FRANCE. 



337 



square miles, and a population of about 3,500,- 

 000 ; the Hovas, who are the dominant race, 

 numbering something like 1,000,000 ; the Saka- 

 lavas, in the western parts of the island, about 

 the same ; the Betsileos and Betsimi Sakaras to- 

 gether, 1,000,000; and the Bavas and Antatia- 

 vas, 250,000 each. Antananarivo, the capital, 

 has 100,000 inhabitants. The Queen of the 

 Hovas is Ranavalona III. She professes Chris- 

 tianity, together with the chief officers of her 

 court, the London Missionary Society having in- 

 troduced Christianity into the island many years 

 ago. There are about 350,000 Protestant Chris- 

 tians, and 35,000 Catholics. By a treaty signed at 

 Tamatave on Dec. 12, 1885, the direction of all the 

 foreign relations of the country was transferred 

 to the French Government, and must be con- 

 ducted through the French Resident-General, who 

 resides at the capital and is permitted to main- 

 tain a military escort. The United States alone 

 among the powers protested against this treaty, 

 but none of them have hitherto formally recog- 

 nized the French protectorate, and the Malagasy 

 Government has assumed the right to grant ex- 

 equaturs to consuls and to continue direct diplo- 

 matic intercourse with foreign governments. By 

 the Anglo-French agreement of Aug. 5, 1890, 

 the British Government recognizes the protector- 

 ate, with its consequences, especially as regards 

 exequaturs. The missonaries of both countries 

 shall enjoy complete protection, and toleration 

 and liberty for all forms of worship and religious 

 teaching is guaranteed. Rights and immunities 

 enjoyed by British subjects can not be suppressed 

 or abridged. The district on the Bay of Diego 

 Suarez annexed as a French colony contained 

 4,607 inhabitants in 1887. The home Govern- 

 ment in 1890 appropriated 1,956,455 francs for 

 the colony, in addition to the local budget of 

 100,720 francs. Gold has been discovered at 

 Maeratanarivo, on the west coast, and in Febru- 

 ary, 1890, white adventurers began to flock to 

 the new gold field from all quarters, but mostly 

 from the islands of Mauritius and Bourbon. 

 Gold has long been known to exist, besides cop- 

 per, galena, iron, graphite, and coal, and consid- 

 erable quantities of gold, as well as of copper, 

 have been mined for the Government, which has 

 been able before these last discoveries to prevent 

 an influx of foreign miners and has employed 

 1,000 natives in the mines. Ancient laws were 

 in force which prohibited under severe penalties 

 any search for precious metals. The French 

 protectorate has led to the repeal of these and 

 all statutes against the commercial development 

 of the country by foreigners. The forests, which 

 abound in valuable cabinet woods, have been 

 leased on the northeast coast to European com- 

 panies, and much timber has been felled and 

 shipped abroad. The natives breed cattle, culti- 

 vate rice, sugar, coffee, and cotton, and are skill- 

 ful in working metals and weaving cloth from 

 silk, cotton, and the fiber of the rofia palm. Cat- 

 tle, caoutchouc, hides, hemp, rofia, coffee, sugar, 

 vanilla, wax, gum copal, and rice are exported. 

 The trade is principally with Great Britain, 

 France, and Reunion, the United States, and 

 Mauritius. The American trade is on the in- 

 crease. Of $287,000 worth of exports from 

 Tamatave, the principal port, in the first half of 

 1887 the share of France was $84,000, while that 

 VOL. xxx. 22 A 



of the United States was $117,000. The total 

 imports for 1888 were estimated at $810,000, the 

 chief item being cotton goods of the value of 

 $357,000, mainly of English manufacture. The 

 total exports were $870,000, the largest items 

 being skins of the value of $352,000, caoutchouc 

 of the value of $273,000, rofia of the value of 

 $80,000, and wax of the value of $57,000. 



Of the small islands near Madagascar, Ste. 

 Marie and Reunion have been subject to France 

 for more than two hundred years. The latter, 

 970 square miles in extent, had a population in 

 1887 of 163,881, of whom 120,532 were Creoles. 

 The product of sugar in 1886 was 31,847 tons, 

 8,559,663 francs in value. Of coffee 343 tons 

 were exported, and of vanilla 69 tons. Spices 

 are also raised, and rice, wheat, beans, and In- 

 dian corn are some of the food products. The 

 plantations are cultivated by East Indian and 

 negro indentured laborers, slavery having been 

 abolished in 1870. The number of Hindu coolies 

 imported in 1887 was 25,801 ; of Africans, 15,- 

 480. The total value of imports in 1887 was 

 28,123,361 francs ; of exports, 13,319,046 francs. 

 The local revenue was 4,639,034 francs in 1888 ; 

 the expenditure, 4,639,002 francs ; expenditure of 

 the French Government, 4,255,860 francs. Ste. 

 Marie de Madagascar has an area of 64 square 

 miles, with a population in 1887 of 7,468. Cloves 

 are cultivated for export. Nossi Be, off the west 

 coast of Madagascar, has an area of 112 square 

 miles and a population of 8,281, mostly Mala- 

 gasy and African natives. Sugar, rice, and cof- 

 fee are cultivated. Mayotte, with an area of 140 

 square miles and 10,551 inhabitants in 1887, of 

 whom only 38 were French, produced in that 

 year 3,000 tons of sugar and 18,000 gallons of 

 rum. Another product is vanilla. The total 

 value of imports in 1887 was 1,130,000 francs; 

 of exports, 1.695,000 francs. The local expendi- 

 ture was 234,000 francs ; and that of the home 

 Government in 1889 was 250,440 francs, besides 

 12,200 francs for the Comoro Islands, which are 

 under the same administration. These islands, 

 equidistant from Madagascar and the African 

 shore, were declared a protectorate in 1886. 

 They have an area of 618 square miles and an 

 estimated population of 53,000, most of whom 

 are Mohammedans. 



The colony and coaling station of Obock, on 

 the Gulf of Aden has, with the territory on the 

 Bay of Tajurah, an area of 2,300 square miles 

 ancl a population of 22,370 souls. There is some 

 trade with Shoa and other countries inland. The 

 expenditure of France in 1890 was 497,441 francs, 

 including 121,191 francs in the naval budget. 

 The Italian Government has desired to annex 

 Harrar, an independent country, through which 

 passes all the trade of Shoa, but has been semi- 

 officially informed whenever the subject was 

 spoken of that the French Government would 

 not accept an Italian occupation of that terri- 

 tory. The people of Harrar have shown hostility 

 to Europeans for some time, and marauding 

 tribes have threatened French caravans. About 

 Jan 1, 1890, one was attacked near Obock, but 

 the assailants were driven off -by the Soudanese 

 soldiery in the service of the French. Shortly 

 afterward the English suffered defeat when they 

 sent a force of Sepoys under Brig.-Gen. Hogg to 

 punish the natives for a raid on Bulhar. 



