Motley.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5068, 29 September 1894, Page 4

Motley.

— .--.-a-" I'ye jibe and joke and _uin and crank For lowly folk and men or rank; I ply my craft and know no fear, But aim my shaft at prince or peer. yzovxx ov the Guard. The French about to march on Antananarivo ! What a jaw-breaking same! More confusing than jaw-breaking, aa you call it. Antananarivo is the capital of Madagascar, and the name signifies, " the I city of a thousand towns." | What sort of a place is the oapital ? | You are like a school inspector to-day; bnt I will try to satisfy your curiosity. The capital is built upon the summit and slopes of a lofty hill of granite and basalt rock, The city hill is a conspicuous object from all parts of the adjacent country. From places fifty miles distant, the white ! roofs of the lofty palae* of the Queen can be distinctly seep. It is somewhat of a coincidence that the superficial area of the country is ss nearly as possible the same i as that of France! How very singular ! There has been an almost continuous occupation of the island by the French, since 1506, but the country has never passed under Frenoh dominion. The French have successively named the ! country Saint Laurent, Dauphino, and Eastern France, but it has always resumed the name of Madagascar ! ! And the people themselves— what of them? Lsft to themselves, or at anyrate with some sympathy and assistance from the outside nations, the people would bave furnished the world with a curious example. Here we have a barbarous people brought under the influence of a religion which has been engrafted upon their social system— a civilisation, at first sight most alien to their habits. These people have been for many years feeling their way, as it were, to a higher level of national existence and cul.ure ! Then why has France been allowed to interfere ? Oh, the "good old rule, the simple plan, that ha shall take who has the power and he shall keep who can." After much fuss and many treaties, after strenuous opposition on the part of tho native people themselves, Great Britain, in 1890, recognised the French protectorate-over the island ! But the natives themselves do not recognise the French " protectorate," as you call it! No, but the French have landed at Mojanga several "persuaders" in the shape of batteries of artillery and columns of troops, and I am afraid it will go hard with the natives! t>on't be too sure of that. The natives can take to the forests— if the worst comes to the worst— and make a waiting game of it, leaving the climate to kill off tbe French soldiers ! The climate is certainly deadly to Europeans, especially in the fastnesses where the natives would await the onset of the French battalions ! What are the natives like when it comeß to fighting P I should, perhaps, first of all tell you that the island is peopled by two distinct races, the Malagasy and the Hovae. The former are black, more or less modified by a mixture with the natives of the Mozambique and Arabs. They are for the most part tall, strong and savage. Some of them, notably those on the east coast, called the Betsimsaraka, are gentler, more devoted to pleasure, and slighter in form. And the Hovas — what of them P They are of Malay origin, and mußt have arrived on the islaud at a very early period. They were at first driven into the interior by the natives and established themselves on the ceutial plateau of Imexiua. The fate of this oolony was remarkable. At first, regarded by the Malagasy as an outcast race, everything they touched was considered impure, and the cottage which a Hova had slept in was burned. The isolation, the oppression, and the necessity for almost continuous fighting made tbe Hova eullen, suspicious, cunning, cruel and treacherous, and to deaire nothing better than a deep revenge. They were soldiers in heart, and when, towards the end of last oentury, Adrianamponine invited them to shake off the yoke, he found it only necesßary to collect the various tiibe3 into an army. In turn, the Hoyas became very hard taskmasters, and have almost decimated the natives in those portions of Madagascar whicb they then seized. ' Which, then, is the Hova capital ? Tamatave, a place not at all to be compared with—- — Thanks, the " city of a thousand towns \" It is irregularly built, and is surrounded by a country which appears to be a deisers, iptcispersed with swamps, and I pity the French force that may be led into that country— it will never come out again ! * * * The name of that Malagasy city reminds me that one of the correspondents of the Star has paid ma a very nice compliment on the subject of nomenclature ! It's as well that yoa should get a littlo praise now and then — you get kno.ka enough at times ! My dear sir, that is the fate of genius! The Lord gie u_ a' a quid conceit o' oorsels! ' Exactly; I don't know what you rueau. but that doesn't signify one bit. And bow to the nomenclature question ! Both you and the correspondent forget' that the Act whioh baa come into force is mainly for the purpose of preventing tJi« duplicating of names and to ohauge sucb. double namea as already existl

Bat what I principally complained o{ was not wbat the Act did ; rather, what it did not do. It Bhould have enacted that wherever a Maori same could be aeouped, that aame should have been placed on the map! Hott about the etymology of the namea f Well, it wouldn't perhaps do fco go tpo closely into that ! And that may be the axons* of those who are not for naming place* as per Maori 2 Rubbish. But what I started ont to say waa that my friend "A.H.8."«» I think— -is wrong about the meaning be giveß to " Waipukurau "l Indeed! then what meaning do you giveP That which was given to me by a Maori. The only trouble is that even tho Natives themselves differ, and when they do so, who ehall decide ? " Waipukurau," or as it should be spelled, '•' Waipukerau,'* means a place of water and little grassy hills, and that exactly fills the bill with? regard to the "model village" of Hawke's Bay. AU around are small hills and terraces, with a lake on one hand and the river winding its way along the valley. To particularise: Wai, water; puke, small hill or undulation; ran, grass, That seems a reasonable explanation One of the greatest faults ' to be found with the white man is that he displays an exasperating facility for corrupting tfre Maori names. Take for example the very musical name, Makotukn (the place ot the white heron). That has been corrupted into " Makatoka," and is pronounced— oh hideous thing!— " Makkytoky !*' I will give the railway . people credit for endeavouring to preserve the original name, and the newspapers for sticking faithfully to the original spelling. Then there is the name " Waipawa." That is a corruption of "Waipaoa"— meaning stnofcy water. The valley of the Waipaoa in the early morning is often filled with a lights mist or fog, which lifts as tbe sun gathers strength; hence the •smoky water of the Maori! It is mora than a pity that these pretty names are .not to be perpetuated, and that in their plaice we are to have the hideous European surnames of Smith, Brown, Jones and Robertson. v ■ What of the mass meeting to-night t I have heard none of the particulars, but I hope it will be largely attended! Hear, hear. If from a largely attended meeting there shonld go up to Wellington a demand for an inquiry, some good may oome of itl Not without details, my dear sir; not without details. It is imperatively necesBary that if an inquiry is to take place tliere shall be distinct and definite charges t Otherwise the powers that be will refuse to move in the matter ! At anyrate, the meeting can do no harm, and it may do a great deal of good, even if it only rouses the public to a sense of its duty in the matter of the administration of charitable aid. Jack Point.