significant indication of the revival of idolatry in this region of Imerina.

The retreat of Metzinger's column to Majunga had been disastrous, as far as sickness was concerned, and the bands of Fahavalos hovering on its flanks could not fail to be impressed with the powerlessness of the foreigners to resist the climatic fever which reduced the effective strength of Metzinger's column to three hundred of all ranks, by the time it had reached Marololo. A detachment, starting from Andriba under Captain Pognard, on its way to the capital, was repeatedly attacked by the Fahavalos-the first time French troops had been thus attacked, and, after the passage of this detachment, communication was broken between between Andriba and Antananarivo. Meantime, in Ankarana and Antsianaka, the Hova soldiers who had fled from Ambohimerina, in the extreme north, under Ratovelo, were ransacking the native villages in search of plunder, and inciting the inhabitants against the foreigners generally.

Whilst such was the state of affairs in Madagascar-at this time a Protectorate of the Republic, under which the Queen's Government was supposed to be administered, although the treaty had not yet been ratified by the French Parliament-in France the then Minister of the Colonies, M. Guieysse, was appointing residents of first, second, and third classes at rates of pay from 16,000 frs. downwards; vice-residents and chanceliers of various classes, in proportion; besides a procureur général for the metropolis at 20,000 frs., a president of the Court of Appeal, with a similar salary; counsellors and substitutes to the procureur; presiding judges; procureurs and lieutenants; justices of the peace, first, second, and third classes; greffiers and huissiers innumerable; without mentioning the various clerks and secretaries, douaniers and brigadiers for the gendarmerie.

It was evident that the revenue of the Protectorate would have to be largely supplemented by funds from the mother country, to meet the expenditure entailed by these appointments. A credit of 760,000 frs. was promptly granted to the Colonial Department for this purpose.

Such was the situation when Ranavalo II. signed the new convention, which M. Laroche was instructed to obtain from

her hand, declaring that Madagascar thenceforth was a French possession, on January 18, 1896. At the same time the Religieux. of La Trappe in Algeria were requested to send out some of their brotherhood to assist in the moral and pacific conquest of the new colony; an invitation which did not meet with immediate favour in the eyes of the Trappistes of Staoueli.

At the same time, a reorganisation of the small detached colonies in the Indian Ocean was decreed by the Home Government. The Comoro Islands were placed under the Governor of Réunion, whilst the colonial establishments of Nosibé, Diego-Suarez, and Ste. Marie, hitherto distinct possessions, were all placed directly under the Resident General at Antananarivo; thus sinking from the status of colonies to that of communes of Madagascar, whilst their administrators became simply mayors.

Whilst the troubles immediately to the west of the capital seemed to have ceased, the country to the east was next disturbed; a band of insurgents, said to be Antaimoros and Mavrozongos, occupied the vicinity of Beforona, and although troops were echelonned in posts along the route to the coast, nevertheless there was some danger to be encountered at any distance from the direct track. These Mavrozongos were as hostile to the Hovas as to Europeans; they terrorised the coast south of Vatomandry, where M. Eugh was murdered, and on January 24 a band of two hundred Fahavalos entered Foule Pointe, asserting that they were acting on behalf of the French against the Hovas, sacked all the Government property and levied a tax upon the inhabitants. A detachment from Tamatave under M. Gramont quickly dispersed these banditti, but everywhere robbery and violence were prevalent at isolated points along the Betsimisaraka country. No doubt the injustice and cruelties of former Hova governors had given occasion for these acts of vengeance.

At this time a flying column of six hundred men was formed by General Voyron, commanding the troops in the island, and placed under the command of Colonel Combes, an officer who had gained great experience in similar campaigns on the Niger, and had just arrived in France. This force was destined to operate in the north-central region of the country about Lake Alaotra,

where a general ferment of rebellion was spreading, and the bands of Fabavalos, or rather Sihanaka rebels, under a chief named Rakotavao, numbering, it was said, some three thousand men, were overrunning the north frontier of Imerina and threatening the chief Hova garrison of Ambatondrazaka, where a French Resident, M. Pénel, was stationed. Colonel Combes came up with these rebels at Zozorobé, some forty miles from Antananarivo, and chased them beyond Nosy-fito, to the east of Lake Alaotra, into the Betsimisaraka forests.

