Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/553

 PROGRESS OF MADAGASCAR. 456 vcnient size or weight. Asa rule, a carrier takes about ten days to cover the dis- tiiuco of two hundred miles between the capital and Taraatave, and receives for this journey from twelve to twenty shillings. Neither Tamatave nor any of the French stations round about the island are yet connected with the telegraph systems of the outer world. But two regular lines of steamers, conesponding with Mauritius and lleuuion, touch at all the chief seaports on the coast. Topography. The capital of the Ilova kingdom, which no doubt is destined soon to become the metropolis of the whole island, has become a large city not so much because of its central position for trade, as through the centralising tendencies of the Govern- ment, concentrating in one place large numbers of officials, courtiers, troops, and slaves. Tananariro, or Anfananariro — that is. Ant' Ananarivo, or " Here the Thou- sand Villajfes" — consists in fact of a cousiierab'e nimiber of villages and hamlets grouped together within a comparatively small area. The population had already increased from ten or twelve thousand in 1820, to double that number in 1840, and according to the partial statistics prepared by some recent travellers and residents, the present population cannot be much less than a hundred thousand. Within the limits of the city are comprised over twenty thousand structures of all sorts, the houses boing generjlly so small that every wealthy family occupies several. The original site of Tananarivo crowned the summit of a hill 4,800 feet above sea-level, which stretches north and south at a height of about 500 feet above the valley cf the Ikopa. From this eminence the eye commands an extensive prospect of the river winding away to the west, and of a vast extent of gardens, riee-fields, and villages, dotted over the rolling plains. From the Cfipious springs in the neighbourhood the inhubitants derive an abundant supply of good water. The crest of the hill, on which stands the royal palace, terminates westwards in a precipitous blulf, which has been called the " Tarpeian Rock " of Tananarivo. From its summit were hurled all those who had the misfortune to incur the wrath of the sovereign. On the west side the slopes are too steep to afford space for the erection of many structures ; hence the dwellings are chiefly grouped on the gentler incline of the eastern side of the hill, where all are di<p!)sed on artificially levelled terraces, rising tier above tier. Stone and brick are gradually replacing wood as the building materials of the houses, which are generally surmounted by lightning conductors. They all face westwards, either as a protection against the cold winds which set from the south-east, or more probably in virtue of some mythical tradi- tions. But they are not disposed in regular lines of streets or built on any par- ticular plan. Nevertheless the city is divided into a number of unequal quarters by a few avenues or thoroughfares, the largest of which, paved with granite flags, is the rui mura of the myal family.