Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/550

46a SOUTH AND EAST AFBICA. Subvert. Nottnthstandinj? the introduction of foreign capital, agriculture can scarcely make much progress in a country where the soil is still cultivated by slave labour. Doubtless by eonct-nt rating all available hands on the development of colonial produce to the ueglect of alimentary plants, certain great planters may produce a deceptive show of agricultural prosperity. But these are precisely the conditions under which the bulk of the population suffers most grievously. The large land- owners on the east nide of the island are all ardent champions of slavery, on the plea that the landed interests of the country will thus be best furthered. The first settlers at Fort D.mphin already began by selling the men captured from their own allies; then, during the two subsequent centuries, Madagascar became a great dep.H where the slave- dealers came to procure servile labour for the plantations in the Mascarenhas Ar hipelago, on the African coastlands, in Arabia, and Egypt. On the other hand, the Makuas, or Mojambikas, names collectively given to the slaves brought from Africa itself, were landed in thousands on the Sakalava coast, liy the French planters in Mauritius these weie commonly called " Marmites," from the native word Jlai ami (a, that is, "forders,"in allusion to their passage from the mainland across the Mozambique Channel to the west side of Madagascar. Since the year 1S77 the import ition of Negroes has been rigorously suppressed, liut in the great island itself slavery still exists, and the servile class is estimated at no less than two-thirds of the whole population, consequently about two millions altogether. Ihc tribes conquered by the Hovas may also be said to be regarded by tlieir political masters as mere gangs of slaves, and are constantly subjected to forced or statute labour ("corvee"). In every tribal community the hereditary slave element itself still attests the original struggle between two classes or hostile nices. The crime of poverty is also punished by servitude, in so far as liabilities incurred by the Ilova debtors constantly involve loss of personal freedom to the profit of their creditors. * According to Mullens, the average price of a, slave in Madagascar is about forty shillings. Some of the grandees possess man}' thousands ; the ecclesiastical digni- taries themselves purchase slaves like ordinary citizens. Hence in their sermons the shepherds of the flock are obliged carefully to avoid all reference to the delicate question of the equal right of all men to freedom. Mateuial Pkogress. But notwithstanding all these drawbacks, Madagascar still remains an agricul- tural region of great value, us the chief source whence the neighbouring Masca- renhas group draws its supply of provisions. Rice is by far the most important cultivated plant, and although the portion of the soil under tillage cannot be esti- mated at a hundredth part of the total area, the annual crop, after amply supplying the local demand, contributes a considerable item to the export trade of the eountry. In some remote provinces, and especially amongst the Ant* Anala people, the