France and Madagascar—Radama, Sovereign of the whole
Island—Mayotte, the French Gibraltar—Nossi-bé and Hell
Town—Holy Fathers in St. Augustine Bay—Malagasy Children
taken to Réunion and educated by the Jesuits—Recent Attempt
of the French to Revolutionize Madagascar—M. Lambert—Madam
Ida Pfeiffer—Père Jean—Laborde—The Plot thickens—The Queen
discovers all—The Conspirators banished from the Island—Death
of Ida Pfeiffer—Products—Means proposed for securing the
Independence of Madagascar.
At Mauritius, the neighbouring island of Madagascar is a constant subject
of interest, dependent, as that island and Réunion are, upon Madagascar
for supplies of cattle, rice, &c.
Its history has already been made known to us by the Reverend William
Ellis, while the more recent work of that talented and adventurous
missionary has made us more intimately acquainted with the present social
state of that island.
To France this island has been an object of desire ever since the days
of Cardinal Richelieu, who, foreseeing the important position which the
island must eventually hold in commanding the commerce of the East, in
the Indian Ocean, both by way of the Cape of Good Hope, and also by the
Red Sea, granted, about two hundred and fifty years ago, to a company
of merchants the right of trading with Madagascar, evidently with the
intention of eventually obtaining possession of that island for the crown
of France.
Jean Baptiste Colbert also, the great financial minister of Louis
XIV., to whom France owes so much of her greatness, appointed a
Governor-general for this new dependency, which it was hoped in the
course of time would form a large and successful colony of France in
these seas; and went so far as to give to it the “_beautiful_” name of
Eastern France.
The Governor-general carried out with him the grand seal of Eastern
France.
This seal represented the King in his royal robes, the crown on his head,
the sceptre in one hand, and the scales of justice in the other; around
the seal was the following inscription:—
“Ludovici XIV. Franciæ et Navarræ Regis Sigillum ad usum supremi consilii
Galliæ Orientalis.”
But the company founded by Colbert, like that set on foot by Richelieu,
became bankrupt from mismanagement and the personal animosities of those
sent out to Madagascar.
The only period at which France has ever had a shadow of a chance of
obtaining the sovereignty of this magnificent island—which from its
commanding position is deservedly called the Great Britain of Africa—was
when the French settlements were under the command of the mastermind
of the Count Benyowski, one of the magnates of the kingdom of Hungary
and Poland, who, after escaping from a Russian prison in Kamtschatka,
took service in that of the King of France; and being appointed to
the government of the French settlements in Madagascar, by his tact,
perseverance, and energy, obtained the confidence of the natives. But the
French authorities, envious of his great glory, eventually destroyed him.
After the fall of the noble but unfortunate Benyowski, and the
abandonment of the different settlements which he had formed, France
only held a few ports on the east coast of Madagascar, for the purposes
of commerce, which were under the direction of a commercial agent, and
protected by a military detachment furnished by the Isle of France,
now called Mauritius. These factories were kept up for the purpose of
provisioning the isles of France and Bourbon (Réunion), and affording
supplies to the French squadrons occupying the Indian Ocean. At last, in
1810, they were confined to two—namely, Tamatave and Foulpointe.
In that year the Isles of France and Bourbon were taken possession of by
the English, and the French settlements on the east coast of Madagascar
shared the fate of those islands; and on the 18th of February, 1811, they
capitulated to Captain Lynn, R.N., commanding his Britannic Majesty’s
corvette “L’Eclipsé”—M. Sylvian Roux having signed the capitulation as
French Agent-General.
After the capitulation, the fort at Tamatave was occupied by a detachment
of British soldiers, under the command of Captain Wilson, of the 22nd
Grenadiers, who reported that event in a communication to the government
of Mauritius, dated Tamatave, 27th February, 1811. Foulpointe, which was
a dependency of the settlement at Tamatave, with a subordinate French
agent, also surrendered, and was taken possession of by the English.
