CHAPTER VIII 
HISTORY OF EUROPEAN COLONIZATION 
It is probable that no other spot of the earth is able 
to present in the history of its colonization a tale so 
complicated and so romantic as Madagascar. Hesitating 
or planless groping on the part of the Europeans lasted 
for two centuries and a half, until after long throes a 
legally recognized colony has at last come into the world. 
In truth the history of these attempts only teaches us 
how not to colonize! 
More than a century had elapsed since the discovery 
of the great island, and not a single European power 
had given it any serious attention. The Portuguese, the 
Spaniards, the English, had indeed visited certain points 
on the coast incidentally, in order to look for the natural 
resources or to initiate temporary trade connexions, but 
no one attempted to form a permanent settlement. 
It was not till the year 1642 that a certain Rigault 
from Dieppe formed a company and obtained from 
Richelieu the right of founding a colony in Madagascar 
and the surrounding islands for the purpose of trading. 
The concession was only to hold good for ten years. 
The new company at the same time undertook the duty 
of taking possession of Madagascar in the name of the 
King of Erance. The earliest claims to lawful possession 
raised by the Erench were based upon this concession. 
In September 1642 the colonists landed in the south 
of Madagascar. The agent of the company was one 
Pronis, a good-for-nothing fellow, whose want of skill was 
only surpassed by his brutality. The surroundings of 
