48 
MADAGASCAR. 
surrounded. The Hovas were thorough - going 
idolaters, and given over to vile and degrading 
superstitions, which actually justified murder and 
infanticide to a terrible extent. 
Next in importance and interest to the Hovas 
we must place the Betsimisaraka. This tribe is 
of African descent, and the people all along the 
east coast present every characteristic of that race. 
They were originally governed by an independ¬ 
ent king, who ruled at Tamatave and Andevo- 
ranto ; but they retained their tribal system, and 
the independence of their chiefs was respected, 
as it is to this day in a modified way, by thk 
Government of Queen Ranavalona. The name of 
Betsimisaraka (the great undivided) was derived 
from the fact that the clans composing this large 
and widely scattered family were always found 
united together for the common good, and their 
subjugation to the yoke of the central authority 
in Imerina was not effected without considerable 
difficulty and exercise of diplomacy on the part 
of Radama I. Assisted by an astute non-commis¬ 
sioned British officer named Brady, an Irishman, 
who was raised by the king to the rank of 
general and commander-in-chief of the Mala¬ 
gasy forces, Radama led a large army down 
through the defiles of the central provinces and 
the pass of Biforona to the seaboard, and estab¬ 
lished himself at Tamatave, which then became 
