CHAPTER VI.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.
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 morerecent 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.â€
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 governmentof 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 toCaptain Lynn, R.N., commanding his Britannic Majesty’s corvette “L’Eclipséâ€â€”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 oneof 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 thewhole 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.â€
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 pretextfor 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 onenarrow 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 whichmayarise.
The island of Nossi-bé (the meaning of the native name by which it is known being “largeislandâ€) 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 schoonercommunicates 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 anunluckyomenorday, 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 futuremothersof 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 Malagasypeople, 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 10l., 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 Hopeen 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 Queenof 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 2,000l.; 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 animperialaspect.
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.â€
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.â€
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 haddiscovered 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 theet ceterasof 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 thedénouement; 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 onlyrequires 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 thewhole 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.