CHAP. II. 
Divisions of the Island—•Descriptive Account of the 
principal Provinces , and their Productions . 
Madagascar, like other uncivilized countries, is 
divided into provinces, each having its distinct inde¬ 
pendence as a nation. This appears to be the most 
ancient form of government, and doubtless arose in 
the early ages of the world, from every family consti¬ 
tuting a separate tribe. Their wants were few, and 
easily supplied; and it was not till civilization 
extended itself, and luxury increased,—when the arts 
of civil life, and reciprocal wants and dangers, taught 
mankind their mutual dependence,—that the importance 
and advantages of political union were discovered. * 
There are generally reckoned twenty-eight pro¬ 
vinces in Madagascar; but one or two others are 
added by late historians. Their names are as follow: 
* It is true, history affords exceptions to this general rule ; 
and we need not go beyond our own times, or our own quarter 
of the globe, to find one. But if, in the present or any past age, 
a large portion of the uncivilized tribes are found to bend under 
the despotic sway of an overgrown autocrat, we make no hesi¬ 
tation in asserting—however mildly the power may be exercised— 
that the discordant materials are drawn and kept together by 
the iron hand of military despotism, rather than a consciousness 
of any blessings arising from such a confederacy. 
