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New Zealand Mail, Issue 606, 15 September 1883, Page 20

The special correspondent of the London Standard writes that Tamatave, the principal port of Madagascar, has no harbor, but within a coral resf is- a smooth anchorage. The forest comes down to the shore, and the houses of the little town are almost concealed by the wealth of tropical vegetation. The huts are built of bamboos, pa’m leaves, and the staves cj rum casks, and in every hut there is a cask of rum on tap. The Governor lives in the fort, which is circular, about 150 yards in diameter, protected by earthworks and masonry, and capable of resisting a considerable attack, but not of retaliation. The Quesn has at her command, it is stated, 6000 well disciplined troop*. The troops which Mr Cameron saw were all tall, lithesome men of of the usual Hova-Malay. type, with high cheek bones, and long, lanky hair. There ia also a large body of spearmen. Mr Cameron’s description of the artillery he saw at Tamatave only serves to raise a smile ; but tha Hovas possess, in his belief, some 5000 Sniders, and from lc,ooo to 15,000 American Remington, riflrs.