Departure from the Mauritius.--The old Man-of-War.--Arrival in
Madagascar.--Mademoiselle Julie.--Account of Tamatavé.--The
Natives.--Comical Head-dresses.--First Visit in
Antandroroko.--Malagasey Hospitality.--The Europeans at
Tamatavé.--The Parisio-Malagasey.--Domestic Institutions.
On the 25th of April, 1857, I quitted the Mauritius. Thanks to the good
offices of Mr. Gonnet, the owners of the “Triton” gave me a free passage
to the harbor of Tamatavé, on the coast of Madagascar, distant 480
sea-miles. Our vessel was an old worn-out brig of war, which in her
youthful days formed part of the British fleet at the great victory of
Trafalgar in 1805. Deeply had she fallen from her former high estate;
for now, in her old age, she was used for carrying oxen during the fine
season of the year from Madagascar to the Mauritius. Accommodation for
passengers there was none, all the space being divided into berths for
the oxen; and as to the security of our vessel, the captain gave me the
consolatory assurance that she was utterly unfit to do battle with any
thing approaching to a storm.
My desire to leave the Mauritius behind me was nevertheless so great
that nothing could dissuade me from going. I commended myself to Heaven,
embarked with a light heart, and had no reason to repent my boldness. If
the ship was bad, her captain, Mr. Benier, was a remarkably good one.
Though not of high birth, for he was half Creole in color, he behaved
with a courtesy and consideration which would have done honor to the
most cultivated man. He at once gave up his cabin to me--the only place
in the ship not monopolized by preparations for the four-footed
passengers--and did all in his power to make the voyage as agreeable to
me as possible. For the first three days our passage was rather a quick
one. The wind was in our favor, blowing from the east, as it always does
in these seas from April to the end of October. A quick-sailing ship
would have made the voyage in three days; but not so our old war-craft,
wending painfully on her way. We were still far distant from our goal,
and, to our dismay, a strong contrary wind arose in the night between
the third and fourth day of our voyage. Notwithstanding the consoling
verdict of the captain with regard to the safety of the ship, I sat
expectant every minute of some catastrophe. But the night and the
following day passed away without accident, though the wind, still
contrary, compelled us to cast anchor toward evening off the island of
“Prunes.” On the fifth day we came to Tamatavé, but could not run in
there; at length, on the sixth day, we came to anchor in the harbor.
Violent falls of rain, frequently of long duration, had contributed
their share in rendering the voyage irksome; I had no books with me, and
the good captain’s library consisted of a cookery-book and an English
and French dictionary. But such minor inconveniences are easily
forgotten, particularly when a long-sought goal is in view, as was now
the case with me. The land I had ardently wished, during many years, to
visit, now lay before my eyes.
I wished to quit the ship at once; but it appears that, in spite of her
contempt for civilization and her dislike of European institutions,
Queen Ranavola has adopted the two among them most obnoxious to
travelers--police and custom-house. Just as though I had been in France
or any other European country, I was compelled to wait till the
inspecting officers had come on board, and looked very carefully at the
ship and at me. As I had the queen’s royal permission to set foot in her
kingdom, no farther difficulty was made, and I was free to land. Here
certain custom-house _employés_ of Madagascar at once took possession of
me, and led me to the custom-house, where all my baggage was opened and
searched. How they searched! not the smallest object escaped their eyes,
not the tiniest paper packet was overlooked. The officials exhibited the
keenness of bloodhounds, and could hold their own beside the sharpest
_douaniers_ in France or Germany. Fortunately, nothing was stolen from
me; and I looked complacently on a scene that so whimsically reminded me
of my own country.
At Tamatavé I was to meet Mr. Lambert, who intended not to return to the
Mauritius after his visit to the eastern coast of Africa, which he had
undertaken on behalf of the French government, but to proceed to
Madagascar at once. Mr. Lambert had not yet arrived, but he had already
told me in the Mauritius that, in the event of having to wait, I should
put up at Mademoiselle Julie’s, and he would take care to inform her of
his arrival.
