John Wolcott Phelps

“ Some of the amusements of the Malagasy are quite curious. The wife in saluting her husband, or the slave his master, on his return from war or from a journey, crawls on the ground and licks his feet.
One of their common amusements is to form themselves into two parties in order to abuse each other in the most violent language that their imaginations can invent; and those who excel in the most abusive vituperation, obtain the plaudits of the spectators. ”

“ But should the child be crushed to death by the feet of the oxen, which is likely to be the case, the parents return to mourn their loss in the bitterness of grief, with no other consolation than that which the monstrous absurdities of their delusions supply—that, had their beloved infant survived, it would have been exposed to the influence of that destiny which now required its exposure to destruction. ”

“ When returning from a foreign land to their native island, or from a distant province to their own, every countenance beams with gladness, they seem to be strangers to fatigue, and seek, by singing and dancing on their way, to give, vent to the fullness of their joy. ”

“ Like all other barbarous people, the Malagasy are generous and hospitable, their own modes of living being so miserable that they are very willing to share freely with others. Where people rely upon the spontaniety of nature, or upon the labor of slaves for their food and shelter, it becomes an easy matter to manifest the ruder semblances of hospitality; but as for imparting Christian solace and comfort they know nothing. These they rather persecute and expel.
Should one be content to dine on locusts and silk worms, he could be highly entertained. ”

“ Immense forests traverse the island in all directions, within which may be expected and realized all that is imposing, and wonderful, and venerable in the vegetable kingdom, where, for thousands of years no ax has been laid to their giant trunks, nor even have the footsteps of man ever broken the deep and impressive silence. ”

“ It is the chief cause of nearly all the domestic disputes and jealousies existing among the Malagasy; wives become jealous of each other, and the husband suffers from the jealousy of all. In a word, polygamy is a curse to the land, and its final extinction is a consummation devoutly to be desired by all who prefer peace to wrath, affection to bitterness, domestic comfort to domestic strife, and Christian virtues to the jealousy, malice, and uncharitableness of the excited and turbulent passions of depraved human nature. ”

“ The unhappy victims of the treacherous ordeal of poisoned water which is used for detecting wickedness and witchcraft, are savagely dragged away, their bodies mutilated in a most horrid manner, or they are hurled down a fearful precipice, in the presence of multitudes of spectators, who look on without the least emotion of pity; while the children who mingle with the crowd, amuse themselves by throwing stones at the lifeless bodies, which the dogs are rending to pieces. ”

“ This plan was founded on the conviction that a purely military establishment was unsuitable; and that it was only by conciliatory means that the confidence and attachment of the natives was to be gained. It laid down as leading ideas that—"There was no necessity for sending troops and squadrons for conquest, nor for transporting a whole society at great expense: better arms and better means will promote the establishment, without expending much money. It is only by the force of example, morals, religion, and a superior policy, that we propose to subdue Madagascar. ”

“ The loss of their ships deprived the pirates of the means of interrupting the commerce between India and Europe, and confined them to their settlements on the coast of Madagascar. Forced to give up their wandering and predatory life, they plunged into a different kind of villainy, which has left upon their memory a deeper stain. The source of wealth which they had lost in being shut out from the plunder of richly freighted ships, they might compensate for by a sale of the natives as slaves. ”

“ Among the more notable pirates who visited the coast of Madagascar was Captain William Kid, who in the reign of William III had received a commission from that monarch, to go out in charge of a ship, with "full power and authority to apprehend, seize, and take into custody all pirates, freebooters, and sea-rovers, which he should meet upon the seas, or upon the coast of any country.' With this commission Captain Kid sailed in the Adventure, galley of thirty guns with eighty men, and directed his course to Madagascar, the great resort of such marauders as he was in search of. ”

“ Many of the Malagasy seem to think that expediency alone determines the character of actions, and act as if they had no conception of what is vicious. But while they regard theft and other acts of darker moral turpitude as almost harmless, innumerable, unmeaning ceremonies, such as abstaining from this or that habit, or from sitting in this or that particular posture, are enjoined as a duty and the neglect of them regarded as criminal. And in this respect the degeneracy of civilized man touches hands with the barbarian. ”

