GG 
HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
natives, that the plantations are frequently destroyed by 
irruptions of herds of wild hogs from the adjoining forests. 
Abundance of game may be found in this district: excel¬ 
lent oysters are plentiful on its shores, at the head of the 
bay of Antongil, and especially in the bay of Ifenoarivo. 
The principal trading ports in this province are, Maro- 
pototra, or Foule Pointe, and Ifenoarivo. The latter is 
the most valuable, and is usually called by traders from 
the Isle of France, Feneriffe. It is well situated for 
the purposes of traffic, having the advantage of water- 
carriage from a considerable distance in the interior. By 
this means, rice, yams, and other vegetables are conveyed 
to the coast with greater despatch and facility, and at a less 
expense, than in most other ports. 
Foule Pointe, called also Marofototra (names of the 
same signification—the former, French, the latter, Mala¬ 
gasy,) is important for trade on its own account, and is a 
desirable station for traders, on account also of its conti¬ 
guity to Tamatave, Ifenoarivo, Antongil bay, and St. Mary’s. 
The two principal rivers in Mahavelona are, Ony-be, and 
Ifontsy, which divides it from Tamatave. 
The province of Mahavalona is considered as highly 
insalubrious. Many of the troops sent to Foule Point by 
Radama, in 18*23, were seized with fever, and the forces of 
the sovereign so reduced by its prevalence, that not long 
afterwards Itasy, a native chieftain, raised the standard of 
rebellion. He was, how r ever, taken prisoner in 1827. and 
conducted to the capital, Tananarivo, where he still remains 
under guard. 
A number of Arabs, as well as French traders from 
Mauritius and Bourbon, have settlements in this part of 
the country. The Arabs have, in fact, established them¬ 
selves along the whole eastern coast of Madagascar. 