Another column was next formed to operate under General Oudry towards the south and in the Betsileo country, but the vicinity of the capital and Imerina itself was altogether unsettled, and in a dangerous state; whilst the intrigues of the various parties about the Court were intensified in rancour.

On February 28, M. Mercier and Mr. Molyneux, whilst prospecting for gold, were murdered at Nosibé, in Imerina, and a month later three prominent French colonists, personal friends of the Resident General, lately arrived from France, were surprised by the rebels in Rainibetsimisaraka, at the village of Kely-Mafana, in the district of Tsinjoarivo, where the Queen's country residence is situated. These gentlemen, MM. Duret de Brie, Michaud, and Grand, took refuge from their pursuers in Manarintsoa, some thirty miles south-east of the capital, on March 30, and found most of the inhabitants absent at a neighbouring market leaving few but women and children. Here the Frenchmen were overtaken and driven from house to house, which buildings were burnt over their heads, until one by one they were mercilessly slaughtered, together with those who had sheltered them. The Resident General himself went to bring the bodies of his unfortunate countrymen back to Antananarivo, but he was forced to take with him a strong escort of tirailleurs to keep at a distance the emboldened Fahavalos, who showed themselves in the neighbouring woods, and were inclined to dispute the passage of the convoy. About the same time Père Berthieu, a veteran missionary, and curé of Ambatomainty, was captured and slain, when trying to reach Imerina at Andracharivo, by the north-east road from Ambatondrazaka. No wonder M. Laroche, in reply to inquiries from other would-be colonists in France, wrote advising Frenchmen not to come

out to Madagascar until the country could be reported safe. No wonder he informed the Trappistes that he could not guarantee them a concession of land on which to form an establishment. Indeed it was evident that all colonisation schemes must be laid aside for the time being, and it was the pacification, if not the reconquest of the island, which had first to be accomplished.

How far this pacification has been carried out, and what means have been taken to ensure the permanent occupation of Madagascar, are themes which must be discussed in a following paper.

(To be continued.)

PASFIELD OLIVER.

THE THEATRE IN LONDON.

"The Greatest of These," by Mr. Sydney Grundy; "The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus," by Christopher Marlowe ; The Countess Gucki," and "Love on Crutches," adaptations from the German, by Mr. Augustin Daly; "Boys Together," by Messrs. Haddon Chambers and Comyns Carr.

"WHEN I said I would die a bachelor," explained Benedick, "I did not think I should live till I were married." It is as well to recognise that our opinions no less than our intentions are, in the language of the footnote to the music-hall programmes, "subject to revision." When I wrote in the first number of this Review that "Mr. Sydney Grundy has been untouched by the Ibsen movement," I did not think that a few months later he would give us a play which reveals the spirit and even the technic of Ibsen in every line. Without Ibsen "The Greatest of These" would have been simply impossible. At first sight, no doubt, the framework of the play, that familiar, overfamiliar, triangle of husband, wife, and lover, suggested quite another influence, the influence of Dumas fils. But when we come to examine how the framework is filled in, we find ourselves transported to a world of ideas and ideals which Dumas never entered, where his moral writ does not run. To be sure, the play seems to raise once more the very question which Dumas was so fond of considering: the treatment of the woman taken in adultery. Dumas, as we know, offered a varied assortment of solutions. Sometimes he was for forgiveness, at others for strict justice, at others for the wild justice of revenge. But in one thing he never varied; there was always a hard and fast line to be drawn between the offending and the aggrieved party. There was the "sinner," who was to be forgiven, or