These portions of the coast were under the government of native princes,
to whom M. Sylvian Roux had been accredited by the French government of
the isle of France, now Mauritius, as agent or superintendent of trade,
and the fort at Tamatave was for the protection of French trade.
This capture was ratified by the Definitive Treaty, signed at Paris on
the 30th of May, 1814, ceding these settlements on the east coast of
Madagascar to Great Britain, as one of the dependencies of the Isle of
France or Mauritius; and again, that treaty was confirmed by Article XI.
of the Definitive Treaty, signed at Paris on the 20th day of November,
1815.
By these treaties the island of Bourbon or Réunion, which the British
had captured at the same time as the Isle of France or Mauritius,
was restored to France, but no mention was made of the late French
possessions on the east coast of Madagascar in such restoration. The
contrary is indicated by an ordinance of the King of France, dated from
the Tuileries, December 17, 1817, regulating the terms on which trade
with Bourbon shall be open to the English. This ordinance states that
all kinds of merchandize brought in English vessels from the English
establishments in Mauritius, Seychelles, and the English settlements in
Madagascar, shall be admitted, subject to the same charges as those paid
by French vessels.
The only English settlements in Madagascar at that time were those that
had been surrendered by the French. The ordinance is signed by Louis
XVIII. and Count Molé.
In 1816 the Governor of Bourbon stated that France had no colonial claims
on Madagascar, but desired to trade with the island. In the previous year
the Governor of Mauritius had been authorized to allow trade for supplies
of provisions, namely, cattle and rice, to be prosecuted between Bourbon
and Madagascar.
The claim on the part of France to parts of the eastern coast of
Madagascar seems to have been an after-thought; and the French government
wished it to be understood that France had settlements there in 1792,
and that the Treaty of Paris, dated 30th of May, 1814, guaranteed the
restoration of these possessions.
But neither Tamatave nor Foulepointe, the only settlements held by
the French at the time of their capture by the English, were in their
possession in 1792, and it was not until 1804 that French troops had been
sent by General Decaën from the isle of France to Tamatave.
In the meantime Sir Robert Farquhar, Governor of the Mauritius, had, on
the part of England, surrendered both the above settlements—and another,
obtained by purchase, to the northward, to Radama.
Radama—the supreme chief of the island—had by a proclamation declared
that he considered Madagascar an independent kingdom, and that no foreign
power had any right or claim to the country.
At one time the Governor of Bourbon objected to the claim of England to
keep the settlements in Madagascar; and the French imperial government,
requiring that any settlements possessed by France in 1792 should be
given up to that power, orders were sent out to Mauritius that any such
settlements should be restored. But it does not appear that the French
had any settlements in Madagascar in 1792, or that any settlements were
given up to France by the English Governor of Mauritius.
In 1829 the French took possession of Tamatave, but it is well known
that it was taken from them in 1830 by Admiral Schomberg. A claim was
afterwards preferred, as stated by the Rev. Wm. Ellis, in his History of
Madagascar, vol. ii., p. 316, but it was denied by Radama.
The reasons for Great Britain not asserting the sovereign rights which
she obtained from France by the capture of the French settlements on the
east coast of Madagascar are obvious.
In the first place, the claims of France were neither founded in reason
nor in justice.
And in the second place, when Captain Lesage—the British agent—was sent
into Madagascar for the adjustment of these claims on the part of Great
Britain, he found, A.D. 1816, at the capital of the island, a great and
successful warrior king, who had established himself as supreme chief,
and proclaimed himself sovereign of the whole island.
It was at once seen that, by supporting this prince, who possessed a
liberal and enlightened mind, the great object of Great Britain in
establishing relations with Madagascar, namely, the suppression of the
slave-trade, would be most readily carried out; and, therefore, the
support of the British government was given to Radama, the great king
of Madagascar; and during the whole life-time of that prince he was
acknowledged by England as Radama Manjaka.
