164 
MADAGASCAR 
4. JUAN DE NOVA 
In the middle of the Mozambique Channel, in latitude 
17° 3' S. and 75 miles west of the Sakalava coast, 
lies a small island which has been known since 1501, 
and which was named after the discoverer, the Por¬ 
tuguese Admiral Juan de Nova. A singular dread of 
this island used to prevail in seafaring circles. Even in 
quite recent times the most wonderful things have been 
related about it, and the cruelty of its inhabitants especi¬ 
ally has been exaggerated in the most insane manner. 
In the year 1894 the German traveller Dr. A. Voltzkow 
visited the island, and has sketched a sober description 
of the place, which on account of its trustworthiness is 
reproduced here in its main features. 
Juan de Nova, or Randanova, as the Malagasy of the 
west coast call it, is a flat island, 3^ miles long and 
ij miles broad. In one place the granite nucleus is 
visible, elsewhere we find well-preserved blocks of coral, 
inclosing Tridacna-shells. The coast-line is surrounded by 
an arid reef from half a mile to a mile in breadth. 
This has a steep descent to the sea on the north-west 
side, where it is inaccessible to ships on account of the 
heavy breakers. On the south-east the descent is less 
rapid, so that small vessels can be brought close to the 
shore at high water. Apparently the island is in its 
origin a core of granite, belonging to the region of 
West Madagascar, which has maintained its ground, 
this foundation having been subsequently covered by a 
layer of coral and subjected to some amount of upheaval 
above the water. 
European ships have often been stranded on these 
island reefs, and their wreckage is yet to be seen there. 
Juan de Nova is said to have been formerly covered 
with dense forest, but this has been in great part destroyed 
by the Sakalava. The most characteristic tree is the 
