MADAGASCAR is not at present one of those regions of the earth where volcanic disturbances occur; but there is ample evidence, from the numerous extinct craters found in various parts of the island, that at a very recent period, geologically considered—possibly even within the occupation of the country by its present inhabitants—it was the theatre of very extensive outbursts of subterranean energy. The whole island has not yet been examined with sufficient minuteness to determine the exact extent of these old volcanoes, but they have been observed from near the south-east coast in South Latitude 28°, and in various parts of the centre of the island up to the north-west and extreme north, a distance of six hundred and eighty miles; and probably a more complete survey would reveal other links connecting more closely what is, as at present known, only a series of isolated groups of extinct craters. In the central provinces of Madagascar there are two large clusters of old volcanic cones and vents: one of them in about the same latitude as the capital (19° South), but from fifty to seventy miles away to the west of it, in the neighbourhood of Lake Itàsy; the other in the district called Vàkinankàratra, situated about eighty miles to the south-south-west of Antanànarìvo, and south-west of the great central mountain mass of Ankàratra.

This second volcanic region stretches from twenty to thirty miles from Antsìrabé away west to Bétàfo and beyond it, and contains numerous and prominent extinct craters, some of which have been described by the graphic pen of the late Dr Mullens in his “Twelve Months in Madagascar” (pp. 214-219). The doctor says that he counted in this southern group about sixty cones and craters.

The Itàsy just referred to is a lake situated about fifty-five miles west of Antanànarìvo, and is about five miles long from east to west, and three miles from north to south. It is irregularly square in outline, several small headlands breaking up its shores into little bays; while to the north, where the river Lilìa takes its overflow to the sea, is a long extension or arm of the lake, curving round a mountain, which proves to be an old volcano. Seen from the east, as I approached it from the capital, it appeared as if in a depression of the general surface, and its waters were of a lovely blue. A still finer view of it is obtained from a mountain called Ambòhimiangàra, which is about three miles distant from it to the north-east. This is by far the highest point for a long distance around the lake; and as we proceeded towards it during our two days’ journey from Antanànarìvo, its great rounded mass gradually rose and dominated the whole landscape.

A late friend of mine, who resided long in the district, wrote of Ambòhimiangàra as “a kingly hill, higher by head and shoulders than any other near it, its crown of white stones rising some eighteen hundred feet above the lake lying blue at its feet. The view from the summit was magnificent, the centre of the whole being the lovely Itàsy embosomed in its bright green hills, a pearl encircled with emeralds, with mountains upon mountains in every direction as far as eye could reach. Fierce thunderstorms were being marshalled hither and thither, and could be counted by the half-dozen wherever the eye turned. The whole mountain is a mass of quartz; where the rocks protrude it is toned down to silver-grey by lichens, but where the rain has washed it away, it appears as coarse sand and pebbles of the purest white, with an occasional speck of pink.... We had a good ride, after our descent, along the north-western arm of the lake. This end of Itàsy, forming, as it were, a little lake by itself, and reflecting the deep blue and white of the sky above it, lay calm in the bright sunshine, encircled by the green hills, while clusters of houses, embowered in peach and other trees, grouped themselves around its shores. Here and there a canoe’s dark line among the sedges showed where the fisher was at work with hook and line; and across the meadow to the right, a herd of cattle was slowly wending its way to fresh pastures. Altogether, it formed a most inviting subject for a picture.”

Some way down the river flowing from the north-western arm of the lake is a very beautiful waterfall. The river, broken into three streams, falls in foaming white masses over a ledge of black lava, some fifty feet deep. The whole bed of the river for a mile above is of the same black character, the lava broken into innumerable blocks and setting off the vivid colour of the verdure on the river banks. The people say that Itàsy was once only a huge swamp, and its becoming a clear lake is within the memory, or perhaps the traditions, of the inhabitants. Other legends relate that the lake was formed by a Vazìmba chieftain, named Rapèto, damming up the river flowing from the swamp; and so the rice-fields of a neighbouring chief, with whom he was at variance, were flooded and have ever since remained under water. There is doubtless an element of truth in this latter account; but the chieftain, also supposed to be a giant, was not a human being, but a volcano, which broke out at the north-western corner and dammed up the river for a long period, as shown by the lava in its bed, as just described. The river has now cut its way several feet through the barrier which was thus thrown across its course.

I spent several hours one day in a canoe on the lake with a friend, shooting wild duck (my first and my last exploit in this line). We found birds very abundant on the water, and in the swamps and rank vegetation along the shores. Flamingoes, with their white plumage and pink tinge pervading the whole under part of the wings, are fairly common here, and are said to be extremely good eating. The native name for this bird, Sàmaka, is appropriate and descriptive, as it means “disjointed,” “split,” referring to its immensely long legs. It is also called Amjòmbona, from its trumpeting cry, this being also the native name for a large species of triton shell used as a trumpet. An adult male bird stands more than four feet high; and when on the defensive these birds make quite a loud noise by sharply opening and closing their beaks, which are long and powerful. When on the wing, they fly exceedingly high.