He became the undisputed king of the whole island, and lowered the French
flag wherever the folly of a few employés dared to hoist it—replacing it
with that of the Ilovas, the dominant race, whose chief he was, and whose
valour gave to him the sovereignty of Madagascar.
On the death of Radama, and the accession of Ranavola Manjaka, one of the
first acts of the queen was to annul the treaty made by Radama with Great
Britain. The British agent, Mr. Lyell, was insulted and obliged to retire
from the court of Antananarivo, and Great Britain has not since that
period had a representative in Madagascar.
Although diplomatic relations have ceased between the courts of St.
James’s and that of Antananarivo since the retirement of the British
agent, in 1831, still commercial intercourse has been maintained between
the islands of Madagascar and Mauritius; the east coast of the former,
from Tamatave southward, plentifully supplying the ever-increasing demand
of Mauritius.
Sixty-seven thousand head of cattle, and from three to four hundred tons
of rice, were by one merchant annually imported into Mauritius from
Madagascar previous to 1845.
In that year the trade of Madagascar was put a stop to by the unfortunate
interference of H.M.S. “Conway” and two French ships of war; and, for the
space of eight years, commercial relations ceased, and were only renewed
in 1853-54 in consequence of the Mauritius merchants paying the queen of
Madagascar an indemnification of fifteen thousand dollars.
The government of Madagascar is anxious to be on the most friendly terms
with Great Britain; and, as the Rev. Mr. Ellis says in his recent work on
that interesting island, “the Madagascar people will never forget that
the King of England and the people of England have been their best and
constant friends.”
How different is the view presented by France to the Malagasy people.
Ever bent on conquering the great island, the bravery of whose sons has
baffled her for more than two and a half centuries, she has seized upon
every pretext for obtaining possession of neighbouring small islands,
from which she could harass and irritate the natives of Madagascar.
These possessions have been obtained in the most illegitimate
manner—native princes springing up and ceding to the great French nation
territory which does not belong to them.
Madagascar and its dependencies belong to Ranavola Manjaka, who inherits
them by succession from her predecessor, Radama, who obtained them
by right of conquest over all the native princes; and yet we hear of
ex-kings of the Sakalaves and different people ceding to France territory
which they have no more right to than to the tin mines of Cornwall.
Nevertheless, the French have established themselves in Mayotte,
Nossi-bé, and St. Mary’s by means of such claims.
The first-named of these islands, Mayotte, in the time of Louis
Philippe, was strongly fortified, with the intention of making it the
Gibraltar of the Indian Ocean. It is surrounded by a reef, in which it
was supposed, when these fortifications were built, there was only one
narrow entrance, which was completely commanded by the powerful batteries
raised at that time; but subsequent experience has proved that these are
entirely useless, as that enterprise which particularly distinguishes
the British seaman has found a passage through these reefs safer than
the narrow entrance commanded by the French cannon, by which vessels of
the largest draught of water could enter and shell the French Gibraltar,
while the breeches of the guns of this formidable battery were pointed
towards the foe. On this island they have no water, and are obliged to
obtain it from Madagascar. The soldiers die, as the French say, “like
rotten sheep.” Within the last twelve months large quantities of coal
have been collected at Mayotte, and no doubt that island would be the
centre of operations on Aden, Bombay, Natal, the Cape of Good Hope,
and Ceylon; but it is satisfactory to know that the party most deeply
interested is fully prepared for any contingencies which _may_ arise.
The island of Nossi-bé (the meaning of the native name by which it is
known being “large island”) has upon it, including the small garrison
kept there by the French, about 150 Europeans. The town on this island
is called, after one of the late governors of Réunion, Hell Town; and
it is by no means a misnomer, for the deeds enacted there throw those
perpetrated at Otaheite, on the bosom of the beautiful Pacific Ocean,
entirely in the shade. The native population, including that of the
small islands of Nossi Comba and Nossi Fali, is, according to the census
recently taken, 26,700 souls. These people have been principally employed
by the French to attack the Hova forts and settlements in the former
Sakalave districts, but as they found that the garrison of Mouransung
were rather their superiors in incendiary expeditions, the small French
settlement has been glad to cry “Pax!” of late.
