HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
33 
being perfectly innocuous, forms one of the most beautiful 
and splendid phenomena in nature, to be witnessed in 
Madagascar. 
Meteors are occasionally seen, and earthquakes are not 
unknown. Besides the effects of these convulsions of 
nature, as experienced in some of the villages, the capital 
itself has been shaken by an earthquake within the last 
twenty years, viz. since the Missionaries arrived there. 
Among the accounts of remarkable events preserved by 
an intelligent native, is the record of an occurrence of 
this kind which took place on the 21st of Alahamady, that 
is, about the end of March, 1829, when a piece of ground, 
or large portion of the surface of the earth, situated to the 
east of Antananirivo, was removed to a considerable dis¬ 
tance from its former position. 
The soil in many parts of Madagascar, especially in 
several of the beautiful and extensive valleys of the island, 
may justly be denominated fertile. Large portions of the 
table-land of the interior, and of the mountainous part of 
the island, are, however, rocky and sterile, and much of the 
low land near the coast appears little better than a pesti¬ 
lential swamp, or unwholesome morass, while the border 
extending to the sea is often sandy and barren. The soil of 
many parts is nevertheless mellow, prolific, and susceptible, 
in a high degree, of cultivation; while it appears sufficient 
to yield the means of support for a vastly larger population 
than the island at present contains, or is likely to contain 
for many generations to come. From the varieties of soil 
which the different sections of the country exhibit, it seems 
eminently adapted not only to yield a far greater abundance 
of the articles at present cultivated, but to be well suited 
to the growth of every valuable production of countries in 
the temperate or the torrid zone. 
i. 
D 
