and the Caremboulis. Their country is- little cultivate, but
abounds in wood and pasturage. Their neighbours in the
interior are the Machieores. The country, about the Bay of
St. Augustine is little known: it is said...to. hebarren. The
people have the reputation of being hospitable. It is here
that we ought to look for Kafirs: the meagre notices we
have of the inhabitants by no means agree with the supposition
that they are allied to that most savage of the African
nations. -
From Mouroundava to Ancouala, viz. all the north-western
coast of Madagascar, is the country of tbeBeclaves or Sa-
kalavas, who have been commonly said to be a people of
Arabian origin. The ports of Monzangaye and Bombetoe
are in their country, where a great traffic is carried on with
Zanguebar and Mozambique. Arab .traders are said tp be
settled in the towns, a fact which' is much more ^ o l^ ) le _
than the origin of the people from Arabia. Monzangaye is
said to contain 40,000 souls. The Seeiaves were the most
powerful people in the island before the victories of Radama
and the Hovas. There are in this country many Mohammedans,
who have built mosques and schools for educating
children in the tenets and learning of Islam.
This completes the- list of littoral tribes in Madagascar.
Others are enumerated as inhabiting the inland countries.
The inland tribes are the Ambanivoule&or Antambamvonfeb
« people living at the feetof mountains covered hrith îsainlïpqs.^
The third tract reckoning from the coast is occupied by the
Amayes or Antamayes, the Andrantsaïs, and the-Antinaxes.
The Antamayes, whom Abbé Rochon mistook for Arabs,
resemble the Malays in features and complexion, and .blacken
their teeth with betel. They inhabit a high steppe between
two ranges of mountains eighty leagues in length; their plains
are covered with flocks, and their villages are situated on
hills. The Andrantsaïs are a pastoral people, but rude and
of cowardly character. In their villages are sometimes born
dwarfs, and this may be the race that has been reputed to
be a nation of dwarfs, and described by old writers under the
name of Kimos or Quimos, They ignore any such epithet.
M, Fressange saw one dwarf from this country, but says that
they are Only seen occasionally, and that no race of dwarfs
exists in Madagascar.
Lastly, in the ëëiifre'of the island is the .country of the
Hovabs or Ankovas> the mdstcivifeedand powerful of the tribes
of Madagascar who under their late King Radama, the Char-
lemam or the Czar Peter of the Maleeasses, seemed destined
to assume the station^of a civilised and Christian people.
Ankova, or the country of the Hovas, is the most important
country, though of no great extent, in the island of
Madagascar. Its inhabitants are'the most industoiéaé, energetic,
and intelligent; and they haVe Required a preponderant
-swny over the whole island, which, if ho European power
interferes, is likely to attain as firm a footing as the dominion
of the Aztecas in Mexico.
Thé Hovas inhabit a table-land or ^eppe in the midst iof
Madagascar, which from its want of trees is in appearance,
especially in the dry and1 cold season, sterile5 and dreary.
Though in great part untilied, it yet supports a large; population.
- In the rainy and warnrleason vegetation is very rapid;
and the valleys, then carpeted with the liveliest green, are
rich in vegetation/ Ankova; as we are informed by Mr. Ellis;
is divided-in to three principahdiStridtS, Imèrina, Itiiamo, and
Vanizèngö. Imerina was « the anciertt Country of Radama :
thé“Wôi! Other provinces were added to* the kingdom o# the
Hovas by his father. The capital, Tananarivd; Is ^tuated on
the summit of a loug hill 5Ö0 feet in elevation above the
surroundHig^country, and $ j » as; it is àupposèd, above th l
level óf the dea. Its name signifies,à. thousand %jwns.# It
iS: Surrbunded51 by mountains distinguished/as (he sites óf
legendary tales, which tocord the febufefüs achievements of
giants and heroes tile ancestors''óf thè^Vacej’ V a the hills
are ancient altars 'erected by the: 1 foen of ^ former generations
to the memory and worship of the - manes of the deceased'
where prayers and sacrifiées are stilt petfortoed or havé'beën
performed until a very late period. ; On theUops of these
mountains are still perceived the* véstigèë' of ancient villages.
* T a n a n a , a town, and a rw o } a thousand.
o 2