The Republique Fraufaise of Tuesday contains an account of the
impressions of an American—Mr. Woodford—who has just returned from Madagascar, which, as far as we know, has been missed by the English Press. Mr. Woodford does not apparently paint so black a picture of the situation, from the Hova point of view, as does the correspondent of the Times. According to him, the Hovas are busy drilling and turning out cartridges. The intention of the Hovas is, he says, not to advance till the French have reached the heights above the capital, but merely to harass them with small bodies of men, and to trust to the fever, which in that region is specially dangerous. If, however, the French are still able to advance, the Hovas will break the banks of the Ikopa, and surround the town with 11 ft. of water, the native inhabitants taking to the hills. Another scheme is to turn the abandoned capital into a plague-spot by killing several thousand head of cattle and leaving their bodies to decompose in the streets. This sounds absurdly fantastic, and would probably be in- effective ; but then savages often do fantastic things. The abandonment and drowning or burning of the capital is, however, a risk which the French will have to take into consideration. In spite, however, of the adverse signs, we cannot doubt that the French will succeed in completely conquering the Hovas. Whether, when they pay the bill, they will think that they have had value for their money, is another matter.