My lady-readers will probably expect to be introduced, in the person of
Mademoiselle Julie, to an unmarried European female, cast by some
strange freak of fortune on this distant island. Unfortunately, I must
disenchant them: Mademoiselle Julie is a true Malagasey woman, and,
moreover, a widow, and the mother of several children. In Madagascar,
the strange custom prevails of calling every member of the sex feminine
“Mademoiselle,” even though she may have a dozen little olive-branches
to show, or may have been married half a dozen times.
Mademoiselle Julie is, nevertheless, no ordinary personage, and
decidedly one of the most interesting characters, not only in Tamatavé,
but in the whole island. She was left a widow about eight months ago,
but continued to carry on her husband’s business, and with a better
result, it is rumored, than the deceased himself could attain. She is
the possessor of sugar plantations and a rum distillery, and engages in
commercial speculations of various kinds. Her penetration and industry
would render her a remarkable woman any where; and they are the more
surprising in a country like Madagascar, where the women are generally
completely ignorant, and have a very low place in the social scale.
Mademoiselle Julie received part of her education in Bourbon. She speaks
and writes French perfectly. Unfortunately, she has retained some of the
usages, or rather _ab_-usages, of her native land. Her greatest delight
is to lie for hours extended on the ground, resting her head on the lap
of a friend or a female slave, who is engaged in clearing mademoiselle’s
head of certain little occupants which shall be nameless. This agreeable
occupation, by the way, forms a favorite diversion of the women of
Madagascar, who pay visits to each other in order to indulge in it _con
amore_. Mademoiselle Julie was also violently addicted to using her
fingers at dinner instead of fork and spoon; but she only indulged her
inclinations so far when she thought herself unobserved.
Mademoiselle Julie did not receive me in the most cordial way exactly.
She surveyed me from top to toe, rose in a leisurely way, and led me to
a neighboring little house, worse appointed than even the pavilions of
the Mauritius. The one room contained no furniture except an empty
bedstead. Mademoiselle Julie gruffly inquired where I had left my
bedding. I replied that I had brought none with me, as Mr. Lambert had
assured me I should find every thing necessary in her house. “I can give
you none,” was her curt rejoinder; and although, as I afterward found,
she had a store of bedding sufficient for the need, not of one, but of
half a dozen travelers, she would have let me, old as I was, sleep on
the bare bedstead. Fortunately, another woman, a Madame Jacquin, was
present, who at once offered to supply me with bedding, and gave
mademoiselle her opinion of her conduct in some rather strong
expressions. Very grateful was I to good Madame Jacquin for her
friendly offer, but for which I should have had to make shift as best I
could till the arrival of Mr. Lambert with my cloak, and a pillow which
I usually carry with me.
All other comforts were, of course, out of the question, and I had to
provide every thing I wanted for myself. My stay at Tamatavé lasted for
some weeks, for Mr. Lambert arrived much later than he had intended.
The harbor of Tamatavé is the best in the whole island; and in the fine
season, from April to the end of October, many ships arrive here from
the Mauritius and Bourbon, to take in cargoes of oxen, of which between
ten and eleven thousand head are exported annually. About two thirds of
the number go to the Mauritius, and only one third to Bourbon, although
there is no great difference between these two islands, either in extent
or in population. But there are many Englishmen in the Mauritius, who
are more ardent admirers of roast-beef than the French.
It is a singular circumstance that Queen Ranavola does not allow the
exportation of cows; she thinks, in her cunning wisdom, that if she
allowed cows to be taken away, the recipients would soon breed cattle
for themselves, and the demand for them from Madagascar would cease. Of
course, she has no idea that the two islands derive far greater profits
from their sugar plantations than the land would yield as mere
pasture-ground for cattle. A fine ox, worth about £2 5_s._ in
Madagascar, would cost four or five times that sum if reared in Bourbon
or the Mauritius.