At other places in Madagascar, the French have their agents in the
Jesuits. Two of these priests, represented as very intelligent men,
are located in St. Augustine Bay; and so much is the government of
Réunion interested in them, that every two months a government schooner
communicates with them, to attend to the wants of the holy fathers.
The Jesuits have a very extensive school at Réunion for the education
of Malagasy children, whom they obtain principally from the French
settlements of Nossi-bé and St. Mary.
These children remain at Réunion ten or twelve years, according to their
age. The boys are generally brought up as mechanics; the girls are taught
sewing, &c., while all learn to read and write. When educated they are
returned to their own country; and having been brought up in the Roman
Catholic religion, they often induce their relatives and friends to be
baptized in that faith.
Children are easily obtained, more especially on the north-west or
Sakalave portion of the island; for among them Radama did not abolish
infanticide, although he succeeded in doing so among the other nations
of the island. Among the Sakalaves, every child born on a Friday is
abandoned, and these, added to the numbers who are exposed by the heathen
party throughout the island if born on what the diviners designate an
unlucky _omen_ or _day_, and saved for the Jesuits, form a numerous
aggregate.
My informer, an English gentleman who has been out there for some years,
says that he has seen in the school at Nossi-bé as many as twenty boys
and girls, who had been abandoned as above stated, and afterwards
conveyed by the police to the Sisters of Charity.
There is no doubt that the children thus educated at Réunion will help
very much to extend the influence of the French amongst the tribes on the
coast of Madagascar. These Jesuits cast their bread upon the waters, and
after many days it will return unto them. They do so very judiciously,
especially devoting their attention to the Malagasy girls, knowing well
the great advantages of educating the future _mothers_ of the Madagascar
people in French interests.
The recent attempt of the French to obtain the upper hand in Madagascar,
by creating a revolution in that island, has resulted in the most
humiliating failure, and has given to the British interest that
preponderance which it is sure to maintain with a noble race like the
Malagasy people, as long as our relations with them are conducted on
just and honourable principles.
A. M. Lambert, of the late firm of Minon, Lambert, & Co., of Port Louis,
Mauritius, visited Antananarivo in 1855, avowedly with commercial
intentions; and while in the capital of Madagascar, he made certain
political proposals to a number of the most influential of the chiefs,
but with what success is not exactly known.
He is reported to have received a number of cattle from the Hova
government, or chiefs, to be disposed of at Mauritius, the proceeds of
which he was to spend in such articles as the natives required, which
were to be brought out when he renewed his visit to Antananarivo from
France, where he was going to make a short stay.
Madame Ida Pfeiffer, the celebrated lady traveller, was at that time in
England raising a subscription to enable her to visit Madagascar, in
which object she was successful; the Mauritius papers reported that the
Prince Consort contributed 10_l_., and the British Association for the
Advancement of Science a similar amount, towards this purpose.
After M. Lambert’s return to Paris from his political visit in 1855,
Madame Ida Pfeiffer went to France; but it cannot be said with certainty
whether she met M. Lambert there, or what assistance she received from
the French for her proposed expedition.
M. Lambert having made the necessary arrangements in Paris, and being
favoured with two audiences by the Emperor of the French, proceeded to
Madagascar, and, having called at the Cape of Good Hope _en route_, he
there met with Madame Ida Pfeiffer. The Frenchman, charmed with the
enterprise of this aged lady, offered his services as knight-errant on
the occasion; and Madame, nothing loth, accepted his offers to escort
her to Antananarivo. Arrived at Mauritius, where they had to await the
return of the healthy season, the knight-errant recollected that he
was charged, among numerous other things, with a pianoforte for the
Queen of Madagascar; and not being a musician, he bethought him to make
Madame Pfeiffer useful; and accordingly suggested to her the necessity
of her learning the pianoforte, in order to play it before the Queen
of Madagascar. The aged Ida acquiesced immediately, and made herself
mistress of the instrument before she left Mauritius.
