Demorest's Family Magazine. April 1888. Vol. 24, No. 6

DEMOREST’S MONTHLY MAGAZINE. No. CCXCVII. APRIL, 1888. Vol. X X IV ., No. 6. MADAGASCAR. TANANARIVOO. countries would be more interesting to the ex which induces the Malagasy fever, in hot and rainy weather plorer and naturalist than the ‘‘Great Britain ofoften proving fatal, and, like all malarial affections, difficult Africa,” as the island of Madagascar has been to eradicate wholly from the system ; and this no doubt has termed. Its area somewhat exceeds that of the Britishdiscouraged Isles; many travelers. Madame Ida Pfeiffer, who F but as yet so little of the interior has been visited byvisited Euro Madagascar in 1857, although she reached Europe peans that we have but scant information regarding the again, died, shortly after her return, from the debilitating geological and physical features of the country, or its re effects of the fever and the hardships of her terrible journey markable treasures of natural history. to the coast with other Europeans who became objects of The luxuriance of its tropical vegetation is extraordinary; the late queen’s anger because of their knowledge of a tree-ferns, palms, plantains and bamboos, in masses, over plot to dethrone her in favor of her son. Madame Pfeiffer’s hanging the myriad rushing streams, everywhere, compose visit to Madagascar proved thus to be the last of that re scenes to delight the artistic eye. Among the curiosities of markable woman’s adventurous travels. plant-life are the lace-leaf plants, or water-yam, the pitcher- At some distance from the shore the surface of Madagas plants (Nepenthes), and the quantities of parasitical orchids car rises into ranges of hills, increasing in eight toward with curious waxy blossoms of pink and white, clinging in the interior until the backbone of mountains is reached exquisite clusters to fallen trees and decaying trunks. which extends north and south the length of the island. In The “ traveler’s tree ” ( Urania speciosa) grows abundantly this elevated central region is located Tanànarìvoo, the prin in Madagascar. This variety of the Musacae is very stately cipal city of Madagascar, commonly supposed to be its capi and beautiful in appearance ; its name is due to the fact of tal also; but it is in reality only the capital city of the king its affording, at all times, a supply of pure cool water, upon dom of Imerina, in Ankova, the territory inhabited by the making an incision at the base of the leaf-stalk, which pro Hovas, the dominant tribe of the four which compose the cess is shown in the illustration. The graceful crown of population of the island. The remainder of Madagascar is leaves, numbering about thirty, and measuring from eight divided into twenty-one provinces, subject to the sovereign to ten feet in length, is spread out like an immense fan, of Imerina, but over which very little authority is exercised. above the trunk. The Hovas are an olive-complexioned race possessing The low coasts of Madagascar are fertile, but overspread beautiful forms, not tall, with hazel eyes, and straight or with marshes whose rank exhalations give rise to a malaria curling black hair. The other tribes are the uisara- Vol. XXIV.—Apr il, 1888.—25 3 3 4 DEMOREST'S MONTHLY MAGAZINE. which varies in different towns. The natives say they are going to Alàtisinainy, Talàta , etc. (Monday, Tuesday), mean ing to markets held on those days. The market is a great means of social intercourse among the people, and Tanànarivoo presents a very lively and ani mated appearance on Friday. All day the roads are thronged with people intent on making purchases or coming into the city with goods to sell. The vendors range themselves in groups, each commodity thus having a place by itself. Here are piles of straw hats, baskets, etc.; there, great heaps of the round, earthen sinys, or water-jars, of red clay, and common blue willow-ware and English crockery. Mat tresses and mats for the floor must be sought in another section. The provision-stalls display an incredible amount of poultry, which is as cheap as it is plentiful. Beef is also sold out at a proportionately low price, and vegetables and fruits in abundance may be obtained almost all the year round, all the tropical fruits as well as those known to us, thriving well in Madagascar. Heaps of dried locusts are sold in the markets, but do not seem to us tempting ; the silkworm chrysalides are also esteemed a delicacy by the n ativ es; Rice is the staff of life, and its cultivation and preparation give rise to many similes and expressions in the Malagasy THE “ TRAVELER’S THEE.” language. The idea of intimate association or insepara bility is compared to that of