Besides the oxen, rice, rabanetas, and poultry are exported. Rabanetas
are a kind of mats, on which the sugar is spread out to dry when it
comes out of the last pan. They are also used as tapestry to cover the
walls and floors of rooms, and the poorest classes even wear them as
clothes.
During the fine-weather season there is much bustle in Mademoiselle
Julie’s house. There are sometimes four or five ships in the harbor at
once. The captains are all friends of my hostess, who gives them a
general invitation to dinner, and may be said to keep free table. At the
time of my visit, which, however, was quite at the commencement of the
fine season, the concourse was certainly not so great. I never saw more
than two ships in the harbor at once.
Tamatavé may one day become a very important place, when this fruitful
island is thrown open to Europeans, and free trade allowed to all
nations.
Now, the place looks like a poor but very large village. Its population,
including that of the district immediately around, is reckoned at four
or five thousand souls: among these are 800 soldiers, and about a dozen
Europeans and Creoles from Bourbon. Except the few houses belonging to
these latter, and to a few well-to-do Hovas and Malagaseys, one sees
nothing but little huts, some scattered about without order or
arrangement, others forming narrow streets. These huts rest on poles
from six to ten feet in height, are built of wood or of bamboo, thatched
with long grass or palm-leaves, and contain a single room, of which the
fireplace occupies a large part, so that the family can scarcely find
sleeping room. Windows there are none, but two doors, at opposite sides
of the wall; the door on the windward or weather side is always kept
closed.
The houses of the wealthier inhabitants are built of the same materials
as the habitations of the poor, but they are larger and loftier. They
contain only one room, which is, however, divided by low partitions into
three or four portions; these houses of the wealthy have also windows,
but they are not glazed.
The bazar is situate in the midst of the village, on an ugly, uneven
plot of ground, and is remarkable alike for its poverty and its dirt. A
supply of beef, some sugar-cane, rice, rabanetas, and a few fruits, are
generally all that is to be found there; and the whole stock of one of
the dealers, who squat about on the ground, is often not worth more
than a quarter of a piastre. The oxen are slaughtered in the bazar
itself, and the skins are not taken off, but sold in strips with the
meat, being considered a great delicacy. Meat is not bought according to
weight, but according to the size of each piece, measured by the eye.
Whoever wants to buy or sell any thing in this country must provide
himself with a small pair of money-scales, for there are no coins in
Madagascar except the Spanish dollar; and it is only within the last two
years, since Mr. Lambert came here for the first time and brought some
five-franc pieces with him, that the last-mentioned coins have become
current. In the absence of small change, the dollars and five-franc
pieces are cut into greater and smaller portions, often into more than
five hundred chips.
To my great surprise, I heard that, in spite of their ignorance and
savagery, the natives knew so well how to counterfeit these dollars,
that it requires some practice and a close inspection to detect the
spurious coins.
The natives of Tamatavé are principally Malagaseys. They appeared to me
more repulsive than the negroes and Malays, whose ugliest features are
found united in their physiognomy. They have wide mouths, with thick
lips, broad flat noses, protruding chins, and prominent cheek-bones.
Their complexion varies through all shades of a muddy brown. As a sole
redeeming point, some of them have regular teeth of a pearly whiteness;
and sometimes a handsome pair of eyes may be seen. Their hair, on the
other hand, is marked by peculiar hideousness; it is coal-black, but as
woolly as the negro’s, and much coarser and longer, sometimes attaining
a length of two feet. When this hair is worn in all its native
luxuriance, it has a horribly disfiguring effect. The face seems quite
lost in a virgin forest of thick frizzled hair, standing out in all
directions. Fortunately, few wear it in this way. The men often have
their hair cut off quite short at the back of the head, and leave only a
length of six or eight inches in front, which looks comical enough, as
the hair stands upright, and forms a woolly topknot; but it is not so
bad as the virgin forest. The women, and some of the men too, who are
exceedingly proud of their hirsute ornaments, and can not make up their
minds to shorten them, plait them into a number of little tails. Some
let these tails hang all about their heads, while others unite them into
bands or bunches, so as to cover the whole head. This kind of head-dress
takes a good deal of time in preparing, particularly in the cases of the
richer Malagaseys, who have their hair plaited into an infinite number
of these little tails. On the head of one of these native beauties I
counted above sixty plaits. The good lady’s slaves must have had a good
day’s work in bringing them to the right pitch of perfection. On the
other hand, it may be urged that such a head-dress does not require
renewing continually, but will remain in all its pristine loveliness for
several days.