“ Though the Malagasy are exceedingly kind and attentive to their sick, and exhibit the most grand and solemn manifestations of respect on the death of noted persons among them, yet they leave the bodies of criminals at the foot of the precipice from which they have been thrown, to be torn to pieces by the dogs, and to litter the earth with their bones. ”

“ The mass of the people seem alike destitute of forethought and enterprise, and hence are unprepared for any failure of their crops, and unable to extricate themselves from any unforseen calamity. Nothing is a greater impediment to the advancement of civilization than indolence; and nothing shows this more distinctly than the state of starvation in which the people are sometimes found, while a small amount of labor on the rich soil of the country around them, would supply provisions in abundance for a greatly augmented population. ”

“ The beards of the men are but slight, and are plucked out in youth. Their hands are not so warm to the touch as those of the Europeans, and their blood by the thermometer is colder. But the distinction between them the most strongly marked is that of color; and this, though presenting slight variations in each tribe, separates the population of Madagascar into two great classes, and is by some supposed to allow of its being traced to only two sources—the one distinguished by a light, exquisitely formed person, fair complexion, and straight or curling hair ”

“ The natives will invent the most specious pretences, and assume the most plausible air, to impose on the credulity of others, and ingratiate themselves into favor, while their real designs are hid for weeks and months in their own bosoms. If they wish to make a request, they will preface it by so complimentary a speech, and so many thanks and blessings for a kindness yet to be done, and by such servile flattery for a virtue to be illustrated in the forth-coming gift, that one might imagine the whole nation a tribe of office seekers and politicians. ”

“ Among other beneficient changes the Prime Minister had wrought in the government of the island, at the hazard of his life, was the abolition of the introduction of slaves from Africa. He did this with one stroke of the pen, and in doing it he did away with what might be called the "material wealth" of Madagascar, A man had before been considered richer or poorer in proportion to the number of slaves he owned. A natural anxiety prevailed that a country which had so far progressed in civilization should not go back. ”

“ We give a comparison between a few Madagascar and Malay words, so that the reader can judge himself of their resemblance and affinity:
There are many dialects spoken in the island, but that of the province of Ankova, the country of the Hovas, may be regarded as the standard one. The inhabitants of this province are industrious, ingenious, and comparatively wealthy. It is the center of the empire, the seat of the government, and the scene of the principal efforts hitherto made in the country to introduce education, European improvements, arts and sciences, and to promote civilization. ”

“ The manners and customs of the Malagasy are interesting as being chiefly of native growth, and as showing the strange developments of the human mind when not directed by those moral axioms whose exercise are absolutely essential to the higher order of civilization. Even before the birth of an infant there are ceremonies in anticipation of "the hour of nature's sorrow,” which are as unmeaning as they are unnecessary. After the birth, the friends and relatives of the mother visit her, and offer their congratulations. ”

“ Monsieur Maudave, who was sent out to establish this colony, reached the island in 1768, took formal possession of the government of Fort Dauphin, and made immediate preparations for the execution of the plan. It was not long, however, before this equitable and benevolent project was entirely relinquished, on the plea of having discovered that the establishment was founded on impracticable principles. It was doubtless found to be very difficult to make a barbarous people the chief means of their own civilization and refinement, without first converting them to the Christian religion. ”

“ The conduct of the pirates, in promoting a war for the purpose of obtaining slaves, which was so long the most terrible scourge of Madagascar, has been universally stamped with infamy, and their proceedings in encouraging this inhuman traffic are justly and naturally associated with all that is reprobate in character and fiendish in cruelty, and it might seem congenial employment to pirates—to men accustomed to kill and destroy all who held the property which they coveted ”

