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Antananarivo Annual 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.L.S., Mz'sszonarz'es o.f tlze L.M.S. No. X.-CHRISTMAS, 1886. ( Part II. o.f Volume III.) ANTANANARIVO: PRINTED AT THE L. M. S. PRESS. 1886. All rights reserved. ANTANANARIVO: PRINTED AT THE PKESS OF THE LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY BY MALAGASY PRINTERS. ll l. CONTENTS. l'AC:i-F. 1.-THE FAUNA OF MADAGASCAR AND THE MASCARENE ISLANDS. By ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE, ESQ., LL.D. ( Rejrz'nted by the kind permission o.f the A utlzor and Pub­ lz'shers .from "The Geograjhz'cal Dz'stributi'on o..f Animals.") •129 2.-THE MALAGASY GAME OF 'FANORONA.' By REV. W. MONTGOMERY, L.M.S. ...• " ..................... "" ".. 148 3.-MALAGASY ROOTS : THEIR CLASSIFICATION AND MUTUAL RELATIONS. By REV. W. E. COUSINS, L.M.S. 157 4.-0N THE PUETRY OF MADAGASCAR. By (the late) REV. E. BAKER, L.M.S. 5.~0N THE TRADE AND COMMERCE OF MADAGASCAR. By W. CLAYTON PICKERSGILL, ESQ., H.B.M.'s VICE-CONSUL 177 6.-THE IDEAS OF THE MALAGASY WITH REGARD TO DESTINY. By MR. H. E. CLARK, F.F.M.A .............. 185 7.-MALAGASY HYMNOLOGY, AND ITS CONNECTION WITH CHRISTIAN LIFE IN MADAGASCAR. By REV. J. S!BREE, L.M.S. .. .. .. .. .. 187 8.-SOME THOUGHTS ON CHURCH MUSIC IN MADAGAS­ CAR. By REV. A. M. HEWLETT, M.A., S.P.G ...•...... ·. ... 199 9.-THE CHANNELS AND LAGOONS OF THE EAST COAST OF MADAGASCAR. By M. ALFRED GRANDIDIER AND REV. J. SIRREE . 205 10.-BIBLE REVISION WORK IN MADAGASCAR. By REV. W. E. COUSINS 209 * _It will be obsen·ed that the numbering of the. pages_ docs not con.11n?ncc afrnsh, but is continued from the previous number, so that N os. 1x.-x11. may form a flurd Volume, paged consecutively. iv. PAGE 11.-THE PERSONAL ARTICLE 'I' IN MALAGASY. By REV. R. BARON, L.M.S ..... 216 12.-'SIKIDY' AND 'VINTANA': HALF-HOURS WITH MALAGASY DIVINERS. (No. I.) By REV. L. DAHLE, N.M.S. .•. •• .• . .. 218 13.-NOTES ON THE BETSILEO DIALECT (AS SPOKEN IN THE ARlNDRANO DISTRICT), By REV. T. ROWLANDS, L.M.S.,. .. 235 14.-SOME BETSIMISARAKA SUPERSTITIONS. By REV. G. H. SMITH, M.A., S.P.G. 239 15.-A NEW MALAGASY GRAMMAR. By REV. 'vV. E. COUSINS. 244 16.-BIAZAVOLA: A MALAGASY BARD. By Vv. CLAYTON PICK- ERSGILL, ESQ. 17.-VARIETIES: THE PIRATES IN' MADAGASCAR-GEOLOGICAL JOTTINGS - THE PRo-;o-MARTYR OF MADAGASCAR-THE ETYMOLOGY OF 'ANTANANARIVO' AND 'ANDRIAMANITRA' 250 18.-LITERAR Y NOTES . 252 19.--BRIEF SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT EVENTS IN MADA- GASCAR DURING 1886 257 20.-NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 259 21.-RAINFALL OF ANTANANARIVO FOR THE YEAR 1886 260 -·-=---- ILLUSTRATION. DIAGRAi\lS OF THE 'FANORONA' GAME. "• • The Edz'tors do not hold themselves responsible for every oji'ni'on expr_essed by those who contribute to the pages of the ANNUAL, but only for the general character oj t!ze articles as a whole. THE ANTANANARIVO ANNUAL AND MADAGASCAR MAGAZINE. THE FAUNA OF MADAGASCAR AND THE MASCARENE ISLANDS. [THE following paper, which forms Chapter xi. vol. I., of the valuable work entitled The Geographi"cal Dzstrz"bzdzon of Anz"mals, by the eminent naturalist, Mr. Alfred Russel \Vallace, is here reproduced by the kind permission of the Author and his publishers, Messrs. Macmillan. A few extracts from other portions of that work, bearing on the fauna of Madagascar and the neighbouring islands, have also been added, in some cases in a foot-note, but in others in an Appendix; and the Editors of the ANNUAL have much pleasure in here acknowledging Mr. Wallace's ready compliance with their request to be allowed to reprint this interesting paper. The only alterations made are by the addition of a note in one or two places shewing, from Island Life, chap. xix., Mr. Wallace's later views on certain points.­ EDS.] HIS insular sub-region* is one of the most remarkable T zoological districts on the globe, bearing a similar rela­ tion to Africa as the Antilles to Tropical America, or New Zealand to Australia, but possessing a much richer fauna than either of these, and in some respects a more rerna,rkable one e\•en than New Zealand. It comprises, besides Madagascar, the islands of Mauritius, Bourbon and Rodriguez, the Seychelles and Comoro Islands. Madagascar itself is an island of the first class, being [ nearlyJ a thousand miles long, and about 250 * It must be remembered that the whole surface of the globe is divided by Mr. Wallace into six zoological •regions,' in each of which broad and clearly marked distinctions are shcwn to exist in the animal life as compared with that of the other great divisions. Each of these regions is again divided into 'sub-rP-gions,' Madagascar and the neighbouring islands forming the 'Malagasy Sub-region' of the 'Ethiopian Region,' a zoological division whieh includes Africa south of the Tropic of Cancer, together with its islands, excepting the Cape De Verde group.