64 
HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
The province of Ivong , the third, lies to the south of 
Maroa, and is separated from Mahavelona by the river 
Manangoro, which rises in a lake to the west of Antsianaka. 
There is also in this province another considerable river, 
called Penimbala, and a port called Tahotaingia, or, as 
sometimes marked in maps, Teinteigne. It is generally 
pronounced by captains and traders at Mauritius, Tang-tang. 
The general appearance of the country resembles that of 
Maroa, being hilly, woody, and fertile. Cattle and consider¬ 
able quantities of rice are exported from this province for 
the markets of Bourbon and Mauritius. 
The Isle of St. Mary, which occupies so prominent a 
place in the history of Madagascar, lies off this province, 
at the distance of two or three leagues, and is about forty 
miles n.n.e. from Foule Point. The inhabitants call them¬ 
selves Zafy-Ibrahim, i. e. descendants of Abraham, and their 
island, Nosy-Ibrahim, Island of Abraham. The natives of 
the province do not generally designate themselves by this 
title; and it is not improbable that the name originated 
with some of the pirates, who were all Europeans, and who 
made their settlement in the Isle of St. Mary, and after¬ 
wards intermarrying with the natives, assumed the title as 
one of honour—one of the most innocent, perhaps, of their 
piratical acts. 
The Isle of St. Mary’s is represented as exceedingly 
fertile, and extends, in a north-easterly direction, from 
17° 6' to 16° 37'. On the west side is a bay, having an 
islet called Quail’s Island, at its entrance. Here small 
vessels may obtain shelter. The place is far from being 
salubrious. The French, who from time to time sent 
recruits to replace the troops who died in their establish¬ 
ment there, gave to the island the designation of “The Grave 
of the French.” To this melancholy picture of the spot 
