MADAGASCAR. 
189 
In fine, according to the Abbe Rochon, they are devoid of vice and of 
virtue ; the gratifications of the present moment solely occupy their 
reflections; they possess no kind of foresig^ht, and have no idea that 
there are men in the world who trouble themselves about the evils of 
futurity. But such a description of any human beings is hardly credi- 
ble. All the women of Madagascar, excepting the very poorest, wear 
a covering over their breasts and shoulders, ornamented with glass 
beads, and none go without a cloth about their loins. They commonly 
walk with a long slender rod or stick. The men marry as many 
women as they can support. 
The Abb6 gives the following description of the people in the 
south division of the island. “That part of Madagascar in which 
Fort Dauphin is situated, is very populous. When the chiefs go 
abroad, they are always provided with a musket, and a stick armed 
with iron, adorned at the extremity with a little tuft of cow’s 
hair. They wear a bonnet of red wool. It is chiefly by the colour of 
their bonnet that they are distinguished from their subjects. Their 
authority is extremely limited : however, in the province of Carcanossi, 
the lands by custom belong to their chiefs, who distribute them among 
their subjects for the purpose of cultivation ; they exact a trifling 
quitrent in return, which in their language is called jaensa. The 
people of Carcanossi are not altogether ignorant of the art of writing ; 
they even possess some historical w'orks in the Madagascar tongue, 
but their learned men, whom they term Ooibiasses, use the Arabic 
characters alone. They have treatises on medicine, geomancy, and 
judicial astrology ; the most renowmed live in the province of Matatane; 
in that district magic still remains in ail its glory, and the Matatanes 
are actually dreaded by all the other Madagasses on account of their 
excellence in this delusive art. The Ombiasses have public schools, 
in which they teach geornaocy and astrology. The natives have 
undoubtedly learned the aft of writing from the Arabians, who made 
a conquest of this island about three hundred years since. 
“The people of Anossi, near Fort Dauphin, are lively, gay, sensible, 
and grateful ; they are passionately fond of women, are never melan- 
choly in their company, and their principal occupation is to please 
the sex ; indeed, whenever they meet their wives, they begin to sing 
and dance. The women, from being happy, are always in good 
humour. Their lively and cheerful character is extremely pleasing to 
the Europeans. 1 have often been present at their assemblies, where 
affairs of importance have been agitated ; I have observed their 
dances, their sports, and their amusements, and I have found them 
free from those excesses which are too common among polished 
nations.” — “If the people of Madagascar,” adds the Abh6, “have 
availed themselves of treachery, they have been forced to it by the 
tyranny of the Europeans. The weak have no other arms against 
the strong. They are uninformed and helpless, and we avail ourselves 
of their weakness to make them submit to our covetousness and 
caprice. They receive the most cruel and oppressive treatment, in 
return for the hospitality which they generously bestow on us ; and we 
call them traitors and cowards, when we force them to break the 
yoke with which we load them.” 
