Throughout the whole.- territory of Ankova altars $ are frequently
seen on the summits of hills.. Their usual name is
Vazimba, a term long known in the history? of Madagascar.
It is supposed to imply the dwellings of the Vazimbas, who
are the Pelasgi of Madagascar, the fabulous aborigines pf
the country who there dwelt and performed mighty works in
days of yore,- In the.valleys and low grounds ricej; is.-euifri
vated ; in the bogs rushes, while the higher levels and the
sides of hills are planted with manioc, sweet potatoes, gourds,
sugar-canes, and beans. • The capital is almost surrounded
by the sinuosities of the . great river Ikiopay which rises to
the east, and uniting itself to the Betsiboka,; falls into thp
western sea not far from Mananjary.
Imerina originally consisted .of four distinct and separate kingdoms
which were conquered and united by one of the apcepr
tors of Radama, whose name was Andriamasinavalona. The
country is divided into small districts, the names of which,
according to Mr. Ellis, involve primarily the idea of» clans,
families* or classes of people. The same clan is found in different
districts in some examples. The custom of designating
districts from clans or families prevails also, as the. i same
writer observes, in the Polynesian islands.
Mr. Ellis has given the following estimate of the population
of Madagascar as distributed between the principal tribes
enumerated by him.
The Hovas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . wj. tss. . > -.,^.'w - 7&Q,OQ0
The Sakalavas, including the Bazanazars and the
Antsianaka .. ............. ....................................... 1,200,000
The Betsileo ............................................................. 1,50,Q,0iGQ
The Betanimena and Betsimisaraka....................... 1,000,000
Total.......... 4,450,000
Paragraph 2.—Of the Vazimbas, reputed Aborigines of the
Interior.
The Vazimbas were a people whose existence is now only
historical, or rather traditionary. They are only known as a
people of S riquityV’to whomTthe erection of rude villages
and of'-sepulchre^iri 4he* interior parts' of the island is' attributed
: the-temains of their ancient wörks have’been held £©¥
mariy-generafridns-' in profound TespdiÉ* 'Ey^the present inhabit
tantsy ‘whoascribe/ them' tè a race lo ö ^ a ^ o 'extinct. “ To
this-race,” ^a^suMpi.Edlis^ ^a'highbr antiquity seëins tbbelong
than to any of>4hej'tribes at'present ^inhabiting Madagascar.
All thath’$known'resptect-ihg them is that, they dwelt in the
interior of thé island, and have been extertninated or lost by
intermixture with other tribes. ”*
The traditional account, < as the same writer informs us* of
these Vazimbas' is that'thdy were a race of people a little'
below the common stature, havimga remartóbly thiii and flat
configuration of the head, whitt was narrow in the forehead.
Their graves reseruble small harroWs örgêntle ■elevations of
Mth an upright stone ïpMoèdï^n or near the ceiitrey and
a mm her usf3 Smaller i stones rudely thrown together. ' * Mr.
Effis cOnjeetureS that the Vazimbas, who weire h, people'of
small stature, were thertrifefei described byRoehoUand other
writers under the name Jof Kimos or Quimos, -n,S a nationof
-pigmiesi ’ If that* ccmjeetitre is well-founded, tlfe description
of,the Kimos must have been greatly exaggerated?* Rochon
says of them that they were a nation dwelling in the interior
of Madagascar, averaging threfe3 feet Sfx>rincheShiti statUrej
and of lighter colour than the Negroes ; their hair short and
^0011^, theh- arms u n u ^ lly long..v<>He, adds that fchfe females
fed their children on cow^s milk; tb it th ^ -’are^uaTiö intèl-
leötdaMaculties to the other inhabitants of thé ristend'; that
they ate ‘activa# industrious, . and courageous j that they manufacture
iron and steel/3 of which they make lanèes and
assagays; that they have villages on the summits of high
mountains, live chiefly on vegetables, and rear great quantities
of cattle; that they hold no communication with the
other inhabitants, but are perfectly peaceable unless provoked
and attacked. “ At the distance of two or three dav^journey
from Fort-Dauphin are several small barrows or hillocks,
owing their origin to a former massacre of these Kimos.” It
* Vol. ii. c. l.