February r, 18S4.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



533 



in a grand succession of mighty green terraces to where, 

 high up in the distance, we could see the loom of the 

 lightuiug tliat nightly hghts up the upland moors of Ime- 

 rina, across which we had journeyed. Before us stretched 

 a tropical country, where the numerous subsidiary hills 

 were clad with dense forests, and the valleys with jungle 

 underneath and fields of tall, reed-like grass. This was 

 thu Sakalava country, over which France has raised her 

 claim of protection — a claim which was weighing every- 

 where in Madagascar where I have been, upon Hovas and 

 Sakalavas alike, with a sense of coming calamity. At 

 Mevotanana I embarked on board a canoe, p^o^^dcd for 

 us by the* Governor. AVe had four negroes for a crew, 

 Mozambique slaves formerly, but who, under the Queen 

 of Madagascar's recently promulgated law, became free 

 men. Paddling down a sluggish creek, between tall reeds, 

 from which at every few yards a huge crocodile plunged, 

 we reached the broad river itself. It was in flood, and 

 our negroes, resting on their paddles, permitted the craft 

 to float swiftly down with the current. Ten miles brought 

 us to a junction with another majestic stream — the Betsi- 

 koba — uuiler whose name the united waters rolled on to 

 the sea, a full half-mile broad, and on which our tiny 

 canoe seemed but a speck. In two days we had in this 

 easy manner covered sixty miles, and reached the point, 

 at a town called Maroway, where the tides from the sea 

 are met. Both nights I passed in Sakalava villages near 

 the river banks, where the inhabitants, notwithstanding 

 the allegations of Sakalava disloyalty to Hova rule, hon- 

 uured the Prime IMinistei''s commands to pay nie atten- 

 tion as faithfully and as willingly as did the Hova vil- 

 lagers themselves. At Maroway, I met several Indian 

 traders, whose astonishment was great—fii'st, at seeing a 

 white man come down the Betsikoba; and, secondly, at 

 being greeted by that individual in their own tongue. 

 From what I have written above it will be seen that the 

 road between Mojauga and the Hova capital may be divided 

 into three sections. First, there are one hvuidred miles of 

 river, on which steam laimches can be utilised. Then 

 thei-e are some eighty miles of unihhabited country, but 

 offering no natural obstacles to the easy marcli of an army. 

 For the remaiuing eighty miles of iheir march the invatlers 

 wiiuld have to count on meeting a natioUj mustering eighty 

 thousand fighting men in arms. Mojanga I found to be 

 a town of about twelve thousand inhabitants. lb is placed 

 at the entrance of the noble arm of the sea into which 

 the Betsikoba flows, and the anchorage affords good shelter 

 for shipping. Down bj- the sea beach are the Indian, the 

 Aral>, and the Sakalava quarters. The Sakalavas dwell in 

 wattled huts, but the Indians own numerous substantially 

 built houses and warehouses. They number, all told, sonu^ 

 seven hundred souls, and constitute the most iniitortant and 

 the wealthiest section of the population. There are also 

 many Arabs of Zanzibar, who have maintained a settle- 

 ment at Mojauga for maiiy centuries. There are only 

 llirec Western firms — one French and two American; but 

 these transact their business mostly through the Indians. 

 All along the coast, at every village, Indian traders have 

 established themselves, and these must have suffered 

 severely from the recent proceedings of the French fleet. 

 The entire coast was covered as far inland as I could see 

 with dense forest. It was hilly, too, and did not seem 

 so suited for cultivation as the long reaches of magnificent 

 alluvial country on the eastern side of the island. The 

 Sakalavas received me in a friendly manner. They arc a 

 fine race physically, the men strong and litltesome. but 

 evidently far inferior in intelligence and in civilisation to 

 the Hovas. The Sakalavas are untutored savages pure and 

 simple, which the Hovas certainly are not. I coasted 

 round Passandava Bay, the possession of which the French 

 covet so much. It is a splendid stretch of land-locked 

 water, with numerous creeks and inlets, in which the 

 navies of the world might all ride with ease. Coal has 

 been discovered close to the coast, and beyond doubt 

 Passandava Bay would form a first-ratt station for a naval 

 Power. 



SOME ECONOMIC PLANTS. 



