AFRICAN ISLANDS. 



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CHAPTER CXXXVII. AFRICAN ISLANDS. 



1. Op the African islands, some lie in the Eastern or Indian Ocean, and some in the West- 

 ern, or Atlantic. We shall begin with those in the Indian Ocean ; the chief of which are, 

 Socotra, the Comoro islands, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Bourbon. 



2. Socotra is situated 30 leagues to the eastward of Cape Guardefui. It is 80 miles long, 

 and 50 broad, and has 2 good harbors. It is very well peopled, and yields most of the fruits 

 and plants, which are usually found within the tropics, with frankincense, gum-tragacanth, and 

 aioes. The inhabitants are of Arabian extraction, and are under the government of a prince, 

 or sheik, who is dependent upon the Imam of Mascat. 



3. The Comoro Isles are five : Joanna, Mayotta, Mohilla, Angazei, and Comoro. The 

 Grand Comoro is 50 miles long, and 15 broad, and is chiefly composed of mountains, which 

 unite near the centre, where the summit is about 7,500 feet in height. Joanna, or Hinzuan, is 

 about 30 miles long, and 15 broad, and affords plenty of provisions and tropical fruit. The 

 inhabitants are partly of Arabian descent, and partly of African origin, and are, in general, mild 

 and humane. This group was formerly populous and flourishing, but is now rendered almost 

 desolate, by the piratical incursions of Madecassee pirates, who have carried ofF great numbers 

 of the inhabitants, as slaves. Mmiralty Isles, to the northeast, are a group of 11 uninhabited 

 islets, belonging to the English, which are merely visited for catching turtles. The Seychelles 

 are a cluster of 30 islets, also belonging to the English. 



4. Madagascar is the largest of the African islands, being above 900 miles in length, from 

 north to south, and generally between 200 and 300 miles broad, with an area of 200,000 square 

 miles. It is traversed by a lofty chain of mountains, some of the summits of which reach the 

 height of 11,000 feet. The sea rolls with great rapidity, and is extremely rough, between this 

 island and the continent, forming a channel or passage, through which European ships, in their 

 voyage to and from India, frequently sail. 



Madagascar is a pleasant and fertile country, abounding in sugar, honey, fruit-trees, valuable 

 gums, corn, cattle, poultry, precious stones, iron, some silver, copper, and tin. It affords an 

 agreeable variety of hills, valleys, woods, and plains ; and it is watered by numerous rivers. 

 The air is generally temperate, and said to be very healthy, though in a hot climate. Among 

 the inhabitants are white and black tribes, and also people of color. The whites, and those of 

 a tawny complexion, who inhabit the coasts, are the offspring of the Arabs, as is evident from 

 their language and their religious rites ; but here are no mosques or temples, nor any stated 

 worship, except that they offer sacrifices of beasts on particular occasions ; as when sick, when 

 they plant yams or rice, when they hold their assemblies, circumcise their children, declare 

 war, enter into new-built houses, or bury their dead. Some of their ceremonies and practices 

 resemble the Jewish, whence it had been conjectured, that they are the posterity of Jews, who 

 formerly settled here. But the Madecassees, who are of Malay extraction, form the bulk of 

 the inhabitants. Some of the black tribes have woolly hair, but whether they are the abori- 

 gines, or of African origin, is unknown. This island was discovered by the Portuguese, and 

 the French took possession of it in 1641 ; but, the people disliking the government, they were 

 driven out in 1652 ; since which time, the natives have had, with the exception of a few set- 

 tlements of Europeans, the sole possession of the island, under a number of petty princes, who 

 make war upon each other for slaves and plunder. In 1828, the kingdom of Madagascar was 

 a powerful state, which had reduced to subjection the greater part of the island ; the prince 

 was an intelligent man, who sought to civilize his subjects by inviting missionaries into the 

 kingdom, and sending some young men into European countries to be educated. He had, also, 

 introduced horses and firearms into his army, which was organized on the European model. 

 But he was unfortunately poisoned by his queen, and his death was a signal for insurrection 

 and civil war. 



5. Mauritius was so called by the Dutch (who first touched here in 1598), in honor of 

 prince Maurice, their stadtholder ; but it is now generally styled the Isle of France. It is 

 about 400 miles east of Madagascar. It is of an oval form, about 140 miles in circumference, 

 with a fine harbor, secure against any wind that blows, and 100 fathoms deep at the entrance. 

 The climate is healthy and pleasant. The mountains, of which there are many, and sonie so 

 high, that their tops are covered with snow, produce excellent ebony, beside various other 

 kinds of valuable Avood, two of which greatly resemble ebony in quality ; one red, the other 



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