44 
MADAGASCAR. 
earthworks and irrigation schemes, since fallen 
to decay, all point to the presence of inhabitants 
in places which are now forsaken. This reduc¬ 
tion of numbers is due partly to the enormous 
drain upon the youth and manhood of the coun¬ 
try during the terrible reign of Eanavalona I., 
and the custom, now long abolished, of sending 
yearly large consignments of slaves across the 
seas to supply the markets of Arabia and India. 
Each of the great divisions of the Malagasy had 
formerly its sovereign chief, its capital, its own 
social customs, particular dress, language, code 
of laws, and even its own peculiar civil and re¬ 
ligious rites and ceremonies; and some of these 
latter observances were marked by horrible atro¬ 
cities,—as, for instance, the offering of human 
sacrifices in the southern province of Yamgain- 
drano, where it appears that a weekly oblation 
of victims—if possible, chiefs or persons of some 
importance—was made to satisfy the vengeance 
and outraged dignity of the local deity. Over 
the Betsil^o, the Betsimisaraka, and the Antsiana- 
ka, the Hova Government has long exercised its 
supremacy ; and this arrangement is decidedly 
for the advantage of the whole community, as its 
policy is one of advance and enlightenment, and 
will no doubt ultimately effect the complete 
moral elevation and improvement of the whole 
population. 
