#0 T,HE I SL E O F M A D AGJAS C AR.
minerais occur* among 'Which arc beds of pure rock cryftal,. often ufed
for opffiéél purpôfesÿ ahd éfrbnèoufly ftyled Brazil pebble*, and it is, laid
three kinds of gold ore,with topazes, fapphirës, emeralds, ànd ipottôd.j-àlf-
përs, commonly called blood ftonés. The natives are ràther above the
middlbffattfre, and are of various origins. ; föme being ■ negroes, "others
tavirney or cöppÖr coloured ; but the ôpmpiekion of th e .‘greater.; part is
olive; and it wouldTeem that the Arabs, Ip., Very wlÿdabwek penetrated
very far into Africa, èfpeciâlly -if the Kouflis or Kaffers above. Hbs Cape
of Good Hope be of'Arabian extïadt, as Mr. Barrow mfimiateS>ra
topic of curiôùs enquiry, which might lead to new views of-Adfcican
population and manners: Rochon thews that prapenfity.'for feyages
which has recently difgraeed French writer?, and of which it is to 'be
prefumed the nation is radically cured, the bleeding having heeavproportioned
to the fever. His arguments prove that favag.es are happy,
bècàufe they have no care, üföï fo«ethbnghtv which is very .true, .and^o
is every brute animal. The French fettlement of Fort Dauphin is in
the S. È. extremity of the ifland, and the French are chiefly acquainted
with the fouthem part. Almoft all the villages are. built Upon •• eminences,
and furrounded by two rows of ftrong palifades,wïtbià which
there is a parapet; of earth, four feet in height "; and fdfiâetimés there
is a ditch, ten feet in breadth and fix in depth. Their chiefs-are'only
known by their red caps, Worn by thé botöörón^otefrs'; ‘and'hf'Which
there is a noted manüfaâûre at'Tunis* Their auffrórity1 is* hiconfide r-
able, yet they are fomètimes regarded as proprietors ôf the land, and
receive a fmall quit-rent. Writing is ndt unknown, and there aye
fóme hiftorical books in the native tongues ; but their learned men
whom they call ombiafes ufe only the Arabic fchara&ers. In the province
of Matatan are many magician?, greatly dreaded by the'igbprant
natives. The paper is made of papyrus, which the Madagaffes caliranga-
fanga ; and the ink is the decodion of a certain bark. The whole ifland
is faid to have been conquered by thd Arabs about three hundred "years
« It is quarried in huge blocks near the bay o f Antongil, and alfo in the mountains of Ambotif-
menes jn the northern part of the ifle. Rochon, p. 347.
ago:
THE- IiSfeLE OF’ .MADAGASCAR.
ago:, but th'eifc .<Jfirft fetn.emfehts^ here and ihMtiutfiem Africa,» may be
nearly* as ancientx as^thoffeyin Ab^fi*nja^ andy of Mahometanifin there'
; are.only Taint traces? Fr.om^th»^||ojuntl©f f,Rocho» „the traditions of
many tribes pcd|®to- a,vTry ^ l y Arabja^ioTlgjh. ^e'ni@||egdrdifl;ylei
®*‘&®’aladriaps-: and ’the^Anacapdrij '-are tdef^hdad 'from ^ t^i’pfe^rfd-'black
women. -The] nativeThlToksTSge} clafled->as*u||bp.,hHants; of. the ,ancieilt
chiefs; and; preferv,e their rightj©3^^|l,3]^g;ai)im‘aisy^'^fe!p^^||E^p6ter1 cafes
‘ by the Roaridrtans, W%i regtrd the proTefl^^q^l^^l^ a-S'the moft
honourable. ''Thedne^ctheijifei cannot kill animals, bfrt hay^jTqfi^exj|in-
t vilkges’:uhYndwnitQ-the Ontzoa; or'-third» eaftiif^b^l^Mdeyes^iOr. iloft
men, ate Haves by extra&ion. They fuppofe that »ftven ^©m^Htpri-
f^ifaafly created, were t-ht^ mothers df? t<lfe d®%r^f,.{'oafbs-;> andjfffi^e|,ikal
faint but -firigulaT ‘.refen^J^beiof Hindoo'traduibns^Ar.0; the.. tawney
tribes from Hindoftan, or have Ifffefe'Vnoildks >ariTeh|fi#fnl commei?^pr
-in’tercGuffe f TdeaS' of equality are unknown ;' an|tth'n.i©ymr;,Gafts never
afpire to Be Polygamy fpelrfeb^^ned to the 'chiefs. $ iihe wq-
'men are lively and chearful, and form the 'cM%f‘ delight of1 their huf-
bandsf: 'The aeKievemebts of The Frenchin Madagafcar* ha'vtiheon derailed
by many off their writers, fra'rriTlkcbuft-'t'o '^tEhe 'nfdft
uSgmar perffapsW'that'bfTOePbnfli adVl^^^^^§m\b1wIk;y,’'w®^^re-
ftending to-effablTfli an ^ihnepend’ehSJppwlr li'm4hg'TKetriawdsf^&y>at-
tackedby a »detachment fentTronv^e-Ifle, of»Trange»/.an'dwfla.in..onrthe
2^Jf'May,'i-786sa more
be the featsrpf'a* powerful" independent ?Al^4rchy.; |
: The knowledge thati,w^'A®feH^? the-pJantSj ofliW^dagiaftar .fchiefly
derived from. a few French hfiwi^g^f^gheS^&tMyt i s p r i n cipal,
having’ giverijta lift of thye^dlfourj hundred'. t.A^n^'imnatel^i^w-
eveP he inentions \ohlytithe5r 1 native \name^gud) defcsK^taemi ok|^n-
cied refemblances in their Tbtms or medial ptpp,qEti'^vtl®||t|^&,Af, .£u-
TOpe. Hence thhgreaterpatt are ;wfe^lfC,nrjint^-i^ilne^ndr
|L 3 See his Memoirs, London, 1790, two vols 4C0, v. ii. p. 93, &c. an'l ‘Roch'on’s Madagafcar,
p 253. The. laft author, p." 164, gives:a curious account qf the Kimo5,»a‘, ^ i 0B of dwarfs,; liying
-»hidft inaCcefiible rocks.( | _-g
V O L . I I , s •fome