“ When the occurrence was reported to the Queen, she replied, with the heartless indifference of one whose political creed is that the people exist for the sovereign, not the the sovereign for the people—“And what then? Was it not in the service of the government that they died.”
The labors of the artisans who taught the natives to work in wood and iron, continued to be highly prized by the people, and Mr. Cameron, who had just finished the erection of a mill, was applied to by the government to undertake the establishment of an iron foundry and a glass manufactory. ”

“ Brady and another soldier were left behind at the capital, by Radama's particular request, for the purpose of instructing his people in European tactics. The latter of the two soldiers rendered himself odious by his severity, not an uncommon fault from the Saxon race towards other races which they despise, unless controlled by a higher order of Christian sentiment than usually prevails among soldiers; but Mr. Brady secured the good-will of the natives, and continued long to enjoy the esteem both of the people and of their sovereign. ”

“ It is my humble opinion, very possible, that whatsoever prince of christendom is once really possessed of, and strongly settled in that brave, fruitful and pleasant island, by computation three times as big as England, may with ease be emperor and sole monarch of the East Indies, with all the multitude of its large and rich kingdoms ”

“ The French government has, at long intervals, formed, or rather attempted to form, establishments amongst these people; but the agents in these enterprises have attended exclusively to the interests and emoluments of the Europeans, and particularly to their own profits; while the interests and well-being of the natives have been entirely forgotten: some of these ministerial delegates have even been dishonest adventurers, and have committed a thousand atrocities. ”

“ In the year 1792, the French National Assembly deputed Mons. Lescallier to visit Madagascar, in order to ascertain whether it would be practicable to establish a colony once more in the island. In a report rendered by him he said that "Europeans have hardly ever visited this island but to ill treat the natives, and to exact forced services from them; to excite and foment quarrels amongst them, for the purpose of purchasing the slaves that are taken on both sides in the consequent wars: in a word, they have left no other marks of having been there, but the effects of their cupidity. ”

“ The ceremony of circumcision has been long practiced in the island, and as no one seems to know whence it came, it may possibly be regarded as indigenous. It dose not appear to have much religious significance, but would seem rather to be a mark of manhood, and to be more assimilated to the ceremony observed on assuming the toga virilis among the Romans, than to the institution of circumcision as practiced by the Semitic race. If the Malagasy are asked why they practice it, their answer is, because their ancestors did. ”

“ The feeling in favor of Christianity and education was discovered to be more extensive than had been supposed, and persons who were little suspected of a leaning to Christianity, were found to be either in the possession of Christian books, or eager to obtain them. A strong conviction of the value of education was prevalent among the middle and upper classes. The chiefs and officers who were able to read and write, taught their own sons, and deemed such a knowledge essential to their holding any place under government, or making their way in the world. ”

“ The natives have long known how to detach blocks of stone from the mountain mass by means of burning cow-dung on the part they wish to remove, and dashing cold water along the line on the stone they have heated. Having been thus treated, the stone easily separates in thick layers, and is forced up by means of levers. Mysterious “odies,” or charms, are employed in marking out the desired dimensions of the slab, and to their virtue is foolishly attributed the splitting of the stone, though they well know that all the “odies” in the island could not split a stone unless heat were applied. ”

“ No sheep, however, possesses this potent efficacy, that is not of a certain kind and color, decided by the Sikidy.
The boys on whom the rite is to be performed are next led across the blood of the animal just killed, to which some idea of sacredness is attached. They are then placed on the west side of the house, and as they stand erect, a man, holding a light cane in his hand, measures the first child to the crown of the head, and at one stroke cuts off a piece of the cane measured to that height, having first dipped the knife in the blood of the slaughtered sheep. ”

“ With respect to the connection of pirates with Madagascar and the slave trade, a detailed account is neither practicable nor necessary. We learn, however, that from the moment that the commerce of the Western world became active in the Eastern seas, from that moment European pirates began to make their appearance there. And for the same reason that European powers desired a foothold in the island for the better carrying on their intercourse with the oriental nations, the pirates found it a convenient depot for striking at European commerce. ”