To leave the hair free in all its natural beauty is considered a token
of mourning. The Malagaseys are generally above the middle height, and I
saw many tall, powerful figures, especially among the men.
Their costume is that generally adopted by half-civilized nations who do
not go quite naked; the only difference is in the name. The two chief
articles of clothing used by the Malagaseys are called _sadik_ and
_simbu_. The first of these is as primitive as can well be imagined,
consisting only of a strip of cloth worn round the loins. Many of the
natives consider this garment as sufficient, and do not extend their
wardrobe beyond it. The simbu is a piece of white stuff, about four
yards long and three broad. The natives wrap themselves in their simbus
like the Romans of old in their togas; and they really often wear them
gracefully enough. Sometimes, to leave their movements unimpeded, they
roll up the simbu and wrap it round the upper part of their bodies.
The dress of males and females is the same, except that the women have a
little more drapery, and often wear, besides the sadik and simbu, a
third garment--a short, very tight jacket, which they call _karrezu_.
The simbu gives its wearers continual employment. It is always coming
loose, and has to be adjusted every minute. It might almost be said that
men and women here had only one hand to work with, the other being
monopolized by the management of this refractory garment.
The food of the Malagaseys is as primitive as their clothing. Rice and
anana are the staple of every meal. Anana is a kind of vegetable very
much resembling spinach, and which would be very agreeable to the taste
if they would not prepare it with rancid fat. The people who live on the
banks of rivers or on the sea-coast sometimes eat fish, but very seldom,
for they are far too indolent to carry on a systematic fishery: meat,
too, and poultry, though they are to be had in great quantity, and at
the cheapest prices, are only eaten on special occasions. The natives
usually eat two meals, one in the morning, the other in the evening.
The usual drink is _ranugung_, or rice-water, which is prepared in the
following way. Rice is boiled in a vessel, and purposely burned, so that
a crust forms at the bottom of the vessel. Water is then poured on, and
allowed to boil. This water assumes the color of very pale coffee, and,
like every thing else that is burnt, tastes abominably to a European
palate. But the natives consider it delicious, and when they have drunk
the rice-water, they eat the burnt crust with the greatest relish.
The Malagaseys keep many slaves, who are not considered very valuable
here. A slave usually costs from thirty-six to forty-five shillings, and
no difference is made with regard to age, though children of eight or
ten years find readier purchasers than adult slaves. They start on the
principle, ordinarily correct enough, that children may be brought up as
their owner likes, but that a grown-up person who has contracted bad
habits can not often be made to mend his ways. Adult males are also
rarely offered for sale, except men who, once free, have been condemned
as a punishment for some crime to be sold by public auction, and those
among the slaves who have behaved ill to their masters. Female slaves
are generally higher in price than males; and a great value is set upon
those who can weave silk. A slave who is expert at this work often
fetches as much as £30.
The position of the slaves is here, as among all half-civilized nations,
much better than that of their fellow-bondmen among Europeans and
Creoles. They have but little work to do, are fed about as well as their
masters, and are seldom punished, though the laws do not at all protect
them. On the contrary, a master may beat his slave to death; but the
stick he uses in administering the chastisement must not be tipped with
iron; for if it be thus shod, the master is liable to fine or some other
punishment.
