ntique forms of
life: many species of lemur make the forest resound with their cries;
and these, with the curious and highly-specialized Aye-aye, and peculiar
species of Viverridae and Insectivora, are probably "survivals", of an
old-world existence, when Madagascar was one of an archipelago of large
islands, whose remains are only small islands like the Seychelles and
Mascarene Groups, or coral banks and atolls like the Chagos, Amirante,
and others, which are slowly disappearing beneath the ocean. Until two
or three hundred years ago, the coast-plains of Madagascar were trodden
by the great struthious bird, the AEpyornis, apparently the most gigantic
member of the avi-fauna of the world, and whose enormous eggs probably
gave rise to the stories of the Rukh of the "Arabian Nights." It will be
evident, therefore, that Madagascar is full of interest as regards its
scientific aspects.

When we look at the human inhabitants of the island there is also a
considerable field for research, and some puzzling problems are
presented. While Madagascar may be correctly termed "the great _African_
island" as regards its geographical position, considered ethnologically,
it is rather a Malayo-Polynesian island. Though so near Africa, it has
but slight connection with the continent; the customs, traditions,
language, and mental and physical characteristics of its people all tend
to show that their ancestors came across the Indian Ocean from the
south-east of Asia. There are traces of some aboriginal peoples in
parts of the interior, but the dark and the brown Polynesians are
probably both represented in the different Malagasy tribes; and although
scattered somewhat thinly over an island a thousand miles long and four
times as large as England and Wales, there is substantially but one
language spoken throughout the whole of Madagascar. Of these people, the
Hova, who occupy the central portion of the interior high-land, are the
lightest in colour and the most civilized, and are probably the latest
and purest Malay immigrants. Along the western coast are a number of
tribes commonly grouped under the term Sakalava, but each having its own
dialect, chief, and customs. They are nomadic in habits, keeping large
herds of cattle, and are less given to agriculture than the central and
eastern peoples. In the interior are found, besides the Hova, the
Sihanaka, the Betsileo, and the Bara; in the eastern forests are the
Tanala, and on the eastern co