At Mozambique I learned of this intended expedition of M. Lambert,
and the large amount of presents which he was taking up with him. On
inquiry I found that Minon, Lambert, & Co., were a very young firm at
Mauritius—the former gentleman having been a clerk in a bank at Paris,
and the latter a civil engineer there, a short time before they made
their appearance at Mauritius. The amount of the presents was stated
to be 2,000_l._; and as I knew that this was a sum which a young firm
could not well afford to give away, I might very fairly surmise that the
funds came from Paris; while the munificence of the gifts gave them an
_imperial_ aspect.
At the same time that M. Lambert was to arrive at Antananarivo, Père
Jean, Préfet Apostolique of Madagascar, and the head of the Jesuit
Mission in that island and its neighbourhood, would visit that capital,
disguised as a trader.
In Dalrymple Bay M. Lambert had a vessel anchored, by which the Hova
chiefs, whose aid he expected, might escape to the neighbouring island
of Mohilla, in the event of failure; and, in fact, every precaution was
taken to secure success in the contemplated expedition which was to give
Madagascar to France at last.
Being apprized of the whole of the above circumstances, I sent several
letters from Mozambique to Madame Ida Pfeiffer, in the hope that she
would be warned in time, and not take part in such an enterprise, as it
was well known in Madagascar that this travelling lady was going to visit
the island from England.
In the healthy season of 1857, M. Lambert, accompanied by Madame Ida
Pfeiffer, arrived at Antananarivo, where he was met by Père Jean, who was
disguised as a trader: “the end justifies the means.”
M. Lambert was welcomed by his countryman, M. Laborde, master of the
ceremonies at Antananarivo, late slave-dealer, and, by repute, if
possible something worse.
M. Lambert took up a great number of presents, consisting of horses,
camels, musical instruments, &c. He was treated with great hospitality
and attention by all parties. Meanwhile the priest, the slave-dealer,
and the ambassador (?) worked hard in their projected scheme; and, in
the course of a fortnight or so, these three worthies had proposed to a
number of the chief people “to put the Queen Ranavola aside, and place
another ruler on the throne, allowing the Queen a pension—to form a
treaty of alliance between the French and the Prince whom they should
put on the throne—to establish the Roman Catholic religion as the only
religion to be allowed in Madagascar—and to abolish domestic slavery, &c.”
The conspirators rejoiced, for the time of putting the plot into
execution arrived.
There was a grand entertainment given at the Palace, and, if practicable,
the Queen and her principal adherents were to be seized.
Madame Pfeiffer, the three French worthies, and all the chief personages
were invited; but in the middle of the entertainment the awful
intelligence was announced that the Queen had discovered the conspiracy
to dethrone her, and seize the government of the kingdom.
Immediately the wretched Madame Pfeiffer and the three Frenchmen were
made prisoners, and placed in the midst of a great concourse of people,
where a deathlike silence prevailed, in anticipation of the doom which
awaited them.
After a fearful suspense, during which the Queen, surrounded by her
council, decided upon their fate, it was announced that the Queen had
spared the lives of the conspirators; but they were to be banished from
the island within a certain time; and if ever they were found on the
island again the forfeit of their lives would be the penalty.
Laborde refused to go, but was forced away by the officers; and they were
accompanied to the coast by the Queen’s officers, who had instructions to
lead them through the most insalubrious districts, so that the malaria of
the swamps might seize upon their constitutions.
On arriving at the coast they were embarked and sent from the island
within the time specified by the Queen.
