CHAPTER XII 
TOWNS AND VILLAGES 
It is not easy to survey the chorography of the island 
and its underlying laws in full detail, because wide 
districts have been inadequately explored and several 
regions remain quite unknown. Even half-trustworthy 
statistics of the population will for a long time have to 
remain a desideratum. 
Nevertheless, noteworthy points in the relative propor¬ 
tions of the population can be brought forward as isolated 
facts, and can be explained on anthropological, political, 
topographical and climatic grounds. 
In the first place we are struck by the fact that the 
density of the population is not greatest in the easily 
accessible fruitful zone, but in the centre of the island, 
where the productiveness of the soil appears to be less. 
Here several populous cities have grown up, as Antana¬ 
narivo with more than 100,000 inhabitants, distant 190 
miles from Tamatave and 280 from Majunga. This city 
is built on a hill which rises from a wide plain as an 
isolated mass. On the highest point stands the former 
palace, where the Kings and Queens of Madagascar 
resided. The city of Ambohimanga, 27 miles from the 
old royal residence, was at all times looked upon as 
a sacred place by the inhabitants. The capital of the 
Betsileo province is Eianarantsoa, the trade of which is 
not inconsiderable. 
Two millions of Hova and Betsileo live on a relatively 
small area in the highlands, while in the lowlands we 
are often astonished at the rarity of large villages. 
