CHAPTER VII
Imerina Country Districts—“Fields White Unto Harvest”
Say not the struggle naught availeth,
The labour and the wounds are vain,
The enemy faints not, nor faileth,
And as things have been they remain.
For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
Seem here no painful inch to gain;
Far back, through creeks, and inlets making,
Comes, silent, flooding in the main.
Clough.
It was not until 1870 that the L. M. S. established its first country station in Madagascar. In that year Dr. Sibree founded a residential station at Ambohimanga, the ancient capital of the Hovas, and one of the three towns in Madagascar which, until the French occupation, no European was permitted to enter. Ambohimanga lies about eleven miles north of Tananarive, whence its wooded heights can be clearly seen.
At the top of the hill is the old royal palace, built for King Andrianampoinimerina, who reigned from 1788 to 1810, and was the first king who had any claim to be regarded as monarch of the whole Island. He was the father of Radama I., who moved the capital to Tananarive. After its removal the old royal palace was visited by the sovereign at least once a year. The building is at all sorts of levels, and there are great trees growing in most unexpected places. When the walls which supported the wooden palace were last plastered the white of eggs was used to make the plaster, so as to give it a glazed appearance. It is said that millions of eggs were used in the process. At the very top of the hill are some rocks, from which there is a most magnificent view nearly all round the horizon. On these rocks superstitious practices are still observed, indications of which were very apparent to us at the time of our visit. To the north is a precipice, and at its foot rice fields stretch away into the distance to the hills and mountains which bound the horizon. The present Native Governor of the town is an old L. M. S. boy from Betsileo, trained by Mr. Rowlands. He showed to us with great pride a silver watch which his former missionary had given to him.
Ambohimanga is reached by pousse-pousse (rickshaw), the journey occupying two hours. Its first three missionaries were Dr. Sibree, Mr. Wills, and Mr. Peill, all of whom have had the honour of giving children to the Mission field in Madagascar and in other parts of the world. The Ambohimanga Mission house must be the centre of happy memories for missionaries now at work in China, India, and Samoa. The contribution which the Madagascar missionaries have made to the Society’s staff, especially in China, is remarkable. Dr. Sibree has given a daughter to the Medical Mission at Hong Kong, and a son to the South Sea Mission, in addition to two daughters to the Madagascar Mission. Mr. Wills was the father of a medical missionary carrying on work in Central China, and another son is at work in India. Mr. Peill has given four sons to the North China Mission, three of them being doctors. A son of Mr. Peake’s is also a medical missionary in North China. Mr. Rowlands has two sons and a daughter missionaries in China. A daughter of Mr. Pearse is the wife of a medical missionary in North China; and a second daughter is the wife of a medical missionary in Madagascar. A son of Mr. Huckett was for a short time a medical missionary in India. Three children of Mr. George Cousins have become missionaries in China. And so the Apostolic succession is continued.
Since Mr. Peill left Ambohimanga the Mission there has been in charge of two Welshmen, Mr. Griffith, and the present missionary, Mr. Owen Jones, thus carrying on the tradition that Madagascar is pre-eminently the Mission Field of the Welsh Churches.
On the occasion of the visit of the Deputation a great gathering was held in the largest of the three L. M. S. Churches at Ambohimanga, all outside the city walls, on account of the old law, above referred to, excluding Europeans from the town itself. Thirty-five Churches were represented in the crowded congregation from the Ambohimanga district which gathered together to meet us. There were all the indications of a strong and growing Christian work, which was further evidenced by the efficient school work, and the work amongst women which is being carried on, and by the long and earnest discussion we had with the native pastors and preachers.
Twelve miles east of the capital is the country station of Isoavina, where for nearly forty years the Rev. P. G. Peake carried on his vigorous and varied missionary labours. The Mission house is beautifully situated in the hills amidst fine trees planted by Mr. Peake in a beautiful garden, intersected by two perennial streams of water. There are school buildings, workshops, and a row of cottages bearing testimony to the work of this earnest missionary. He established an industrial school at the station and taught carpentry, iron-work, tinsmith’s work, and other industrial pursuits. The industrial department was, however, suppressed by the French officials in 1896, but was afterwards resumed on a smaller scale in 1907. But perhaps the missionary activity by which Mr. Peake will be best remembered is the founding of the leper settlement at Imanankavaly, an hour’s walk away from Isoavina, which has since grown to such large proportions under the French Government. Mr. Peake has himself told the story of the genesis of this great work in the “Ten Years’ Review.”
