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THE ANTANANARIVO ANNUAL AND MADAGASCAR MAGAZINE. A RECORD OF INFORMATION ON THE TOPOGRAPHY AND NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF MADAGASCAR, AND THE CUSTOMS, TRADITIONS, LANGUAGE. AND RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF ITS PEOPLE. EDITED BY THE Rev. J. SIBREE, F.R.G.S., AND Rev; R. BARON, F.G.S., F.L.S., Missionmies of the .I;,.M.S. ;60. XVIII.-~bri~tma~, J894. (PART II. OF VOL. V.J ANTANANARIVO: PRINTED AT THE L.M.S. PRESS. 1894. Alt rights reserved. THl!l ANT.ANAN.ABIVO · ANNUAL. No. XVII. .AntananariV·O: L.M.S. Press. London: John Haddon & Co., 3 and 4, Bouverie Street, Fleet Street. .A.N excellent number, containing several articles of general interest in addition to others designed for experts. This .Annual deserves a much wider circulation. nntananatt\.lo : F THE LONDON M1ss10NARY SOCIETY PRINTED AT THE PRESS O BY MALAGASY PRINTERS, iii. CONTENTS. CIII PAGE 1.-THE:tjVAZIMBA: THE EARLIER INHABITANTS OF IMERINA. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF M. GRANDIDIER BY REV. J. SIRREE •• • ••••••••. • • • .•• . •• • . ••• 129 2.-RECENT RESEARCHES IN MADAGASCARIAN PAL.LE­ ONTOLOGY : GLIMPSES OF THE EARLIER ANIMAL LIFE OF THE ISLAND. • • • • • • • • • • . • • • • • • • • • • • • •••• •. , • • • • • • • • • . • • 136 3.-THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE MALAGASY AND MALAYAN LANGUAGES. TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF DR. RENWARD BRANDSTETTER RY REV. R. BARON ..•.............•.••... ··•··· .. ..•.•• .•.... ... .. .. 155 4.-A CORRECTED LIST OF THE BIRDS· OF MADAGASCAR. BY REV. J. SIBREE . • . • . • . • • . • . .• •• . .• • • . • . 176 5.-THE SOIL AND CLIMATE OF MADAGASCAR FROM AN AGRICULTURAL POINT OF VIEW. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF M. GRANDIDIER RY REV. J. SIBREE. 179 6.-THE HOT SPRINGS OF MADAGASCAR. BY J. T. LAST. (FROM "THE FIELD.") . • • • • . • . • . .. • . • 185 7.-0HABOLANA, OR WIT AND WISDOM OF THE HOVA OF MADAGASCAR. BY REV. J. A. HoULDER . .• . .• 188 8.-THE ARAB ELEMENT IN SOUTH-EAST MADAGAS- CAR : As SEEN IN THE CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS OF THE TAIMORO TRIBE. PART II. REV. G. A. SHAW . , . 205 9.-THE CHANGING YEAR IN CENTRAL MADAGASCAR : NOTES ON THE CLIMATE, AGRICULTURE, AND VARIED AS­ PECTS OF THE MONTHS. BY REV. J. SIBREE ..... , .•••. , 210 10.-CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MALAGASY LANGUAGE. BY REV. \V. E. COUSINS . • • . • . • • • . .. • . • • . • . 233 n.-RECENT DISCOVERY OF FOSSIL BONES OF HUGE DEINOSAURS IN MADAGASCAR.............. ..••••. 244 12.-THE HUNTING OF WILD OXEN IN MADAGASCAR. BY REv. E. o. Mc. MAHON . • . • • . • . • . 244 iv. 13.- VARIETIES :-DETERMINATION OF THE POSITION OF ANTA· NANARIVO-AN OLD MALAGASY BIBLE •••••••.•••••••••••• • • 247 14.-NATURAL HISTORY AND BOTANICAL NOTES :-NOTES ON SOME MALAGASY BIRDS-MADAGASCAR CORMORANTS­ MADAGASCAR SCORPIONS-PROTECTIVE RESEMBLANCES IN INSECTS-"MADAGASCARIA"-INSECTS FOUND IN THE MADA· GASCAR PITCHER-PLANT-BRIEF NOTES ON A FEW OF THE MOST STRIKING AND RECENTLY DESCRIBED NEW PLANTS FROM MADAGASCAR 15.-LITERARY NOTES • .. • . • •• • • • • •• . ••• •• . • •• • •• •• 252 16.-METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR 1894 :- (r) AT ANTANANARIVO. BY REV.]. SHARMAN, B.D .. •••••• 253 (2) AT MOJANGA, BY STRATTON C. KNOTT, ESQ., H.B.M.'S VICE-CONSUL. 254 (3) AT AMHAHY, BY REV. E. PRYCE JONES •••••••• , ....... 256 SKELETON Of ;EPYORNIS INOENS. ( In NO'l'io,url Mus"un1 , ?Qri..-.) RESTORATION Of IEPYORNIS JNl<ENS. (Hippopo~a.nw4 la~rlei i'n, ba.akgrou..rul.j THE ANTANANARIVO ANNUAL AND MADAGASCAR MAGAZINE. -~----·· THE V AZIMBA: THE EARLIER INHABITANTS OF IMERINA, "'HE inhabitants of Madagascar are divided into some 'T fifteen principal tribes, of whom the greater number, if not all,* have been derived fro:11 the extreme East, probably from Indo-China and the Malayan Islands. Most writers on this subject-!" think that the first Indonesian immigrants found the island inhabited by negroes; the name of 'Vazimba,' which the inhabitants of the interior highlands bore before the arrival of the Hova, as well as its similarity with that of an African tribe, the 'Wazimba,' they think makes it probable, if not certain, that the two tribes have a common origin. These writers moreover fortify their opinion by a passage in the Hz'stoz're de Madagascar, where Flacourt speaks of the 'Ontaysatroiiha ;':j: and judging from the description which he gives of them, these people certainly appear to have been connected with the great family of the African negroes. It should, however, be remembered that this tribe was not known earlier · than the 17th century, and that we cannot place much reliance on the native accounts, which have the appear­ ance of fables resembling those which Malagasy bards are accustomed to relate. Still, however that may be, it is certain that we cann0t identify the Ontaysatroiiha with the Vazimba of Central Madagascar, as M. de Froberville does, since the country ~ The chiefs and the principal families of some of these tribes, especially the Antanosy, the Antaisaka, the Antaifasy, the Antaim6ro, aucl the Antambah6aka, on the south-east coast, the Zii.fibor,,ha on the north-cast coast, and the Sakalava in the west, belong to a Semitic race; but the mass of the population is none the less of an Indonesian stock. t MM. de Froberville, Dahle, Jorgensen, Max Leclerc, etc. ! Flacourt, preface to the lfistoire de Afadagascar (r658), p, v, No, 18,-CHRISTMAS, 1894. 