126 
HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
tions, habitations, the Hovas are what Rochon describes the 
Kimos to be.* 
Without entering further into the inquiry at present, it 
may be sufficient to remark, that tradition and a few inci¬ 
dental circumstances induce the belief that the first settlers 
in Imerina came from some part eastward of Tananarivo, 
and fixed their residence at the villages of Alasora, Ambo 
hitraina, and the neighbourhood. These villages are 
within a few miles of the capital, and they are unques¬ 
tionably among the most ancient in that part of the country. 
They, as well as most places in Imerina, contain numerous 
graves of the Vazimba; constituting, as will be afterwards 
shewn, the sacred places at which the natives offer their 
religious worship. One circumstance indicating, agreeably 
to the customs of the country, the antiquity and early 
importance of Ambohitraina, is, that its speakers, to the 
present day, are renowned in the public kabarys, i. e. 
assemblies of the people, for tracing to a remote antiquity 
the genealogy and origin of their chieftains ; a circumstance 
to which the Malagasy attach the highest importance. 
The population of Ankova is variously estimated; but, 
probably, taking an average from the conflicting state¬ 
ments given, from eighty to one hundred thousand may be 
regarded as nearly correct. This population is widely scat¬ 
tered in numerous villages over the surface of the country. 
The villages usually contain from fifty to one hundred 
houses each; while the capital, with its immediate vicinity, 
contains a much larger number of inhabitants than any other 
* Rochon expresses his surprise that Mons. Commerson had not verified 
the relation of some Vazimbas having been buried under the barrows 
pointed out to him, by opening one of them. This is entirely overlooking 
the prejudices of the natives, who would never suffer a Vazimba grave 
to be so desecrated. They would expect to suffer the most terrible 
vengeance as the punishment of the sacrilegious outrage. 
