CONQUEST BY THE HOVAS. 
51 
and it is from amongst them that they propose 
to raise levies of troops and a native militia for 
the defence of the tract of country claimed by 
them along the west and north-west of the island, 
against any further invasion of the Hovas. The 
French island of Nosi Be lies abreast of the 
Sakalava country, and the island of St Mary on 
the east coast also belongs to France. The Eng¬ 
lish have no possessions nearer than Mauritius. 
In 1816, however, when that colony was ceded 
to Great Britain by the French, a part of Mada¬ 
gascar was also formally made over to England 
by the native chiefs ; and it remains ours, though 
unoccupied to the present day. In fact, this 
action of the Malagasy authorities was the ground 
of the understanding between the two great Euro¬ 
pean Powers, which was respected up to a few 
months ago, that neither Government should 
attempt to gain an actual footing in the island 
of Madagascar without the full and free consent 
of the other. In the almost unknown forests of 
the west, there exists a tribe of nomads, inhabit¬ 
ing tree-dwellings, and communicating with each 
other in a speech at present unknown to any 
outside themselves. They wear no clothes, are 
diminutive of stature, mild and inoffensive in 
demeanour, very timid and retiring, and are cov¬ 
ered with hair, and would delight the heart of a 
disciple of Darwin, or a philosopher, or student 