In Tamatavé the thievish propensity is very much developed, and that not
only among the slaves, but it is widely diffused among almost the whole
inland population, not excepting officers and exalted personages; I had
to learn this to my cost. In the little hut assigned to me by
Mademoiselle Julie as a dwelling, there was no lock to the door; but as
my quarters were in close proximity to her dwelling-house and other
buildings, and Mademoiselle Julie had not informed me of the
predilection entertained by her fellow-countrymen for the goods and
chattels of others, I did not think of being suspicious about it. One
day, on being summoned to table, I happened to leave my watch, a
valuable keepsake from a lady friend at New York, on the table, and when
I returned in the evening it had vanished.
I returned immediately to Mademoiselle Julie to inform her of this
circumstance, and to ask what steps I should take to regain possession
of my watch, declaring myself ready to give a reward of some dollars to
whoever would restore it to me. Mademoiselle Julie replied with the most
perfect coolness that there was nothing to be done; the watch had
probably been stolen by one of the domestic slaves, for that here every
body stole; and that another time when I left my hut I should do well to
lock the door and close the window apertures. She did not even take the
trouble to question any of her slaves; and the only result that accrued
from my loss was, that three days afterward I managed, with much
difficulty, to get a lock put to my door.
The country immediately surrounding Tamatavé consists of nothing but
sand, vegetation not beginning to show itself for one or two miles
inland. I could not undertake long walks, as it rained every day, and it
behooves Europeans in this country neither to expose themselves to wet
nor to go out immediately after rain, for the slightest dampness is
likely to bring on fever.
By chance I learned from Mademoiselle Julie that she was the possessor
of two estates, lying seven miles from the town, very near the woods,
and that her sons resided there. I hoped to be able to take good walks
there, and to gather treasures for my collection of insects, and
accordingly begged Mademoiselle Julie to have me taken there. In this
country journeys are made in a light kind of sedan-chair, called
_tacon_, suspended between two poles, and carried by four bearers. Even
if one has to go only a few hundred steps, the sedan-chair is brought
into requisition. No one goes on foot except the slaves and quite poor
people. On long journeys eight or twelve bearers are taken instead of
four, so that they can continually relieve each other.
I quitted Tamatavé betimes in the morning. The road to Antandroroko, as
one of the estates of my hostess was called, was very good, particularly
when we got out of the domain of sand into that of vegetation. Where
there were no hills the bearers ran along with me as if I had been no
weight at all for them, and we accomplished the seven miles in an hour
and a quarter.
At Antandroroko lived Mademoiselle Julie’s younger son, a young man of
twenty-two, who had been partly educated at Bourbon. I should not have
suspected this, for he differed in nothing from his fellow-countrymen
save in his European garb and his knowledge of French, and had again
become a thorough Malagasey.
A clean little room was allotted to me in his house, with mats on the
floor, but no furniture. I seated myself on my carpet bag and waited
patiently for breakfast. Mademoiselle Julie had allowed me to depart
fasting, and thus my anxiety on the subject of the commissariat was
natural enough. But hour after hour went by, and no one called me to
table. I ascribed this delay in the appearance of breakfast to my
arrival, and flattered myself that some special dish was being prepared
on my account--perhaps even a fowl was being sacrificed, and thus the
meal was naturally retarded; so I waited and waited, until at last a
slave entered, and said a few Malagasey words which I could not
understand. But I very well understood the signs he made, inviting me to
follow him, and obeyed joyfully.
I was conducted into another room, unfurnished like my own, and with a
mat spread out on the floor in the midst. On the mat lay a large leaf,
surrounded by several smaller ones; the first representing the dish and
the latter the plates for the entertainment. They had been obliging
enough to put a real plate, with a veritable knife, fork, and spoon for
me, and likewise a chair. As for my hosts, they crouched upon the
ground. A slave appeared with a kettle of rice, and emptied the contents
into the improvised dish. Then he brought boiled beans, and a great pot
containing a dried fish boiled up in water, and smelling so badly that I
could scarcely remain at table. The much-desired fowl never appeared. I
thought with a gentle regret of the Dyaks of Borneo, who are considered
so savage and cruel, and who, while they themselves ate rice, could
always find a chicken for me; and here, in the house of a semi-European
host, and in a country where poultry is so cheap and plentiful, I had to
content myself with rice and beans.