130 THE VAZIMBA : ----------- they occupied, according to tradition,* is at a very great dis­ tance from Imerina. As for Leguevel de Lacombe, on whose authority so much confidence has been placed (on very insuffi­ cient grounds, by the way), he relies, in a great measure, on the account of Flacourt, and, adopting M. de Froberville'st views, has attributed purely imaginary characteristics to the Va­ zimba. In fact the only reliable information which can be found on the subject of the Vazimba in any writer up to the present day:J: is contained in the book in ,vhich Robert Drury relates his adventures; and the picture which he draws~ does not give any notion that they were of a negro race. The habit which they still had at that epoch of deforming the skulls of their infants in order to give them a pyramidal shape; their hair, less woolly than that of the inhabitants of the west coast; their ability to make pottery, glazing it inside and out; their skill in fishing both by line and net; anrl their custom of throwing away, at the commencement of their meals, small portions of food, one behind them for the spirits, and the others towards the four cardinal points, seem to indicate, on the contrary, a different origin. It is true that Drury says he did not understand the language which they spoke among themselves; but, on the other hand, the names of the a11cien t Vazim ba chiefs, which tradition has preserved for us, are essentially Mahgasy names, which show that the people governed by these chiefs used a language not at all different from that which is spoken at the present time all over the island.1 It therefore seems to me that it will not be a superfluous task to give a sketch of the physical characteristics and habits of the Vazimba at the present day, the greater part of whom inhabit the valley of the Manambolo river, and whom I visited in 1869. The Vazimba ofMenabe, according to their traditions, were originally from the west coast, from which they reached the * This region, properly called Santsa, is indeed the most southern district of the Bara country ; its boundary northwards is the river Ranom6na, one of the principal afflucnts of the Miina­ nara. Them is still a Bara tribe named Bchaisotra (lit. 'much haisotra or hzsot,·a.,' a kind of rush) living on the banks of this river. Is not this tribe the same as that one of whom Flacourt speaks under the name of Ontaysatroiiha (lit. the inhabitants of Haisotrn)? t It was in fact in r839 that Froberville published the Memoire in which he identified the Ontaysatrotiha and the Vazimba ; and the Voyage,); .Wadagascar of Lcgucvel de Lacombe, whose agreement with Froben-ille's account is well known, was not published until the follow­ ing year, 1840. t M. Guillain says that he had seen the Vazimba, but he docs not gh·e any description of them. § The Vazimba of whom Drury speaks inhabited the neighbourhood of the river Mania or ' Tsijobohana. 'IT The names of the Vazimba chiefs who ruled Imerina in ancient times were Andrianfaine­ rina, AndriananjavOnana, Anddanahitrahitra, Andrianizinizina 1 RasOalao, Rap8to, etc. ; those of ancient chiefs who lived in Menabe were Ralefotokana, Rafoza, etc, THE EARLIER INHABITANTS OF IMERINA. 131 central highlands. Their first king is said to have been Rale­ fotokana, who was succeeded by Rafoza, whose fame has been preserved through the intervening centuries. They were not, however, the sole inhabitants of the west of Madagascar before the conquest which they made towards the end of the qth century, for the Sakalava chiefs of the family of Maroseranina, with the assistance of the Sangoro, the Antamby, and other clans of foreign extraction, all came from the south-east coast. There were also the Vezo, the 1l'Iikehana, the Sandangoatsy (who are also, it appears, true Vazimba), the Antanandro, etc., who were all tompon-tany, i.e. "masters of the land" or lords of the soil, that is to say, aboriginal inhabitants and of the same stock. At the present time they are all mixed up together with their conquerors, under the common name of Sakalava. The Vazimba have for long preserved the prejudice which is so strong and so general among all peoples, which prevents the mingling of the conquered race with the conquering one, and, until quite recently, they only married among themselves. They held the belief that those who allied themselves with families of foreign origin would lose their courage and their memory; and they told me that one of them, having, a little after the conquest, married the daughter of a chief of Maroseranina, wa.s renounced by all his relatives.

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