News of the first battle in Madagascar reached the French
Ministry of War on Wednesday. On the morning of June 29th, several thousand Hovas made a determined attack on the French advanced post at Tsarasoatra. The attack was, however, repulsed, the enemy being forced to retreat several kilometres. On the evening of the same day, General Metzinger reached Tsarasoatra, and next morning attacked the Hovas. The position was carried, and the Hovas, who were cut off from their supports and dispersed among the ravines, suffered heavy losses. Two camps were captured, and four hundred and seventy tents, the Queen's flag, one gun, and all the enemy's provisions, ammunition, and effects. The French losses were unimportant, consisting of two killed and fifteen wounded. This seems to show that the military power of the Hovas is a neglectable quantity. The correspondent of a Berlin paper, the Tagebtalt, telegraphs from Mojanga that it is calculated that General Duchesne may reach Antananarivo by August 15th, but that the French may still require reinforcements to the number of three thousand' men. French successes in Madagascar should not displease England.
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