The manner in which the natives ate was any thing but appetizing.
Instead of a spoon, they make use of a piece of leaf, which they fold
very dexterously, and wherewith they manage not only to eat rice and
beans, but even to carry fluids safely to their mouths. This leaf-spoon
being very large, they distend their mouths to the utmost extent, and
then shovel the provisions in. This might pass without comment, for it
will not do to be too particular on one’s travels; but the worst of it
is that they all take their supplies with their own spoons from the
common store in the dish.
Near the fish-kettle a slave is generally posted, whose duty consists in
ladling the broth out of the kettle, and pouring it over the rice as the
company take it up in their spoons. The fish is taken in the hand in
pieces, and eaten like bread. I do not wonder that a Malagasey who has
never left his own country, or seen any thing better than its usages,
should be content to live in this way; but how the young man who had
been educated among Europeans could so entirely readopt the customs of
his countrymen, I can not understand. Not only in the manner of eating
and drinking was this peculiarity shown, but in every thing else
likewise. He could sit for hours in his arm-chair without reading or
otherwise occupying himself. In fact, he did nothing all day long but
rest, smoke tobacco, and talk to the highly intellectual slaves who
continually surrounded him.
With true sorrow I had already noticed at Tamatavé that the few
Christians who lived there--namely, a few Europeans and some Creoles
from Bourbon--instead of setting a good example to the natives, and
seeking to improve them by their own respectable lives and the purity of
their behavior, seemed to have sunk to the level of the people among
whom they dwelt, and adopted all their immoral habits. Thus, for
instance, they contract no regular marriages, but, like the natives,
change their wives at their pleasure, and sometimes even keep two at the
same time, besides being attended on exclusively by female slaves.
Some of these people send their children to Bourbon, or even to France;
but for what purpose? When the young man has really learned
something--when he has contracted better habits and customs--he returns,
and every thing is spoiled only too quickly by his father’s bad example.
But what passes my wit to understand is the fact that a European who has
earned money enough to live comfortably in his native land, can of his
own free will remain in this country; and yet such a wonder did I most
certainly behold in the person of a certain Mr. N----.
This man has made a considerable fortune by commerce, and went to his
native France a few years ago with the intention of remaining there. But
the intercourse with cultivated men and women seemed to him no
equivalent for the idle, entirely animal life in Madagascar. So he soon
returned to Tamatavé, to his slave-women, and there he will probably end
his days. The European is truly a wonderful creature. In Europe he can
scarcely find a girl to his taste, and his chosen one is expected to
possess all the perfections under the sun; and here he is charmed by
black, or muddy-brown coarse beauties, whom I really would almost as
soon class among the genus Simia as among the human race! I pity men who
can sink so low as to lose all taste for the noble and beautiful, and
all recognition of the dignity of humanity; and evil indeed are the
effects of their example upon the natives, and lamentably is the
progress of civilization checked thereby.
But to return to my amiable host. The splendid breakfast was over, and
my hopes had been shattered; still, I firmly bade defiance to despair,
and built my trust upon the principal meal, which is always taken in the
evening. With the greatest impatience I awaited the hour--alas! of new
disappointment; the same dishes appeared that had decked the morning
meal; not one less, and not one more. It was too much for human
endurance. Fortunately, however, the elder brother of my host had come
over from the second estate. He was a young man who had not only been in
Bourbon, but had lived for nine years in Paris. Although, like his
brother, he ate his supper in true Malagasey fashion, by means of the
leaf-spoon, I felt more confidence toward him, and invited myself
without ceremony to breakfast with him next morning, certain that I
could not be worse entertained than I was here.
