MADAGASCAR. 



MAINE. 



451 



in a private letter that he held in his hand 

 peace and prosperity or war and his country's 

 ruin, on Oct. 27 hauled down the tricolor and 

 departed with his suite for the coast at Ma- 

 junga. 



The British and Norwegian residents, who 

 were invited to retire with the French, declined, 

 and showed a lively sympathy with the Hovas. 

 The party, consisting of the French official rep- 

 resentatives, the resident traders, and 75 marines 

 who formed the guard of the resident general, 

 had a difficult march, for no porters could be 

 hired and the natives would sell them no food. 

 Bands of Hovas followed them all the way, but 

 did not molest them. Whenever they ap- 

 proached a village the natives removed all food 

 and guarded the entrance with arms. 



of 700 marines arrived at Tamatave and took 

 possession on Dec. 10. The neighboring fort 

 of Farafatra was bombarded and captured 

 and the adjacent district occupied. The Queen 

 issued a proclamation calling on the people to 

 fight for their liberties. Col. St. Leger Sher- 

 vinton and a number of other British officers 

 landed in Madagascar, eluding the French, and 

 went to Antananarivo to organize the Hova 

 defense. The French expeditionary force was 

 expected to start in the middle of March, 1895. 

 About 250 men were allowed to volunteer from 

 each of the 18 army corps of France. The expe- 

 dition was intended to consist of 13 battalions of 

 infantry, 7 batteries of artillery, 3 sections of 

 army service corps, 1 squadron of cavalry, 4 

 companies of engineers, 6 companies of transport 



A FOREST VILLAGE IN MADAGASCAR. 



In November, M. Hanotaux announced that an 

 expeditionary force would be sent to Madagas- 

 car strong enough to go straight to the Hova 

 capital. The Chamber voted a credit of 65,000,- 

 000 francs for the dispatch of a force of 15,000 

 men. Included in the estimate was the sum of 

 3,000,000 francs for a cable between Mozambique 

 and Majunga, on the west coast of Madagascar, 

 the proposed starting point of the expedition. 

 The sum set down for the Ministry of War was 

 43.500,000 francs, while 21,500.000 francs were 

 for the Ministry of Marine. From Majunga, 

 which is 275 miles from Antananarivo, there was 

 the advantage of 80 miles of river navigation, 

 but 60 miles of the route run through the mala- 

 rious belt, and for a long distance roads must be 

 cut through the dense forest. The credits were 

 carried on Nov. 26 by 377 votes to 125. A force 



train, 1 section of clerks and workmen, and 1 

 section of hospital attendants. The colonial 

 army was to furnish 3 French and 3 native bat- 

 talions, the latter consisting of Sakalavas, volun- 

 teers from Reunion, and Houssas or Senegalese, 

 1 section of service corps, and 3 mountain batter- 

 ies. The home army was to furnish 1 regiment 

 of infantry, 1 battalion of foot chasseurs, and 1 

 Algerian regiment to consist of 1 battalion of 

 the foreign legion and 2 battalions of riflemen. 

 The cavalry also was to be taken from Algeria. 



MAINE, a New England State, admitted to 

 the Union March 15, 1820 ; area, 33,040 miles ; 

 population in 1890, 661,086. Capital, Augusta. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers during the year: Governor, Henry B. 

 Cleaves; Secretary of State, Nicholas Fessen- 

 den ; Treasurer, George L. Beal ; Attorney-Gen- 