rice and water, for rice is sown kas, also an olive race, and the B étsileos and Sakalavas; in water, grows, is transplanted, and reaped, and at last these latter tribes having black eyes, frizzly hair, and cooked in water ; and a common measure of time is that darker skins, from copper color to black. The Eastern occupied in cooking a pan of rice—half an hour, more or slope of the island is occupied more exclusively by the less ; thus, distances are specified as one or more m à sa-b à ry, Hovas, who are the most advanced in civilization, and at or " rice-cookings. ” present compose about three-sevenths of the entire popu- Temperance is a native virtue of the Madagascans, who lation, which is estimated at 8,500,000. The city of Tanàn- drink water almost exclusively, and drunkenness is com arìvoo, the seat of government, contains 80,000 inhabitants. paratively a novel feature, introduced mainly by the civiliz- Our view of the capital, taken from the East, gives a ing nations who visit the seaports. A distillation called tolerably accurate idea of the situation of the chief points of toaka is sometimes used as a great luxury, but in the city of interest. At the left, flanked by two towers, is seen the Tanànarìv oo prohibition of the sale of ardent spirits is legally royal palace occupied by the present queen, Ranavalo Man- enforced. jaka III. This lady recently married her prime minister Rainilairvony, whose former residence, also a tower-orna mented structure, is now used and set apart for public pur poses. At the right is located the English quarter, with the schools and consulate, and at the left, in the foreground, is the encampment of the troops. Nearly all the wealthy residents of Tanànarìvoo have im posing houses of wood, joined without nails in a very skill ful manner. The high slanting roofs are thatched with rushes, and the rank of the proprietor is designated by orna mental poles at the gables. Pink or yellow colored clay cabins, or huts of bamboo or rushes, compose the dwellings of the poorer classes, and chimneys are dispensed with in all cases. The picturesqueness of Tanànarivoo is not owing to its edifices, but to its bold and commanding natural position. There is one noticeable peculiarity about its architecture, which is that no windows or doors are visible from the east; in Imerina the houses all stand north and south, with all the openings toward the west. This is to protect the in mates from the southeast trade-winds. The localities of the town are not defined by names of streets, but by those of neighborhoods; for the city consists of a series of terraces, on which the houses are crowded with but little space be B É TSIMISARAKAS. HOVAS. tween them, forming small, clustered hamlets, from which the capital derives its name of Tanànarivoo, “ the city of a The position which woman holds in any country is of late thousand towns.” years considered a test of its advance or retrogression in There are nc shops, hut a few small markets held in the civilization ; and while the women of Madagascar are not as open air, at various parts of the city ; and there are large much respected as those of Europe and America, yet they markets held on every Friday, or Zomà, and the name of the are not the slaves and drudges women are in semi-civilized day is also used to designate the market held on that day, lands. The fact that the sovereignty may be vested in a DEMOREST’S MONTHLY MAG-AZINE, 335 is played by the higher classes, and music and dancing are favorite evening pastimes. The women, as usual with Southern natives, have thrilling voices; and their vocal efforts, though unskilled and monotonous, are rather pleasing. The costumes are very simple, consisting chiefly of cotton or hemp cloth, among the poorer people, and of native- woven silk or imported cassimeres and broadcloth for the better classes. The garments are primitive in design. The men wear a cloth tied about their waist and reaching to the knees, called the salaka ; the women have a similar garment, but much longer, covering the person with the exception of the arms and shoulders. Those who can afford it wear also a print dress. The native materials are spun and woven by hand, and the women are very apt in producing fine effects in the weav ing and combining of colors ; they will even ravel out im ported calico to obtain yarn for weaving in their own way. The spindles are usually of bone Or tree-fern bark, and it is to be remarked that the word “ spinster ” in our language has its prototype in Malagasy, zaza ampèla, or “ child of the spindle,” a name applied to girls, owing to this universal accomplishment of the women.

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