Madame Ida Pfeiffer for a long time hung between life and death, but the
kind nursing of the hospitable people of Mauritius at length restored her
sufficiently to enable her to embark in a ship for Europe; but it was
only to arrive in her native country to die.
M. Lambert proceeded to Paris, where want of success made him an
unwelcome guest. He returned to Mauritius, where I saw him for a few
moments. He appeared intent upon another attempt on the crown of
Madagascar, and sanguine of success.
There are various accounts of the manner in which the Queen became aware
of the conspiracy which threatened her crown.
One is, that two of the conspirators, being native chiefs, communicated
the particulars of the conspiracy to the government. Another, that among
the _et ceteras_ of the presents conveyed by Lambert to Antananarivo
there was a writing-desk for the Queen, in a secret drawer of which there
was a letter warning her Majesty of the intended attempt to overthrow her
government.
There is no doubt that the government were fully aware of what was
meditated long before the _dénouement_; and it is certain that the
warning came through English influence, but by what channel I do not feel
farther at liberty to state.
The commerce of the island has not increased since the re-opening of
the trade in 1853-4 so much as was expected—the political state of
the country not being favourable to industry and cultivation; and the
present policy is rather to restrict than to encourage commerce, as the
government do not want to make the island more attractive to foreigners,
or to make it more desirable as a possession.
Cattle and rice are to be obtained in every portion of the island.
Orchella-weed is found in enormous quantities all over Madagascar. Silk,
wool, cotton, and the most valuable and varied descriptions of timber
for ship-building and all other purposes, are to be procured in the
greatest abundance. Large quantities of India-rubber have been exported
since 1834, and the gutta-percha tree is also found. Gums, dyes from
woods, nuts, and roots are in great plenty, and it only requires the
independence of this noble people to be secured, when the trade would be
enormous.
The French will never obtain possession of the island, for the forests
and fevers in the lower districts are its natural protectors; and while
the present state of things lasts, there will be no roads made, for these
would only facilitate the conquest of the island—a fact to which the
Malagasy are quite alive.
A specimen of the coal from the north-west end of Madagascar was given
to me when at Mauritius. It appears to be of an inferior quality, but
doubtless many seams of superior coal lie in that portion of the island
closely adjoining the iron districts.
Madagascar is rich in valuable articles of export, but its resources are
yet comparatively unknown. During the reign of Radama the demand for
articles of European manufacture increased with astonishing rapidity.
Since the death of Radama the trade of Madagascar has very much declined.
The reasons are obvious. The government of the Queen, unsupported by
Great Britain, does not hold that command over the whole of the island
which was accorded to Radama alone; and this want of confidence in
themselves has revived that continued fear of invasion which harassed
the Malagasy people for so long a period, and for more than two hundred
years, in the person of the French nation, has been their persecuting
demon.
Thoughtful men inquire how a stop may be put to this state of things,
which deprives five millions of human beings of the benefits of
civilization, robs them of the religion of Christ, and continues them,
and them alone (for everywhere but in Madagascar there is progress), in
a state of semi-barbarism, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and fifty-nine.
The answer to the question is simply—Let France, once and for ever,
withdraw claims which have not their foundation in right, justice,
or humanity, on Madagascar; and join with England and America in a
tri-partite treaty, guaranteeing the independence of the Malagasy people.
Immediately the ports of Madagascar would be thrown open; commercial
relations would be encouraged, the resources of the island developed, a
permanent government established; roads, canals, bridges, steamboats, and
railroads would appear where now are to be found only the pathway through
the gloomy forest, and the canoe on the silent stream.
From Aden the copper cable, resting on one of the Comoro Islands, would
convey the message to Bombatok, which, flashing through the wires at
Antananarivo and Tamatave, would through another cable pass on to Réunion
and Mauritius, and thence to Ceylon, to “farthest India and Cathay,” the
glad tidings that the Queen of the Indian Ocean had joined the family
of civilized and Christianized man. Less than five years may see this
accomplished.