194 VOYAGE TO MADAGASCAR. 



tiOQ refpediDg the fettlements of tlie piratea 

 in thefe diftrids. This man had gained the 

 affection of the iflanders, and by a long 

 refidence amongft them had acquired a kind 

 of influence ov€i* thefe people, from which 

 the diredors of the I lies of France and Bour- 

 bon, for a lotig time, derived great advan- 

 tages. It was from this man that I procured 

 the greater part of my knowledge refpedling 

 the produdxons, as well as the manners and 

 cufloms of the hihabitants of the north^eaft 

 part of Madagafcar- 



The Inhabitants of this coafl are ftill bet* 

 ter, and more humane than thofe of the 

 province of Carcanoffi* Thefe harmlefs peo- 

 ple ufe neither locks nor bolts, and fhut the 

 doors of their houfes with nothing elfe than 

 thorns, or the branches of trees* Were 

 they even filled with riches, they would leave 

 them in the fame manner, nor entertain any 

 dread of their being robbed. Their houfes^ 



how- 



* 