In the evening a very good bed was made up for me on the floor of my
room; but, unfortunately, the musquito-net was forgotten. The
consequence was that I could not close my eyes all night. Before
retiring to rest I had begged my host to send me up a cup of coffee,
with milk, to my room in the morning. But what was the result of my
request? They brought me a washing-basin of milk and some sugar, but
neither coffee-cup nor spoon. The sight of the basin was of course quite
sufficient to take away my appetite, though the milk looked refreshing
enough. I modestly hinted at coffee, and heard that they were going to
look for some, and that it would then be roasted and ground. I therefore
declined to wait, took leave of my obliging host, and again set out on
my journey breakfastless.
A boat took me up the pretty river Foondro, which falls into the sea
half a mile from this place, to the dwelling of the Parisian Malagasey.
He lived in a handsome house; came out some distance to me, and--oh
happy hour!--led me at once to the dining-room, where, to my great
jubilation, I found the table covered in European fashion, and a good,
plentiful repast spread out upon it.
This young man in many respects presented a favorable contrast to those
of his countrymen who had been, like himself, in Bourbon or in Europe.
He is, I think, the only one who does not endeavor to forget every thing
he has learned in Europe as quickly as possible. I asked him if he did
not miss Paris, and if he did not feel a desire to live there. He
replied that he should certainly like to dwell in a civilized land, but
that, on the other hand, Madagascar was his native country--that his
whole family lived here, and he could not make up his mind to leave
them, altogether.
His manner showed that these were not mere words--that he _felt_ what he
said. It greatly astonished me, for in general there is nothing more
ridiculous than to hear a Malagasey speak of his family and of domestic
ties. I have never met with a more immoral people than the inhabitants
of Madagascar; and where there is such demoralization, family ties must
be of the loosest. I dare not trust my pen to chronicle the many immoral
customs which prevail, not only among the people generally, but in the
highest families in the island, and appear quite natural to the people
here. I can only say that female virtue is looked upon as quite
valueless, and that the laws regarding marriage and progeny are of a
stranger kind than any where else in the world. Thus, for instance, a
man may divorce his wife and take another as often as he chooses. The
woman may live with another man, though she may not marry again; but all
the children born to her after she has been separated from her husband
are looked upon as belonging to him; the second husband has not the
slightest claim to them, and the mother is compelled to deliver them up
to her first husband immediately upon his claiming them. When a man
dies, too, any children his widow may afterward have are looked upon as
his; and it is in consequence of this law that Prince Rakoto, son of
Queen Ranavola, though he was born long after King Radama’s death, is
looked upon as the son of that monarch.
It likewise frequently happens that men who have no children by their
own wives marry girls who expect to become mothers, so that they may be
able to call the child that is about to be born their own. This craving
for progeny is caused by an existing law, which declares the property of
any man who dies childless forfeit to the state.
To speak of domestic ties in such a state of society would sound like
mockery; and if I had not noticed in my host, on several occasions, a
rare amount of real feeling, I should have attached little credence to
his words.
I had a good deal of conversation with him, and asked him farther if he
did not feel any craving for intellectual companionship--for the
agreeable domestic relations found in Europe; if it did not seem hard to
him to live continually among coarse, uncultivated men? He acknowledged
that the total want of cultivation among his countrymen rendered their
society any thing but agreeable to him, but that he sought relaxation in
books and study. He mentioned to me several very good works which he had
brought with him from France.
I felt truly sorry for this young man. I will not assert that he showed
any extraordinary amount of quickness or depth of intellect, but he has
an adequate amount of talent, and so much real sensibility and feeling
that he could not fail to gain friends in any country in the world. I
pity him; for, amid this complete dearth of congenial society, it will
be wonderful indeed if he does not become a true Malagasey at last.
I remained with Mr. Ferdinand Diche--for so my host was called--for a
whole day. The weather continued so bad that I could neither walk out
nor occupy myself in hunting for insects. On the following day I
returned to Tamatavé.