THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE. 
539 
1846 .] 
on that side next to the bay, and is now under cultivation by the natives, largo 
patches of which have been planted with the banana, (which has been introduced 
by the French,) and in the course of a few years will render this fruit abundant 
here. There is a native pepper (capsicum) much cultivated here. The bushes of 
the shore are covered with a beautiful species of twining convolvulus. A species 
of euphorbia, apparently identical with hypericifolia, is used by the natives in de. 
coctions for the cure of venereal diseases. This plant is found abundantly in the 
United States, and is supposed by many agriculturists to be the cause of the sali- 
vation of horses while in pasture. 
The harbor being easy of access, the water very good and abundant, running 
from the mountain in several streams, induces many of our whale ships to visit 
this port. 
The inhabitants of Madagascar do not appear to have had their origin from one 
source, but appear to have descended from the Ethiopian, Malay, and Hindoo, and 
at present form a number of distinct tribes, differing also in many respects from 
each other, though nominally comprised in one political empire. 
The distinction most strongly marked is that of color, and this, although pro. 
ducing slight variations in each tribe, separates the population in two great classes, 
and is supposed by some to allow of its being traced to only two sources, viz : the 
Malay, distinguished by a slig' t, well formed person, fair complexion, and straight 
hair ; the Ethiopian, more robust and dark colored, with woolly hair. 
But to these two races we must also add the Hindoo, as many individuals are 
seen that from their features and color must have had their origin, in part, from 
that race. They may also be said to possess but one language, for an inhabitant 
from any part of the island may be understood in any other part, but frequently 
some words are used in some districts which are not found universal. Man;, Ara- 
bic words are also incorporated in the language of some parts of the coast, and 
have been introduced by the Arabic traders, with whom they have long had inter- 
course, and have also received some of their religious tenets as well as language. 
Circumcision is practised universally on the coast. 
The language, which is undoubtedly a branch of the Polynesian, is also another 
proof of the origin of a part of these people, while the unity of the language over 
the whole island indicates a remote period at which their emigration must have 
occurred . 
November, 1844. — The prospect around the city of Zanzibar, when viewed at the 
distance of several miles is exceedingly beautiful. The land is elevated along the 
shore ten or fifteen feet, for the distance of a fourth of a mile interior, which is 
densely covered with the cocoa-nut tree. The land then rises in gently sloping 
hills on which are cultivated the clove tree, in beautiful plantations, for several 
miles. This tree (Caryophyllus aromatica) when young resembles a pear tree some- 
what in shape ; the bark is smooth and adheres closely to the wood. The leaves 
when young are reddish on the upper and green on the under side, and the whole 
plant., like the cinnamon tree, has a strong aromatic odor. When an exotic the 
tree does not begin to produce until eight or nine years of age, but in its native 
soil is usually productive at five or six years of age. The buds appear in the be- 
ginning of the rainy season, about the first of May, and during the four following 
months are perfected ; but, as with many trees in the tropics, buds, flowers, and 
fruit may be found upon the tree at the same time. The buds are green at first, 
then yellow, and finally, when ripe, change to a blood red color soon after the 
flowers open ; and in three weeks the seeds are fully ripe. They are gathered very 
carefully by the hand and with crooked sticks, in order that the trees may not be 
injured. 
Sir T. Herbert gives the following fanciful description of the buds of the clove : 
“ It blossoms early, but becomes exceedingly inconstant in complexion, from a 
virgin white varying into other colors, for in the noon it shows a pale green, in 
the meridian a distempered red, and sets in blackness. The cloves manifest them- 
selves at the extremity of the branches, and in their growing evaporate such sense 
ravishing odors as if a compendium of nature’s sweetest gums were there extracted 
and united.” 
They are cured by placing them in hurdles over the fire for a few days, and then 
exposed to the sun until thoroughly dried. The produce varies in different years ; 
