Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/557

 TOPOOBAl^IIY OF MADAOASC.VB. 457 But besides this "Versailles" of royalty, Tananarive possi'sses several other public pleasure-grounds, picturesque villages, lakes, and country seats, surrounded by parks and gardens. At the very gates of the city the waters of the Ikopa are dammed up so as to form a lake encircling an islet which is laid out as a pleasant resort for the public. The river is hero confined between strong embankments which prevent it from overflowing, and which have been attributed to one of the first sovereigns of the Ilova dynasty. A carriage road, eighteen or twenty miles long, leads from Tunanarivo to Mati' fauna, the group of industrial establishments founded by Laborde to the south-east of the capital. Before their destruction the?e factories turned out all manner of wares — woven goods, hardware, tiles, porcelain, sugar, soap, arms, guns, ammuni- tion, and even electric conductors. The workshops were surrounded by an exten- sive garden of acclimatisation. On the central plateau stands another city bearing the name of " capital." This is Fianarantfioa, the chief town of the Betsileo nation, nearly ISO miles due south of Tananarivo, and 4,300 feet above sea-level. It « stands on a lofty hill on the western slope of the island, and in the district where rise the farthest headstreams of the Mangoka river. In rank, if not in the number of its inhabitants, Fianarautsoa is reckoned as the second city of the realm, and has been selected by the English missionaries as the centre of their operations for all the southern provinces of Madagascar. The little traffic carried on between this place and the sea is all directed towards the east coast, which is three times nearer than the opposite side, but of more difficult access, owing to the rugged char;icter of the highlands and the impetuosity of the mountain torrents. The chief station occupied by the Hovas in the Ant' Anala territory bears the same name as the holy city of the dominant race. But the fertile region round about this southern Ambohimanga is still far from being completely conquered. The king of the Bara nation, who has his residence on the natural stronghold of Mount Ivohibe, has even hitherto refused to receive the Hova envoys. The southern harbours on the east coast facing the solitary waters of the Indian Ocean are but little frequented. The produce of this region available for export is not of sufficient value to induce skippers to venture amid the dangerous reefs of the southern waters. Fori Dauphin, which has resumed its old Malagasy name of Faradlfai, is now nothing more than a military station held by the Hovas at the south-eastern extremity of the island. Going northwards along the same seaboard, the traveller meets at long intervals a number of other little posts likewise occupied by the ruling people. Such are Amhnhi, or Farafanga, in the Ant' Aimoro territory ; Ambo/i'peno, at the mouth of the Matitanana river, within the northern frontier of the same country ; Masin- draiio, or Tsiatosiki, on another coast stream flowing from the Betsileo plateau ; Mahanoro, a Betsimisiraka town, on a headland which commands an estuary near the mouth of the Onibe, the most copious river on the east side of the i>laud ; Fatoniandri, which during the blockade of Taraatave had become the port of entry for goods destine^ for the capital.