Some plantis take carious names. There is, for instance, 

 that growth in Jamaica known as "John Crow's Nose." 

 and the vegetable "Gingerbread" of Egypt. "Aaron's 



Bread," "Old Man," " Blourning Bride," "Fresh-water 

 Soldier," and the Hke, ai'e familiar appellations in our 

 own couutiy. It is easy to see how such names were given 

 originally. Suggested by the appearance of the plant or 

 by its exudations, they were readily adopted in folk-speech, 

 and they have sm-vived not because they are odd, but 

 because they seem appropriate. Common words may not 

 outlast scientific terms, but they will always enjoy popul- 

 arity; and in the case of plants, they may be made botanical 

 stepping-stones to a more learned nomenclature. So far 

 they have a value, apart from the attachment people wlio 

 enjoy simplicity have to them. This, however, is not the 

 opinion of Mr. John Smith, the ex-Curator of Kew. who, 

 in a "Dictionary of Economic Plants" (recently issued by 

 Macmillan t^ Co.), deprecates tlie prepetuation of names 

 like those here mentioned. He admits that as they have 

 long been familiar, we are left no alternative but to adopt 

 them; but he can point to cases in which the scientific 

 names have also become familiar, as the geranium, pelar- 

 gonium, hydrangea, calceolaria, chysanthemum. and many 

 others. And yet, reduced to their roots, those terms, like 

 "love-lies-bleeding," or "Job's tears," show that they aro 

 not the result of arbitrary choice. They are used because 

 they are more or less suggestive of the appearance or 

 characteristics of the objects described. Mr. Smith's ob- 

 servations on the point, it should be explanied, are entirely 

 prefatory. In his Dictionary he draws largely upon the 

 terms that are justified by common usage. The book is 

 a valuable one. It is not a Dictionary of Names in the 

 ordinary sense, but it is encyclopaedic in all that relates 

 to the history, products, and uses of those plants that 

 have a distinct economic value. The "gingerbread" plant, 

 to which reference has been made, merits tbe name. It 

 is a species of palm, growing to a height of twenty feet 

 or more, and bearing large pendulous bunches of fruit. 

 There are about two hundred nuts to a cluster. A fibrous 

 mass surrounding the fruit has the flavour of gingerbread, 

 and forms part of the food of the lower classes in Upper 

 Egypt. A more curious specimen of vegetation is the (^ow 

 tree, or Pala de Vaca. described by Humbohlt. This tree 

 is a native of Venezuela, where it grows in forests and 

 attains a height of from eighty to hundreil feet. It j;ets 

 its common name from the sap that is drawn frtmi it, 

 which, being copious and nutritious, is used by the natives 

 as a substitute for milk. Europeans have also made use 

 of the fluid and been benefited by it. A speculative Eng- 

 lishman who took note of this made up his mind to in- 

 troduce the tree to Great I'ritain, and so onco and for 

 over stop the draughts made by the milk-dealers on the 

 iron-tailed cow. It would bo a grand thing, he reasoned, 

 to give every English family the opportunity of possessing 

 a vegetable dairy, whose strong, oblong leaves wonld be a 

 shelter from rain and sunshine, and whose trvudc bad only 

 tn be tapped to yield a lacteal supply, about whose purity 

 there could be no manner of doubt. It is said that the 

 speculator shipped over enough young trees to start a 

 forest. He brought a thousand with him. ami asked a 

 guinea each. It was a losing venture. 'J'ho owner had 

 forgotten climatic considerations; but even had the temper- 

 atures of the two countries been reconcilable, the pl;uits 

 woidil have been useless for the purpose intended. They 

 turned out not to be true cow trees at all. There ^\'as 

 more sense in the experiment the Government made a 

 century ago to naturaHse the bread-fruit tree of Otaheite 

 in the "West Indies. Captain Cook brought this tree into 

 notice; and it was the ship liotuitf/, of nuitineer notoriety, 

 that was despatched to the South Seas to get the trees. 

 Captain Bligh was in command of the expedition. Everj'- 

 thing went well on the outward passage, and the trees 

 were successfully shii>ped. The vessel had nf>t long left 

 Otaheite, however, befor the mutiny broke out. The capt- 

 ain, the otticers, and the members of the crew who re- 

 mained loyal to the ship were put into an open boat and 

 sent adrift. The island of Timor, 3,618 miles distant, was 

 the nearest point where European aid could be obtained, 

 and this place was eventually reached. Captain Bligh went 

 out again to Otaheite in the ship Pjoviih-nce; and this 

 time had the satisfaction of seeing the trees safely trans- 

 planted in the soil of the West Indies, where they have 

 continued to flourish. The Otaheitean bread-frnit, when 

 ripe, is shaped like a melon, is about a foot in length, 

 and consists of a large number of nuts embedded in the 



