among the people themselves. The name of the island is unknown among the natives, and is only adopted by them as the term by which foreigners designated their country. It was called Serandah by the Moors and Arabs, by whom it was visited for the purposes of trade long before it was discovered by Europeans. The inhabitants of Europe were made acquainted with its existence at the close of the thirteenth century by the publication of the travels of Marco Polo; and it is said to have been discovered by Europeans in the year 1506. By the Portuguese it was called the Island of St Lawrence, probably in honour of the saint on whose day in the calendar it was discovered. The Portuguese formed a settlement on the coast in 1508. By the French, during the reign of Henri IV., it was called Isle Dauphine. By Marco Polo it was designated Magaster; and by the English it seems always to have been called by the name it now bears. The colony settled by the Portuguese was destroyed by the French, who subsequently formed their first settlement in the island in 1642, by virtue of a patent from Cardinal Richelieu to a Captain Rivault, who, associated with others, formed the French East India Company. It is stated by Flacourt that at that time the English had a settlement of 200 men at St Augustine's Bay; and it is certain that considerable efforts were in progress for colonizing in Madagascar during the early part of the reign of Charles I., but in the troubles of subsequent periods it appears to have been lost sight of. The French formed settlements at different times, which continued for unequal periods during 100 years, but the last was abandoned about 1740. In the beginning of the present century, and during the administration of General Decaen, the last French governor of Mauritius, French agents were sent to Tamatave and Foule Pointe to protect the French traders, and facilitate commercial intercourse with the people, who were then regarded as proprietors of the country. These factories, or establishments for the protection of trade, continued till the capture of Mauritius and its dependencies by the English in 1810. On the 17th of February 1811, a British frigate proceeded to Madagascar, and M. Sylvan Roux, the French commander at Tamatave, surrendered to the officers sent down, and the places were occupied by British troops. A settlement was afterwards commenced by the English at Port Loquez, in the north, and a tract of land purchased from the chiefs. But about this time the British government made proposals to Radama, the sovereign of the Hovas, and the most powerful ruler in the island, to abolish the trade in slaves from Madagascar. In 1818 this object was secured by a treaty, and by this treaty the English ceded to Radama all claim to any part of Madagascar derived from the French by conquest, or obtained from the natives by purchase; and Madagascar was declared to be an independent country. The French subsequently claimed certain portions of the eastern coast; but Radama refused to allow their claim, affirming that he alone was sovereign of Madagascar, and they were strangers and foreigners. In 1829 an expedition under M. Gourbeyre was sent, consisting, it is said, of 1500 troops, to take possession of some parts of the coast; and though they succeeded in destroying the village and fort at Tamatave, burning the habitations and killing vast numbers of the people, the resistance they met with at Foule Pointe obliged them to embark with loss, and finally sail from the coast. No attempt has since been made by the French to obtain possession by force of any portion of the Island of Madagascar; the attack on Tamatave in 1846 being caused altogether by the differences between the native rulers and the resident foreign traders.

The reign of Radama, which commenced in 1810, and terminated by his death in 1828, at the early age of thirty-six, was the most important and eventful period in the history of Madagascar. The treaty with England not only secured the abolition of the slave trade, which had become a source of great misery and injury to the people, but was associated with more intimate and friendly relations with that country than had ever existed between the people and any civilized nation; it was followed by the introduction of more honourable commerce and various productions of civilized countries, besides the introduction of European arms and tactics. This last, by rendering other powers subject to the sovereign of the Hovas, united the whole population under one government. A number of youths were sent to Mauritius, and others to England, for education and instruction in the arts of civilized life; and European artisans, sent out by the Missionary Society, introduced several of the most useful handicrafts among the people. Education commenced, and its benefits were widely extended. The power of superstition, so unfavourable to the advancement of the people, was undermined, and its influence, by the shrewdness and address of the sovereign, greatly impaired. Besides the introduction of letters and the useful arts, the missionaries had instructed the people in the Christian religion, and not only was the knowledge of the chief distinguishing truths of Christianity very generally diffused among the inhabitants of the central province, where the missionaries resided, but some few of the people appeared to have adopted in sincerity the faith of their teachers. But on the death of Radama, and the assassination of a number of his friends, including the young Christian prince whom he had nominated as his successor, the party who raised the present queen to supreme power, and administered the government of the kingdom, pursued a course directly opposed to the policy of Radama. Intercourse with Europeans was restricted and avoided, all the innovations of Radama were disapproved, and every effort made to revive ancient usages and the former superstitions of the country. The idols and their keepers were restored to the power and influence they had originally exercised; and it seemed to be the object of the authorities to restore the country to the state in which it was prior to the arrival and instructions of the Europeans, except in regard to the slave trade, which was still forbidden, and the military organization of the forces after the European manner, which was still continued. The benefits of commerce with Europeans were also so obvious and abundant, that efforts were made to preserve and increase them; but beyond this they seemed unwilling to extend their connection with foreigners. Commercial intercourse was, in consequence of the attack of the French and English on Tamatave in 1846, discontinued for several years, and though restored in 1853, the existing authorities have not evinced any desire for more intimate or extended intercourse with Europeans.

The revival of the influence of the ancient superstitions of the country, and other motives, led to the prohibition of religious teaching, and threatened with the severest penalty the profession of the Christian faith, and the practice of any part of Christian worship by any native in Madagascar. The missionaries left the island in 1836; and after this the authorities appear to have determined to use every means in their power to prevent the continuance of Christianity among the people, and a system of persecution, as severe as any through which the disciples of Christ have passed in former ages, was commenced in Madagascar. Multitudes have been sentenced to fines and confiscation, loss of rank and hard labour; others have been sold into irredeemable slavery, or imprisoned in fetters. Some have Maddaloni died in chains from starvation; others from drinking the poison-water; others have been put to death by spearing or hanging. Some have been burnt alive; others have been thrown from steep rocky precipices, and their mangled remains left a prey for the dogs. Numbers have thus honoured the Christian faith by the blameless consistency of their lives, and the heroic constancy and holy fortitude of their deaths. Christianity, nurtured by the teachings of the few portions of the Bible still existing among them, continues. It is said that the young prince, the queen's only child, and heir-apparent to the throne, is himself a Christian, and has fully and publicly identified himself with the Christians, and afforded them all the protection and encouragement which his rank and influence affords. Though the laws against Christianity are not repealed, there is no active persecution, and none have for several years past been put to death on account of their religion.