124 HOVAS. 



they were tributary to the Sakalava chieftains. But during 

 the latter portion of their time of subjection to the western 

 tribes, the kings from whom the present Hova royal family 

 are descended were gradually consolidating their power by 

 uniting the petty states of Imerina into one kingdom, so that 

 an aggressive policy was begun by Andrianimpoina, father of 

 Eadama I., and carried on by Eadama himself (1810-28). 

 The Betsileb people in the south were obliged to submit ; the 

 neighbouring peoples in Imamo and Vonizongo were over- 

 powered ; then the Sihanaka to the north, and some of the 

 east- coast tribes. A treaty made by Eadama with the 

 English gave him additional power, through his obtaining 

 European drilling and organisation for his troops, as well 

 as firearms and ammunition. With these powerful aids to 

 success he threw off all allegiance to the Sakalava, invaded 

 their country again and again, and by a mixture of force and 

 diplomacy obliged them to submit, so that Eadama from that 

 time assumed the right of sovereignty over the whole of 

 Madagascar, a claim which his successors have always insisted 

 on. The same aggressive policy was carried on, often with 

 great cruelty, in the south-eastern parts of the island by 

 Eanavalona I., who succeeded Eadama in 1828. But the 

 Hovas have never been really masters of the whole of Mada- 

 gascar, and probably a third part of the island to the west and 

 south is independent, and their authority is only slight over 

 many other distant parts of the country. It is most fully 

 acknowledged in the central and eastern provinces. 



There is no doubt that the Hovas have a greater ability than 

 the other tribes for taking a leading position. They can rule 

 because they can obey, and to this faculty of obedience to 

 authority, organising power, and united action, they owe their 

 present position in the country, as well as to their having had 

 kings of such remarkable energy and intelligence as Eadama 

 I. and his father. 



For twenty-five years, during the reign of Eanavalona I., the 

 country was as much as possible isolated from all foreign 

 influence ; trade was shut out, and Christianity cruelly per- 

 secuted. But since the death of that queen in 1861, great 

 advances have been made by the Hovas, especially under the 



