I-KANOH, 



315 



trailers on the coast. Antananarivo, 

 tpilal, lia> a jni|iulat inn of 100,000. Thu 

 land around tin- Bay of Diego Suarez lias been 

 il 1.1 France for a colony, military |iol, 

 iiiul coaling station, and improvements have 

 iliat aii expected to make the har- 

 ilic finest in t lie world. The Hova 

 .'KM) men, annetl mostly with breeeh- 

 loading rifles, has been traineil by Knglish olli- 

 Th.- French have a garrison of 32 officers 

 and 1.1-11 men at Diego Snare/, and 21 officers 

 and 4^s men mi the neighboring island of Reun- 

 ion. Madura-ear i> supposed to be verv rich in 

 minerals, Hie production of gold and of cop- 

 nierea>ing. Forests of great extent abound 

 in valuable limber, which is being exported by 

 Kuro|>ean cuncessionnaires, who have obtained 

 grants on the northeast coast, and who plant the 

 cleared ground with tropical and subtropical 

 products. The natives breed cattle and raise 

 rice, sugar, yams, coffee, and cotton. They are 

 skillful weavers of cotton and silk and of the fiber 

 of the rotia palm, and their metal work is noted. 

 The exports are cattle, hides and horns, rofia, 

 India-rubber, coffee, sugar, vanilla, wax, copal, 

 rice, and oil seeds. Commercial relations with 

 the I'nited States are of long standing, and in 

 recent years the trade has increased. The im- 

 ports in 1888 were valued at 4,050,779 francs, 

 and the exports at 4,119,234 francs. The lack 

 of means of communication prevents the com- 

 mercial development of the resources of the in- 

 terior and even of domestic production, for a 

 large proportion of the people are employed as 

 bearers in conveying goods between the seaports 

 and the populous central districts. 



The Hovas rule as conquerors over such of the 

 tribes as they have reduced to subjection. The 

 inhabitants of Belanona, which is three days' 

 march from the capital, exasperated by the 

 cruelty and extortion of Ramiasatra, the Gov- 

 ernor, sent a delegation of 100 of their principal 

 men to the Prime Minister to petition for his re- 

 moval. The petitioners waited eight months for 

 an audience, and when they were at last received 

 the Prime Minister, who is practically the ruler 

 of the country, warned them against making 

 rash charges, and would promise to make an 

 inquiry only in case they returned with their 

 complaint after going home to reflect well on 

 the matter. Before they reached their homes 

 they were stopped by the Governor's Hova sol- 

 diers and were butchered, with their families and 

 friends, 278 in all. Fugitives arrived at Anta- 

 nanarivo on Jan. 12, 1891, and the Prime Minis- 

 ter, urged by the foreign residents, had a judi- 

 cial investigation made, and at its conclusion 

 ordered the execution of Ramiasatra and his 

 brother. In the beginning of March the Hova 

 Governor of Tulear and 53 of his escort, while 

 on the route to the capital of the Sakalava King 

 of Tompomana, in the west of Madagascar, were 

 set upon and killed by a large body of Sakalavas 

 at Marrombo, on the coast. The Hova officials 

 in the custom house at Soondrano were mur- 

 dered, and all the representatives of the Govern- 

 ment in Tulear fled to the island of Nossi Be. 

 Troops were sent by the Hova Government to 

 reduce the Sakalavas to subjection. 



The French protectorate, though recognized 

 by the foreign powers, is repudiated by the Mal- 



agasy Government. The treaty of 1885 requires 

 tl:.ii i.ii-ifHiiturn should Le demanded by foreign 

 consuls through the medium of the 1 

 ideiicv. I'rime Mini-tor Kainiluiarivony, encour- 

 aged by I'rototaiit missionaries, has persistently 

 rel'u-i '! toaceo|.i this channel of diplomat ic inter- 

 course, and when the question wa> rai-ed in the 

 case of the United Slate- eonsiil in 1887, the then 

 French resident, Le Myre dc Vilers, waived hi> 

 rights. Mr. Campbell, the Tinted States con.-ul, 

 has upheld the French protectorate, and after its 

 formal recognition by Great Britain, M. Bompard. 

 the F rench resident general, determined to render 

 it effective in the matter of ejrrijnulnrH, espe- 

 cially since the English opponents of French in- 

 fluence contended that the Anglo-French agree- 

 ment was invalid, because the English Govern- 

 ment was not made cognizant of the concession 

 of M. Le Myre de Vilers to Rainilaiarivony. 

 Herr von Tappenbeck, who arrived a* German 

 consul in June, 1891, was not recognized by the 

 Hova authorities because he applied for his exe- 

 quatur through the French representative. M r. 

 Walter, who succeeded John P. Campbell as 

 American consul at Tamatave, obtained his exe- 

 quatur by applying directly to the Malagasy 

 Government. M. Bompard, on receiving orders 

 from Paris to recede from his position in regard 

 to the German consul, who was unable to dis- 

 charge his office on account of the dispute, of- 

 fered his resignation. The French Chamber, on 

 March 12, approved a bill to establish French 

 tribunals in Madagascar with jurisdiction in all 

 cases affecting Europeans. The English resi- 

 dents have not ceased to resist French influence, 

 and have acquired a larger power for obstruc- 

 tion by becoming admitted to a preponderant 

 position in the Hova Council. 



The French possessions in the neighborhood 

 of Madagascar are the productive island of lie- 

 union to the east, Ste. Marie off the north coast, 

 Nossi Be close to the west coast, Mayotte and 

 the Comoro Islands half-way between the north- 

 ern end of the island and the African shore. 



Reunion, or the Isle of Bourbon, 970 square 

 miles in extent, has been French since 1649. 

 The population in 1887 was 163,881. Sugar and 

 rum, coffee, vanilla, and spices are exported, and 

 various kinds of grain and vegetables are grown. 

 The exports in 1888 were 15,600,000 francs in 

 value. The expenditure of the home Government 

 provided for in the budget for 1891 was 4,576,836 

 francs. The Hindu coolies in 1888 numbered 

 23.883, and the negroes 14,731. The small island 

 of Ste. Marie, 64 square miles in extent, with 

 7,667 inhabitants, is also an old French settle- 

 ment.. It produces only cloves for export. 



Nossi Be was placed in 1888 under the author- 

 ity of the Governor of Diego Suarez. The pop- 

 ulation of 8,281 Malagasies and Africans culti- 

 vate the sugar-cane, coffee, and rice. The 

 expenditure of France in 1890 was 121,482 

 francs. Mayotte, which has an area of 143 

 square miles and 10,551 inhabitants, of whom 88 

 are French, was occupied in 1848. The exports 

 of sugar, rum, and vanilla beans in 1888 were 

 valued at 1,040,000 francs. The expenditure of 

 France in 1890 was 150,662 francs. 



Except these islands, the nearest French col- 

 ony is the naval station of Obock, on the Gulf 

 of Aden. The territory, including the Bay of 