-EDS. No. IO,-CHRISTMAS, 1886. 130 THE FAUNA OF MADAGASCAR miles in average width. It lies parallel to the coast of Africa, near the southern Tropic, and is separated by 230 miles of sea from the nearest part of the continent, afthough a bank of sounding-s projecting from its western coast reduces this distance to about 160 1J1iles. Madagascar is a mountainous island, and the greater part of the interior consists of open elevated plateaus; but between these and the coast there intervene broad belts of luxuriant tropical forests. It is this forest­ district that has yielded most of those remarkable types of animal life which we shall have to enumerate; and it is prob­ able that many more remain to be discovered. As all the main features of this sub-region are developed in Madagascar, we shall first endeavour to give a complete outline of the fauna of that country ; and afterwards shew how far the surrounding islands partake of its peculiarities. MAMMALIA.-The fauna of Madagascar is tolerably rich in genera and species of Mammalia, although these belong to a very limited number of families and orders. It is especially characterized by its abundance of Lemuridffi and Insectivora; it also possesses a few peculiar Carnivora of small size ; but most of the other groups in which Africa is especially rich-apes and monkeys, lions, leopards and hyffinas, zebras, giraffes, antelopes, elephants and rhinoceroses, and even porcupines and squirrels, are wholly wanting. No less than 40 distinct families of land mammals are represented on the continent of Africa, only 11 of ~hich occur in Mcl;dagascar, which also possesses 3 families peculiar to itself. The following is a list of all the genera of Mammalia as yet known to inhabit the island:- PRIMATES. Vesper tz'lz'onzdce. Lemuridce. Vespertilio . ..•... Indrz"sz'nce. species. Taphozous .............. "Indris........ • . 6 Noctz'lz'onzdce. Lemurz'nce. Nyctinomus ........•....... "Lemur ....•.•..... , . , . , ,, 15 INSECTIVORA. "Hapalemur . • . 2 "Microcebus . 4 Centetzdce. Species. "Chirogaleus . 5 "Centetes . 2 "Hemicentetes . 2 ·"Lepilemur . 2 "Ericulus . 2 Chz'romyz'dce. "Oryzorictes ........... , . r "Chiromys ...... •Echinops . 3 BATS (Chiroptera). Sorz'cz'dce. Sorex ..•.................. Pterojzdce. Pteropus 2 CARNIVORA. R hz'nolojhzdce. Cryptojroctz'dce. Rhinolophus ............. .. "Cryptoprocta ......... , ..•• AND THE MASCARENE ISLANDS. 131 Viverridce. RODENTIA. "Fossa ...•................ , 2 0 Galidia ..•••..•.... , • . • .. 3 Murz'dce. •Galidictis . 2 "Nesomys .... "Hypogeomys .. , . , , , , , , , , , , "Eupleres ...••.........•.. 0 UNGULATA. Brachytarsomys , , , , , , . , , , , , Suz'dce. Potamochcerus ......... We have here a total of 1 2 families, 2 7 genera, and 65 species of Mammals; 3 of the families and 20 of the genera (indicated by asterisks) being peculiar. All the species are peculiar except perhaps one or two of the wandering bats. Remains of a Hippopotamus have been found in a sub-fossil condition, show­ ing that this animal probably inhabited the island at a not very remote epoch. The assemblage of animals above noted is remarkable, and seems to indicate a very ancient connection with the southern portion of Africa, before the apes, ungulates and felines had entered it. The lemurs, which are here so largely developed, are represented by a single group in Africa, with two peculiar forms on the west coast. They also re-appear ·under peculiar and isolated forms in Southern India and Malaya, and are evidently but the remains of a once wide-spread group, since in Eocene times they inhabited North America and Europe, and very probably the whole northern hemisphere:'' The Insectivora are another group of high antiquity, widely scat­ tered over the globe under a number of peculiar forms; but in no equally limited area represented by so many peculiar types as in Madagascar. South and West Africa are also rich in this order. The Carnivora of Madagascar are mostly peculiar forms of Viverridce, or civets, a family now almost confined to the Ethiopian and Oriental regions, but which was abundant in Europe during the :Miocene period. The Potamochcerus is a peculiar species only, which may be perhaps explained by the unusual swimming powers of swine, and the semi-aquatic habits of this genus, leading to an immi­ gration at a later period than in the- case of the other Mam­ malia. The same remark will apply to the small Hippopotamus, which was coeval with the great struthious bird ftjyornis. * "EOCENE PERIOD. Primates. The only undoubted Eocene examples of this order are the Ccenoj,ithecus lemuroides from the Jura, which has points of resemblance to the S. Amer, marmosets and howlers, and also to the Lcmurid~c ; and a cranium recently discovered in the department of Lot (S.
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