Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/564

 402 SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA. 3,780 feet above the level of the sea. The frontiers of the territory ceded to France round about Diego Suarez have not yet been officially determined. On the deeply indented north-west coast, the most frequented port lies on the volcanic ishnd of Nossi Be, which has been occupied by a French garrison since 1841. L'lrger and more fertile than St. Mary, but now completely treeless, Nossi Be was occupied by the French on account of the magnificent and perfectly sheltered roadstead at the south side, where it is protected on the east by the regular cone of Nonai Koinha, on the south-ejst by the Malagasy peninsula of Anfiki, on the west by a group of birrier reefs. The space thus enclosed affords room for the evolutions of hundreds of war-ships. On the north side stands Hellrille, the capital, a picturesque little place, which unfortunately suffers from the vicinity of some malarious swamps. On the east side lies Antonoro, an older settlement, iuhabiled chiefly by half-caste Malagasies, crossed with Arabs and Comoro IsLuidcrs. The whites, mostly from the Mascarenhas, are chiefly engaged in superintending the sugar, clove, and vanilla plantations, on which were till recentlv employed Makuu slaves from the African mainland. The other inhabitants of Xossi Be are Malagasies, namely, Sakalavas and Betsimisarakas, and the whole population, including the neighbouring islets, has varied from six thousand to sixteen thousand, according to the vicissitudes of wars and revolutions. The local trarle, being free from custom-house dues, is relatively considerable, averaging from £'320,000 to £.'3jO,000 annually. Nossi Be, which depends administratively on Diego Suarez, forms a commune with the adjacent islets of Sdkntia, N'ossi Komba, Nossi Fall, and the curiously compass-shaped Nossi Mitxio. The extinct craters to the north-west of Hellville are flooded with lakelets inhabited by voracious crocodiles. South of Nossi lie the busy market of AmbocUmadiro occupies the southern extremity of the deep inlet of Passandava, near the point where the Bavotabe coal mines have recently been opened. Farther south follow other deep and well-sheltered bays, the most frequented of which is the spacious inlet of Bom- botok {Ampombitokana), at the entrance of which stands the important seaport of Mojanga {Majungn Madsanga, or " Health Restorer"). The trade of this place is scarcely inferior to that of Tamatave on the east coast, and although it lies at a greater distance frtan the capital it has the advantage of being situated in the same basin of the river Ikopa, which is navigable for steamers beyond the Betsiboka confluence, and much higlier up for canoes. Before 1823, when it was still the capital of an independent Sakalava kingdom, Mojanga was a much larger place than at present, with a population of at least ten thousand, including many Arab traders. Farther up on the banks of the Ikopa stands the flourishing town -of Marovoni ( " Crocotlileville,") which was also formerly capital of a Sakalava state. Above the Betsiboka confluence lies the village of Maratamna, in an auriferous alluvial district, which the Government has at last allowed to be worked. Beyond Mojanga follow several other havens and inlets, which, however^ are rarely visited by skippers. Here the natural division between the two sections