Among the many birds frequenting this lake and the neighbourhood are the purple water-hens, of which three species are found in Madagascar. They are of a rich bluish-purple colour, and have a very powerful beak, with which they easily root up the Hèrana sedge, when growing on the edge of the lake in shallow water. They do this for the sake of the tender rootlets, and perhaps also for insects. Of the jacanas, two species are found here; with their extremely long toes they walk easily upon the large leaves of aquatic plants, seeking for the water-insects which form their food. They dive with great ease and are therefore very difficult to shoot. Six or seven species of rail have been observed in the island; the most common one (Rallus gularis) is regarded with great respect, as it is believed to bring rain in dry weather. Its loud whistling and tremulous cry is heard chiefly towards evening. These birds are said to be so careful of their eggs and young that they may easily be taken by the hand from the nest. M. Pollen says: “I once saw a hen-bird who would not quit the space near her nest, but kept walking around it, ruffling her feathers, and dragging her wings on the ground, in the same way as our domestic hen does when defending her young. Other birds common to the marshy districts are crested coots, curlews, snipe and plovers. Two species of birds peculiar to Madagascar, for whom a special family had to be formed, can only be spoken of by their scientific name of Mesites; they are very curious and specialised birds, taking their place between the rails and the herons.” According to the native accounts, when the nests of these mesites, which are mostly placed on a low situation, are flooded, the parent birds drag them to where they will be free from injury by the water. If anyone takes their young, they follow them into the village; and on account of this love for their offspring they are considered sacred (fàdy), because, say the natives, they are in this like human beings.

Not very far to the east of the second group of old volcanoes mentioned above is the large village of Antsìrabé (“much salt”), which is about seventy-five miles south-west of Antanànarìvo, and is now on the automobile road to the Bétsiléo province. At this place one of the chief springs is largely charged with lime, which has formed an extensive deposit all over a small level valley sunk some twenty feet below the general level of the plain around the village. For a long time this place furnished almost all the lime used for building in the capital and in the central province of Imèrina. Besides the deposit over the floor of the valley, there was also a compact ridge-shaped mass of lime accretion, seventy feet long by eighteen to twenty feet wide, and about fifteen or sixteen feet high. This had all been deposited by the spring, which kept open a passage through the lime to the top. Some years ago, however, the spring was tapped by a shaft, of no great depth, a few yards to the north, over which a large and commodious bath-house was erected by the Norwegian Lutheran Mission; and here many visitors came to bathe in the hot mineral water, which has been found very beneficial in rheumatic and other complaints.[21] A little distance to the south-west is another spring, not, however, hot, but only milk-warm, the water of which is drunk by those who bathe in the other spring. This water has been shown to be, in chemical constituents, almost identical with the famous Vichy water of France. All over the valley the water oozes up in various places; and about half-a-mile farther north are several other springs, somewhat hotter than that just described, to which the natives largely resort for curative bathing.

During the excavations for the foundations of the bath-house, the skeletons of several examples of an extinct species of hippopotamus were discovered, the crania and tusks being in very perfect preservation. Some of these are now in the museum at Berlin; the finest specimen was sent to the museum of the University of Christiania in Norway. This Madagascar hippopotamus was a smaller species than that now living in Africa, and is probably nearly allied to, if not identical with, another hippopotamus (H. Lemerlei), of which remains were found in 1868 by M. Grandidier, in the plains of the south-west coast. I was informed by the people that, wherever in these valleys the black mud is dug into for a depth of three or four feet, bones are sure to be met with. From the internal structure of the teeth and bones of the hippopotami discovered at Antsìrabé, traces of the gelatine being still visible, it is evident that the animals had been living at a comparatively recent period. There have been occasional vague reports of the existence of some large animal in the southern parts of the island; and perhaps the half-mythical stories of the Sòngòmby, Tòkandìa, Làlomèna, and other strange creatures current among the Malagasy, are traditions of the period when these pachyderms were still to be seen in the lakes and streams and marshes of Madagascar.

Besides the remains of hippopotami, Mr Rosaas, for many years a missionary of the Norwegian Society, and stationed at Antsìrabé, obtained considerable quantities of the bones of extinct gigantic birds. It is about eighty years ago (circa 1834 and 1835) since it became known to naturalists, through the discovery of portions of massive leg-bones and fragments of enormous eggs, that there was evidence of the former existence in Madagascar of large birds. For a quarter-century after that date, the dislike of the heathen queen to all foreign influence prevented fuller investigations of a scientific character. But since the year 1861 further researches, and excavations made in widely separated localities, have shown that several species of these great birds existed until a comparatively recent period in many parts of the island. It was evident that they were flightless, and were allied to the ostrich, and still more closely to the recently extinct Dinornis of New Zealand. The generic name of Æpyornis was given to these birds, of which several species were discovered, ranging in size from that of a bustard to a bird exceeding an ostrich in height and also in the massive character of the skeleton. The largest species was accordingly named Æpyornis maximus. Subsequently, the remains of still larger birds were discovered and these were called Æ. titan and Æ. ingens, the largest of them being about ten feet in height. More recent and exact examination has shown that the twelve species which had been formed must be reduced to a smaller number, as some of the lesser kinds have been proved to be young and immature forms of the larger species. From the collection of hundreds of bones, and, in a very few cases, complete skeletons, it is now clear that several species of these great birds once roamed over the marshes and valleys of Madagascar, as the ostrich does still in Africa, and the cassowary in Australia and some East Indian islands.

The egg of one of the species, probably of the largest one, is the largest of all known eggs, its longer axis being twelve and a quarter inches, and the shorter one nine and three-eighths inches; it thus had a capacity equal to six ostrich eggs, and to one hundred and forty-eight of those of the domestic fowl.[22] From the marks of cutting with a sharp instrument seen on some of the bones, it seems highly probable that these great birds, as well as the hippopotamus, gigantic tortoises, and other animals, were living when the first human inhabitants of the island appeared upon the scene; and doubtless this was also the reason of the disappearance of both birds and beasts, as they were hunted and used for food.