In 1900 the French authorities purchased the Leper Settlement, and have since carried on and developed the work there to an amazing extent. There are now 1,500 lepers in residence. The Settlement is a large village, consisting for the most part of rows of detached huts in which the lepers live, and is a model of cleanliness and order. I visited the Institution and was greatly impressed with what I saw. Nearly all the inmates bear the awful marks of leprosy upon them. Many have bandages round their feet, legs and arms. Many have lost feet and hands and are horribly mutilated or deformed. Many have terribly distorted faces. Some hid themselves away as they saw visitors approaching. Others lay in the sunshine huddled up in dark blankets. Many, however, were able to work, and were engaged in building new huts or in agricultural pursuits. There were men and women, boys and girls, a most pathetic multitude. Yet smiling faces were quite common as the lepers saluted us as we passed along between the rows of cottages. It was Saturday, the weekly cleaning day, and all the meagre furniture, pots and pans, were turned out of doors. The staple article of food is rice, of which over five tons a week are consumed. Twice a week meat is supplied, and the Government also provide soap, candles and salt. The whole Institution is a wonderful example of method and organization. But the most remarkable fact in connection with the work is that it is entirely directed by a woman of sixty-five years of age, Mlle. Sapino. This lady came to Madagascar some eighteen years ago as a missionary of the Paris Missionary Society. On severing her connection with that Society she took up this work amongst the lepers. She controls the whole of the Institution down to the minutest details. She superintends the buildings. She buys all the stores, and I saw her weighing out the rice for distribution to the Lepers. She examines every case as it comes in, and puts all the particulars down on a chart. She personally dresses the wounds in the worst cases, and was engaged in doing this Christ-like work when we arrived. For all her services she receives the munificent stipend of £80 per annum and a house. Out of this at the present time she is keeping some forty untainted children of lepers born in the Institution. The Government will not make her any grant because these children are not lepers. Some months ago she sold her drawing-room furniture to get money to keep the children. She is a remarkable-looking woman—tall, with prominent features and iron grey hair. She reminded me more than any other woman I ever saw of the pictures of George Eliot. She told me that the Government respected her, but did not love her. They know she is indispensable. A week or two previous to my visit they sent her an unsatisfactory Frenchman to be an assistant. She objected and resigned. In a few hours a high official’s wife came out to tell her that the Government would do anything she asked with regard to the Frenchman. She demanded his immediate removal, and in twenty-four hours he was gone. She has no European assistant, but seven untainted Malagasy, including a doctor. All the rest of the work is done by lepers—except that the Government have sent recently five Malagasy soldiers as a guard. I was told that Mademoiselle always carries a loaded revolver about with her for fear of trouble. At the time of my visit she had no servant in her house, and did all her own cooking and housework. She is one of the most remarkable women I have ever met, and carries on a wonderful piece of work. She is a strong Protestant. There is a school and a Protestant and Catholic Church in the Institution. The cost is very small—less than 35s. per inmate per annum, which seems almost incredible.
But to return to Isoavina. During our visit a great united meeting of the Isan-Efa-Bolana (four-monthly meeting) for the whole district was held in the Church. The schools were inspected and interviews held with the leading Christian workers. At this place, as at nearly every other place in Madagascar which we visited, presentations were made to us by the Native Christians in order to express their gratitude to the Society for sending us to visit them and their pleasure at seeing us. At various places we were the recipients of numberless turkeys, fowls and eggs. Offerings of other kinds of food were made, and we received more permanent reminders of our visit in the shape of lambas, walking sticks, lace, rafia work, embroideries, scarf pins, serviette rings, photographs, hats, addresses, etc. In their joy at seeing representatives of the Society in their midst it seemed that our friends could not do enough to express their appreciation and gratitude.
Some half-hour’s walk from Isoavina, the “Rest-House,” or Sanatorium belonging to the Mission is situated at Ambatovory in the midst of lovely country commanding fine views. It is here that many of the Imerina missionaries spend their hard-earned holidays.
During my stay at Isoavina I paid a surprise Sunday morning visit to a small outstation called Fararina. Every precaution was taken to conceal the fact that a visit was going to be made, so that the visitor might have an opportunity of seeing a country outstation under normal conditions. The Church was a small and primitive wattle-and-daub building, with a brick pulpit, covered with the commonest and most gaudy wallpaper. The earth floor was covered with matting. I was delighted to find that the chapel was practically full. Afterwards a Communion Service was held. The “bread” was nearly black. It was made of manioc root and coarse black sugar almost like treacle. The “wine” was pine-apple juice. The cups and plates were tin painted red. Although the visit was a complete surprise, the people would not let me go without making the customary gifts. As I descended the steep hill after the service some of the Church members overtook me bringing a fowl, and as I reached the foot others came running after me with eggs.
Ten miles north-west of Tananarive is Ambohidratrimo, where the late Mr. Baron lived for two years in the seventies. In 1901 Ambohidratrimo was re-opened as a residential station under the care of the Rev. F. W. Dennis, and it is now in charge of the Rev. H. A. Ridgwell. In past days it was the capital of one of the four small kingdoms into which the present province of Imerina was divided, and it still retains marks of its former importance. At the top of a lofty hill behind the Mission house the royal village once stood, where a century ago the Malagasy king ruled over his petty kingdom. There are still several royal tombs to be seen. Towards three-quarters of the horizon a great plain stretches out into the distance. In the middle of it towards the south-east amidst the rice-fields is Tananarive. All around are mountains. The country looked like a gigantic relief map, and the view must be similar to that to be seen from an aeroplane.
