NEW GROUND. 
203 
lets, either in the way of retaliation for injury 
sustained, or for the extension of territory, with 
a view to personal aggrandisement. This fact 
alone points to the principle of a central and 
single supreme authority at Antananarivo, as 
being the only hope for the country and the 
people. 
The B&ra country, which to-day is almost 
without inhabitants, will, in time to come, be 
one of the most important of the southern pro¬ 
vinces, as the people are capable of better things, 
and the land itself would easily sustain the 
burden of a large and thriving and industrious 
population. Here, as in every part of Mada¬ 
gascar, there is abundant evidence of the capa¬ 
city of the country, and one can only hope that 
the Government will soon see its way to utilising 
the enormous wealth which lies buried beneath 
the surface of the soil, and which will supply the 
means necessary for a system of roads and rail¬ 
ways throughout the island, which will place the 
now inaccessible districts in easy communication 
with the seaports, and thus open out the path 
for a large export trade, as well as for the impor¬ 
tation of European manufactured goods. Even 
forest and fever cannot eventually protect the 
country from the aggression of rapacious adven¬ 
turers or the attacks of ambitious and unscrup¬ 
ulous Powers; and the Malagasy must learn 
