it properly belongs, for in all these the Malay
races dominate. The African tribes in Madagascar
are related to the Kaffirs, partly Asiatic,
and not fairly negro. For a moment it may
seem strange that an island close under the
wing of Africa should be detached from that
continent, and classed with countries separated
from it by the whole breadth of the Indian
Ocean. It will be remembered, however, that
an island depends for its population upon
winds and currents, and in the course of
nature these would bring Malays to Madagascar.
There, then, a branch of the Malay
family has long been settled under the name
of Ovahs. They chiefly occupy the eastern side
and the interior, while on the west coasts are
the strongholds of the Sakalane, or blacker
natives. Since nearly the whole of Madagascar
lies within the southern tropic, we
shall not err in giving the island credit for a
luxuriant jungle, to which we may add
swamps and a very African reputation for a
pestilential atmosphere. Except a bit outside
the tropic, and a strip of north-east coast, with
some of the high cleared land in the interior,
including that immediately round the capital,
Tananariva, the whole island is said to be
dangerous to untried European constitutions.
Rice is the staple diet of the Malay population.

Of course, until the Cape of Good Hope
had been doubled, Madagascar would not lie
much in the track of Europeans. Arab and
Indian traders visited the place, and Europe
heard of it through Marco Polo. That was
all. When the Cape was doubled by the
Portuguese, the ships of Portugal soon touched
at Madagascar, and there was a settlement
established on the island. We have analogies
to guide us in imagining how Portuguese
settlers would act towards the natives, who
eventually rose against them, and swept them
off with a general massacre. As at the
Cape, so at Madagascar, the Dutch East
India Company followed the Portuguese.
The Dutch ships had a rendezvous at Madagascar,
but no settlement was founded.
Among the last acts of Richelieu for the
extension of French commercial power, was
a patent granted to the "French East
India Company," which proceeded, in 1642,
through Governor Pronis, to take possession
of Madagascar in the king's name, and to
form an establishment on a suitable spot,
capable of being fortified, &c. It was then
that the French took possession of Antongil
Bay, and the small adjacent island of St.
Mary's; which island to this day is occupied
by France. It lies off the eastern coast. On
the same side of Madagascar, but at a distant
point, a spot was occupied on the main-land,
called Lucia or Monghasia, which was to be
the chief station for trade. Near this place,
therefore, the French built their fort—Fort
Dauphin. These positions were not forcibly
taken, but bought of the petty chieftains on
the coast. A great number of natives having
enlisted themselves in the service of the
colony, Governor Pronis rewarded their good
faith by selling them as slaves to the Dutch
governor of the Mauritius, Van der Meister.
Van der Meister was no gainer, for the Malagasy
were so closely packed that the greater
part of them died on their passage, and the
rest, on arriving at the Mauritius, fled into
the woods, where they became wild men, very
hard to capture. After this the natives of
Madagascar fled inland whenever a ship cast
anchor. This was commerce.

Governor Pronis passed away, and Governor
Flacourt ruled in his stead; who sought to
extend commerce, or dominion, by fire and
sword. After him other governors outraged
the natives. In 1667 the French East India
Company appointed the Marquis de Mondevergue
to the command of all their settlements
beyond the equator, and named Madagascar
as his seat of government. He arrived
with a fleet of ten vessels at Fort Dauphin,
and there caused himself to be acknowledged
admiral and governor of the French territories
in the East. The Marquis de Mondevergue
took pains to reconcile the natives, and
found them altogether sensible to kindness.
A powerful chief, Dion Monango, who had
plagued the colonists, swore faith and obedience
to the new governor. In 1670 the
French East India Company transferred the
sovereignity of Madagascar to the King of
France. The Marquis was superseded by a
new " admiral and general, with the authority
of viceroy," Governor la Haye, who ordered
all chieftains to submit to France, or fight.
They fought, and swept the French away.

In the same year that Governor Pronis
arrived at Madagascar, Flacourt, his successor,
who wrote a history of the island,
says that the English had a military settlement
at St. Augustine's Bay, consisting of
two hundred men; of which number fifty
perished by fever in two years. This settlement
is not mentioned in an English account
of Madagascar, published in 1644, where it is,
however, stated that the English Government
had looked with longing eyes upon the place:
"Prince Rupert going into France and
Germany about his weighty affairs, in the
meantime, it was thought fit and concluded
upon, that the Earl of Arundel, earl-marshal
of England, should go governor for Madagascar,
it being the most famous place in the
world for a magazine. This noble earl hath
written a book to that purpose, and allowed
weekly means of subsistence to divers seamen,
who have good judgment and experience all
over the Oriental seas, and at Madagascar.
This honourable earl was in such resolution
and readiness, that there were printed bills
put up on the pillars of the Royal Exchange,
and in other parts of the City, that abundantly
showed his forwardness in promoting a plantation
in Madagascar; but a new parliament
being called, it put a stop to the design of
Madagascar."

After the expulsion of the French in the