d on the
east coast, it appeared a fine opportunity for recovering prestige in
the west. By presents and promises of protection they induced, it is
alleged, the chieftainess of the Iboina people, and the chief of the
Tankarana, further north, to cede to them their territories on the
mainland, as well as the island of Nosibe, off the north-west coast.
These treaties are given by De Clercq, "Recueil de Traites," vol. iv.
pp. 594, 597; but whether these half-barbarous Sakalava, ignorant of
reading and writing, knew what they were doing, is very doubtful. Nosibe
was, however, taken possession of by the French in 1841, and has ever
since then remained in their hands; but, curiously enough, until the
present year, no claim has ever been put forward to any portion of the
mainland, or any attempt made to take possession of it. But these
treaties have been lately advanced as justifying very large demands on
the part of the French, including (_a_) a protectorate over the portions
ceded; (_b_) a protectorate over all the northern part of the island,
from Mojanga across to Aritongil Bay; (_c_) a protectorate over all the
western side of the island; finally (_d_), "general rights" (whatever
these may mean) over all Madagascar! Most English papers have rightly
considered these treaties as affording no justification for such large
pretensions, although one or two[19] have argued that the London press
has unfairly depreciated the strength of French claims. Is this really
so?

The Malagasy Government and its envoys to Europe have strenuously denied
the right of a rebellious tribe to alienate any portion of the country
to a foreign power; a right which would never be recognized by any
civilized nation, and which they will resist to the last. The following
are amongst some of the reasons they urge as vitiating and nullifying
any French claim upon the mainland founded upon the 1841 treaties:--

i. The territory claimed had been fairly conquered in war in 1824 by the
Hova, and their sovereign rights had for many years never been disputed.

ii. The present queen and her predecessors had been acknowledged by the
French in their treaties of 1868 and 1862 as sovereigns of Madagascar,
without any reserve whatever. (See also _Revue des deux Mondes_, already
cited.)

iii. Military posts have been established there, and customs duties
collected by Hova officials ever since the country was conquered by
them, and these have been paid without any