Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/558

 Andororante, or the "Slave Market," former capital of the Betsimisaraka. kingdom, stands on a tongue of sand amid a labyrinth of coast lagoons. Its position is the most important of any on this seaboard, being the point which

lies nearest to the capital. Hence travellers bound for Tananarivo follow the coast from Tamatave to Andovoranto, and then strike inland from a neighbouring estuary, whence they soon reach the escarpments of the central plateau. This would consequently be an excellent site for a great commercial or naval station, but for the dangerous character of the neighbouring coastlands and the difficult