6 EARL Y A CCO UNTS. 



of the inhabitants of the country, Malagasy (also probably not a 

 native name), seems to indicate an African origin, so that pos- 

 sibly there may be some foundation of truth in the accounts 

 given by the German writer already quoted from. Ma, it 

 is well known, is a frequent prefix to words indicating tribal 

 names on the African continent, as Makololo, Matabele, &c. 



The early accounts given of Madagascar by voyagers and 

 other writers are full of glowing and extravagant praises of 

 its fertility and natural wealth. But in all this, of course, it 

 formed no exception to other newly-found countries, for the 

 imagination of the people of the sixteenth and seventeenth 

 centuries invested with a halo of beauty and mystery all the 

 strange new lands which were being yearly discovered by the 

 bold seamen of Portugal and Spain, and of England and Holland. 

 The luxuriance of the tropical vegetation of the New World 

 and the far Eastern Archipelago, and the undoubted wealth 

 in precious metals of some of those regions, made every fresh 

 addition to their geography a possible El Dorado, with gold and 

 gems waiting to be collected in every stream, and precious 

 spices to be gathered from every tree. Even the title-pages 

 of some of the early books upon Madagascar are eloquent 

 panegyrics upon the resources and wealth of the island; 

 while their quaint descriptions, as well as the strong religious 

 feelings so many of them evince, make them by no means 

 uninteresting reading. 



Although the Portuguese discovered the island, they made 

 no lengthened occupation of any part of it. Probably they 

 found that their extensive possessions in South America and 

 Africa and the Malay Archipelago demanded all their strength 

 to occupy ; and accordingly their colony was soon abandoned. 

 For a few years towards the close of the sixteenth century 

 59S~9 8 )> the Dutch had some little intercourse with 

 Madagascar, but were not much impressed in its favour ; for 

 they lost through sickness so many of their number that an 

 island where they landed was called " The Dutchmen's Grave- 

 yard." A book written by Johan Hugen von Lindschot 

 (1628) describes these voyages, and it is evident that they 

 paid some considerable attention to the country, for two of 

 the very earliest books upon Madagascar were published at 



