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224 
As foon as we had defcended into the 
court or inciofure of the French eftablifh- 
ment, our interpreter, holding a ftaff in 
his hand, with which he ftruck the ground 
at every-word he uttered, and, at the ter- 
-mination of every fentence, proclaimed 
aloud, with much circumlocution, after 
the manner of the country, that the re- 
prefintative of the French now prefent, 
that all thofe who took any fhare in the 
French Government, that all the French 
now here aflembled, had fworn to maintain 
an inviolable friendfhip to his Majefty 
Zacavola, to the chiefs, and all the Mada- 
gafcans of the province Bett{miflar; and 
that they had pledged themfel ves that no 
Frenchman fhould commit any injury or 
act of injuftice ; upon the exprefs condi- 
tion, however, that the Madagafcans 
fhould comport themfelves in a fimilar 
manner. 
Afterwards Rama-Efa, feated on -the 
ground, with the other chiefs, repeated 
the oath, with the fame ceremony, in 
the name of Zacavola, and the other 
chiefs of the province of Bettfmiflar, by 
which they fwore refpect and affection to 
the French nation, promifing to treat 
with impartiality and due attention every 
Frenchman who might fettle or carry on 
trade with the country. He recapitulated, 
at the fame time, many inftances of op- 
preffion and injuftice exercifed againit 
them by the French at different periods ; 
but he affirmed, that the Madagaicans had 
been fully fatished with feizing the delin- 
quents, and delivering them into the 
hands of the Frencu, to be fent te the Tfle 
of France, and that they had never fhed 
the blood of a fingle French citizen. 
The cenclufion of this fingular oath 
was nearly in the following words :— 
<6 We hete folemnly fwear and promife, 
on the earth, and in the prefence of Zan- 
haar, our Ged, to inflict punifhment on 
ali who fhall be guilty of injuring any 
Frenchman, to difpenfe prompt and im- 
partial juftice to all French citizens, and 
to fee that fuch debts be difcharged as are 
due tothem by the natives of Madagal- 
car ; and we imprecate, if failing to fulfil 
this our oath, that divine vengeance may 
overtake us, that our bones may remain 
unburied, and be gnawed by dogs, and 
we engage to refign cur Zanhaar for a 
dog, in cafe of our infringing the oath 
now taked.”” 
I interdifted, on this folenin and marked 
occafion, the barbarous form of the oath 
formerly enjoined, and which was termed 
the cath of blood: Ut confifted in drawing 
blood frem the breaft of each party, and 
Defeription of the Iftand of Madagafcars 
[April 4, 
of mixing it up with a portion of gun- - 
powder, ginger, gold, and lead; each of 
the contracting parties took a draught of 
this difgufting beverage, uttering, at the 
fame time, horrid exclamations and dread= 
ful imprecations. . 
Tt feems very fingular, that the fame 
ceremony fhould not only be prattifed by 
feveral diftant African nations, but like- 
wife exift, as I myfelf have witneffed, 
among the negroes of the Dutch colony of 
Surinam, who have fled in numerous bo- 
dies to the frontiers of Guiana, towards 
the borders of the Maroni. 
I fhall now prefent the reader with fuch 
general obfervations as I was enabled to 
make during my very fhort ftay in the. 
ifland. 
The land in the environs of Foul- 
Point, towards the fouth and weft, isa 
{fpecies of .favanna, interfperfed with 
clumps of trees, and interfected by fome 
rivulets, which here and there form 
marfhes, in confequence of their courfe 
being obltru&ted by fand-banks, which the 
fea has thrown up all aleng the coaft.— 
The foil is a coarfe grey vegetable fand. 
In this part of the ifland we obferved fe- 
veral very pleafant and diverfified fitua- 
tions 5 but the high mountains are ata 
great diftance from this part of the 
coalt, ; 
On the north fide, for about the exten 
of a league, there is a fpecies of downs, 
formed principally of a vegetable fand, in 
which we remarked fome pafture-ground, 
anda few clumps of wood. ‘Throughout 
the whole Jength of thefe downs there is a 
kind of canal formed by the waters of two 
rivers, called Ouibé and Tartas, which 
are impeded in their courfe towards the 
fea by the fand-banks accumulated on the 
fhore. Sometimes the momentum of thefe 
waters is fo confiderable as to force an 
outlet ; at other times their exit is pre- 
vented by the {and which the fea depofits, 
until, at length, furmounting the impedi- 
ment by which they were confined, they 
open themfelves a freth paflage. 
‘The free courfe of the water being thus 
interrupted, a confiderable portion of the 
adjoining lands is inundaced and rendered 
marfhy. It fhould feem eafy to remedy 
this inconvenience, either by deepening 
the mouth of the river occafionally, or by 
means of fluices. $ 
I bave fince obferved, that in Indoftan 
like caufes produce fimilar difadvantages 
in mot of the rivers which difembogue 
themfelves into the fea along the coalt of 
Coromandel, in the fame geographical 
fituation. With the view ef obviating 
fueh 
& 
