9 
HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
Cape of Good Hope and Madagascar, is about 600 leagues: 
from Mauritius it is 186 leagues distant; and from the Isle 
of Bourbon, 150. 
From Cape Amber, or Ambro, its northern extremity, 
situated in lat. 25° 40' S., Madagascar extends southward, 
about 900 miles, to Cape St. Mary, its southern point, 
which is in S. lat 12° 2'. The breadth of the southern 
part of the island is about 800 miles; the northern portion 
is narrow, and it is widest in the centre, where it is about 
400 miles broad. It has been estimated to contain two 
hundred millions of acres of land, but one hundred andfifty 
millions would probably be a more accurate computation. 
Madagascar is said to have been discovered by Europeans 
in the year 1506; it was shortly afterwards visited by 
Tristan d’Acunha. 
By the Portuguese it was called the island of St. Law¬ 
rence, either in honour of its discoverer, Lawrence Almeida, 
or, as stated by early writers, in accordance with a custom 
prevailing among them, in honour of the saint on whose 
day in the calendar it was first seen. The French, during 
the reign of Henry IV., called it Isle Dauphine. 
The island had, however, for a long period previously, 
been known to the Moors and Arabs, who have visited its 
western shores for the purpose of trade. By them it was 
called Serandah, and not Serandib, as stated by Rochon, 
which there is every reason to believe was the name they 
gave to Ceylon.* The inhabitants of Europe had also 
been previously made acquainted with its existence by the 
accounts of Marco Paulo, whose travels were published in 
the close of the 13th century. By the last mentioned tra¬ 
veller the island was called Magaster. 
* See D’Herbelot’s Bib. Orient. 