Ambohidratrimo is reached by a two hours’ ride in a pousse-pousse through rice fields and pine-apple gardens. In passing along the road I could see the women very busy in the rice fields, transplanting the young rice and working in water half up their legs. Pine-apples are very plentiful in the district, and three large ones can be bought for a penny. During our visit we attended two great meetings, one in the Mission Church consisting only of men, representing some sixty-eight Churches in the district, while the other, for women only, was held at an outstation in a large village Church with very few seats. The Church was crowded, most of the women being seated on the floor looking very clean, happy and bright in their white lambas. Many of them had walked for several hours to attend the meeting. The wife of the evangelist made an admirable president, and several women took part in the meeting.
Fourteen miles north-west of Ambohidratrimo is Vangaina, which became the residence of a missionary in 1903. It is the centre of fifty outstations, which are superintended by the Vangaina missionary, the Rev. Thomas Tester. The beautifully situated Mission house has been built on the hillside some distance off the main motor-car road from Tananarive to the Port of Majunga on the north-west coast. At the station there is a Church and a school. A united meeting for the Churches of the district was held at the outstation, Ampanotokana, at which forty-four Churches were represented, crowding the building to its utmost capacity.
Our journeys to these country stations afforded many opportunities of seeing various sides of native life. On the way to Vangaina we visited the large native market at Mahitsy on market day. We went up and down between the stalls in the market place. The vendors must have numbered many hundreds, and the people attending the market some thousands from all over the countryside. Amongst the articles for sale were straw hats and mats, spades and hatchets, great heaps of fine pineapples, sugar cane, pigs, cattle, rice, meat, great piles of a small kind of dried fish, salt, tinware, calico, black soap (like the soap our missionary, Mr. Cameron, taught the natives to make eighty years ago), buttons, biscuits, ducks, vegetables—all in the greatest profusion. Perhaps the most interesting feature was the space set apart for the blacksmiths, who were repairing spades, tinware, cart-wheels, etc., with the help of primitive forges. The blast was created by two upright cylinders of wood with pipes from the bottom of them to convey the wind to the charcoal fire. The air was driven into these pipes by means of plates of wood, which were forced up and down the cylinders by poles attached to the upper surface and worked by men’s hands. They formed very effective bellows.
Vangaina itself is a small village with two moats, each about twenty feet deep, in which banana trees were growing. An interesting feature in the village is a great tree in which I saw three enormous nests of the crested-umber built in the forks of the tree and made of hay, straw, grass, and twigs, each one being about six feet long by six feet wide. The bird is about the size of the domestic fowl with longer wings, and is called the Taketra. It is a bird of ill-omen, and in the old days when the ex-Queen used to come out to Ambohimanga she would turn back again to Tananarive if one of these birds crossed her path. The old Malagasy believe that these birds bring leprosy.
The most distant country station in Imerina from Tananarive is that of Anjozorobe, between sixty and seventy miles north-east of the Capital. On the way one passes through the town of Ambohitrolomahitsy, for some years the residential station for the district, at which the late Rev. Percy Milledge, and after him the Rev. W. Kendal Gale, carried on work. We attended three large meetings at this place. The journey thither to Anjozorobe led us over a range of mountains, one of which bears a Malagasy name meaning “The mountain which cannot be climbed.” Anjozorobe, which is beautifully situated, became a residential station in 1910, when Mr. Gale moved there from Ambohitrolomahitsy. He and his family live in a newly-erected Mission house bearing a Malagasy name, which being interpreted means “The house of sweet breezes,” now quite familiar to readers of the Society’s magazines. His missionary colleague, Mrs. Milledge, formerly Miss May Sibree, lives some distance away in the centre of the native village in a Malagasy house. Anjozorobe is the centre of a very extensive district, in which there are forty large outstations, and includes the northern part of the Bezanozano country, the southern portion of which is connected with the Isoavina Station. It was not my privilege to visit the Bezanozano, but one of my colleagues, Mr. Talbot Wilson, spent nine days in a tour in this country.
During our visit to Anjozorobe a large united meeting for the whole district was held at the Church. Visits were also paid to some of the nearer outstations. The schools were inspected, and a gathering held for the native workers. Much of Mr. Gale’s time is spent away from home, his itinerating work through a widespread district necessitating his absence for many days at a time. Mrs. Milledge, too, spends much of her life travelling between outstations, living in native houses, and holding classes for women and girls in both the Anjozorobe and Ambohitrolomahitsy districts.
The journey back to the capital took us through Ankazandandy and Ambohibao, where crowded and enthusiastic meetings were held.
By the work of our missionaries at these country stations, and of hundreds of native pastors and preachers, the light is being spread through the central province of Imerina. Before the French occupation the L. M. S. work was much more extensive than it is at present. It became necessary to hand over some of the work to the Paris Missionary Society, whose missionaries, with those of the F. F. M. A. and the S. P. G. and their native workers, have now for many years past been engaged in passing on the light from place to place. The Church is steadily growing and extending into the dark places beyond.