TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
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[Illustration: OLD VILLAGE GATEWAY WITH CIRCULAR STONE
The stone is levered into position closing the opening. A deep fosse
or ditch surrounding the village completes its fortification. The
man in front is carrying two packages secured to a pole in the usual
manner of the country]
A NATURALIST
IN MADAGASCAR
_A Record of Observation Experiences and
Impressions made during a period of over Fifty Years’
Intimate Association with the Natives and Study of the
Animal & Vegetable Life of the Island_
BY
JAMES SIBREE, F.R.G.S.
_Membre de l’Academie Malgache_
AUTHOR OF “THE GREAT AFRICAN ISLAND,” “MADAGASCAR ORNITHOLOGY,”
&c., &c., &c.
WITH 52 ILLUSTRATIONS & 3 MAPS
PHILADELPHIA
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
LONDON: SEELEY, SERVICE & CO. LTD.
1915
Dedicated
WITH MUCH AFFECTION TO
MY DEAR WIFE
MY CONSTANT COMPANION IN MADAGASCAR
AND FAITHFUL HELPER IN ALL
MY WORK FOR FORTY-FOUR
YEARS
PREFACE
The title of this book may perhaps be considered by some as too
ambitious, and may provoke comparison with others somewhat similar in
name, but with whose distinguished authors I have no claim at all to
compete.
I have no tales to tell of hair-breadth escapes from savage beasts,
no shooting of “big game,” no stalking of elephant or rhinoceros,
of “hippo” or giraffe. We have indeed no big game in Madagascar.
The most dangerous sport in its woods is hunting the wild boar; the
largest carnivore to be met with is the fierce little _fòsa_, and the
crocodile is the most dangerous reptile.
But I ask the courteous reader to wander with me into the wonderful
and mysterious forests, and to observe the gentle lemurs in their
home, as they leap from tree to tree, or take refuge in the thickets
of bamboo; to come out in the dusk and watch the aye-aye as he
stealthily glides along the branches, obtaining his insect food under
the bark of the trees; to listen to the song of numerous birds,
and to note their habits and curious ways; to hear the legends and
folk-tales in which the Malagasy have preserved the wisdom of their
ancestors with regard to the feathered denizens of the woods and
plains, and to admire the luxuriant vegetation of the forests, and
the trees and plants, the ferns and flowers, and even the grasses,
which are to be found in every part of the island.
I invite those who may read these pages to look with me at the little
rodents and insect-eaters which abound in and near the woods; to mark
the changing chameleons which are found here in such variety; to
watch the insects which gambol in the sunshine, or hide in the long
grass, or sport on the streams. If such unexciting pleasures as these
can interest my readers, I can promise that there is in Madagascar
enough and to spare to delight the eye and to charm the imagination.
I confess that I am one of those who take much more delight in
silently watching the birds and their pretty ways in some quiet nook
in the woods, than in shooting them to add a specimen to a museum;
and that I feel somewhat of a pang in catching even a butterfly, and
would much rather observe its lovely colours in life, as it unfolds
them to the sunshine, than study it impaled on a pin in a cabinet. No
doubt collections are necessary, but I have never cared to make them
myself.
Nothing is here recorded but facts which have come under my own
observation or as related by friends and others whose authority is
unquestionable. And while my main object is to convey a vivid and
true impression of the animal and vegetable life of Madagascar, I
have also given many sketches of what is curious and interesting in
the habits and customs of the Malagasy people, among whom I have
travelled repeatedly, and with whom I have lived for many years. I
have no pretensions to be a scientific naturalist or botanist, I have
only been a careful observer of the beautiful and wonderful things
that I have seen and I have constantly noted down what many others
have observed, and have here included information which they have
given in the following pages.
I have long wished that someone far more competent than myself would
write a popular book upon the natural history and botany of this
great island; but as I have not yet heard of any such, I venture with
some diffidence to add this book to the large amount of literature
already existing about Madagascar, but none of it exactly filling
this place. For many years I edited, together with my late friend
and colleague, the Rev. R. Baron, the numbers of _The Antanànarìvo
Annual_, a publication which was “a record of information on the
topography and natural productions of Madagascar, and the customs,
traditions, language and religious beliefs of its people,” and for
which I was always on the look-out for facts of all kinds bearing
on the above-mentioned subjects. But as this magazine was not known
to the general public, and was confined to a very limited circle
of readers, I have not hesitated to draw freely on the contents of
its twenty-four numbers, as I am confident that a great deal of the
information there contained is worthy of a much wider circulation
than it had in the pages of the _Annual_.
Finally, as preachers say, although this book is written by a
missionary, it is not “a missionary book”; not, certainly, because
I undervalue missionary work, in which, after nearly fifty years’
acquaintance with it, and taking an active part in it, I believe with
all my heart and soul, but because that aspect of Madagascar has
already been so fully treated. Books written by the Revs. W. Ellis,
Dr Mullens, Mr Prout, Dr Matthews, Mr Houlder, myself and others,
give all that is necessary to understand the wonderful history of
Christianity in this island. Despite what globe-trotting critics may
say, as well as colonists who seem to consider that all coloured
peoples may be exploited for their own benefit, mission work, apart
from its simply obeying the last commands of our Lord, is _the_ great
civilising, educational and benevolent influence in the world, deny
it who can! But in this book I want to show that Madagascar is full
of interest in other directions, and that the wonderful things that
live and grow here are hardly less worthy of study than those events
which have attracted the attention of Christian and benevolent people
for nearly a hundred years past.
The author thanks very sincerely his friends, Mr John Parrett,
Monsieur Henri Noyer, and Razaka, for their freely accorded
permission to reproduce many photographs taken by them and used to
illustrate this book. And his grateful thanks are also due to his old
friend, the Rev. J. Peill, for the care he has taken in going through
the proof sheets, especially in seeing that all Madagascar words are
correctly given.
Two or three chapters of this book cover, to some extent, the same
ground as those treated of in another book on Madagascar by the
author, published some years ago by Mr Fisher Unwin. The author here
acknowledges, with many thanks, Mr Fisher Unwin’s kindness in giving
full permission to produce these, which are, however, rewritten and
largely added to.
J. S.
_NOTE._—Throughout this book Malagasy words are accented on the
syllables which should be emphasised, and if it is borne in mind
that the vowels _a_, _e_ and _i_ have as nearly as possible the
same sound as in French or Italian, and that _o_ is exactly like
our English _o_ in _do_, _to_ and _move_, and that the consonants
do not differ much in sound from those in English, except that _g_
is always hard, _s_ always a sibilant and not like _z_, and _j_ is
like _dj_ there will be no difficulty in pronouncing Malagasy words
with a fair amount of accuracy.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PAGE
INTRODUCTORY 17
Natural History of the Island—Still Little Known—Roads and
Railway—We travel by Old-Fashioned Modes—Great Size and
Extent of Madagascar