ANOSSI, CARCAIJOSSI, or ANDROHEIZAHA, a pro vince in the south-east extremity of the island of Mada gascar, where Fort Dauphin is situated. It lies be tween 23° 10', and 26° S. lat., and is divided from .the country of the Ampatres by a great river called Man dreze, or Mandrerei. This province contains much fertile ground, and is watered by streams falling into large rivers that discharge themselves into the sea. The river Fanzere is navigable sixty miles inland by small vessels ; and above its mouth forms into a bison, or bay, more than three miles in diameter, with ten fathoms water, being one of the finest harbours in the world. The entrance to it is by a channel from the sea, three or four hundred feet long, in which there is al ways deep water. Anossi abounds in quadrupeds and birds, and produces many Useful and valuable plants, such as aloes, of which great quantities have been ex ported by the settlers. Mines of gold are said to exist in it, and abundance of pure iron ore. There are like wise found various precious stones ; which, added to the numerous other products, renders the country a desirable place to preserve a settlement.
The province of Anossi is inhabited by several tribes, who all enjoy prerogatives distinct from each other. There are three different races of whites, and four of blacks. Although the former, who are denominated Zafferamini, the descendants of Mina, the mother of Mahomet, and appear different from the indigenous na tives, are called whites ; their skin is rather copper colour ; their hair long and straight, unlike the crisped and curled hair peculiar to Africans, and they also want the same flatness of nose. They consist of three ranks, the Rohandri, Anacandri, and Ondzatsi. All the in dividuals of the first are chiefs, and from them the king, or supreme chief, is elected. It is not evident that they admit royalty in the same sense that it is recognized in other countries, that have attained the same degree of civilization. Next to them rank the Anacandri, who are the descendants of a Rohandrian father and black mother, or white woman of low extraction. The Ond zatsi are sprung from bastards of the Anacandri, and the offspring of the sailors brought to the island by the Zafferamini.
The four classes of blacks are Voadziri, Lahovits, Ontsoa, and Ondeves. The first being descended from
the indigenous chiefs, before the whites over-ran the country, are highest in rank, and may rule a whole district. The Lahovits spring from the same ances try, but their pre-eminence is limited to the command of a single village. The Ontsoa, though not enslaved, have no prerogatives, notwithstanding they are nearly allied to the Lahovits; and the Ondeves are slaves from their birth.
Among the more singular distinctions characterizing the rank of these different classes or tribes, is the right of killing animals. It is not clearly ascertained whe ther this privilege is merely an indication of power, or rests in some religious principle. The Rohandri and Anacandri are entitled to kill all four-footed animals, but the Ondzatsi only birds. It is likewise affirmed, that of the blacks, the Voadziri, or first rank, are en titled to kill four-footed animals only in the absence of the whites, and provided neither a Rohandrian nor Ana candrian be in their villages. The Lahovits are restrain ed from killing animals, unless for their own food ; and a late author maintains, that however rich an individual may be in flocks, he dares not kill one of them for food to his inferiors, but must send to a.Rohandrian or Ana candrian to do it for him.
No two classes are accustomed to eat together ; the higher ranks eat with their equals, and slaves with slaves. As the country is fertile, and produces great abundance of food, the Zaffaramini eat five or six times a-day : but the indolence of the other inhabitants is so extraordinary, that they neglect to cultivate the ground, or lay up stores ; whence, notwithstadding the fineness of the climate, famine sometimes ensues. Their agri culture is rude ; large trees and shrubs are cut down to clear the ground ; when dry, an opportunity is taken to burn them during high winds, and afterwards, when it rains, yams and other roots are planted. Exuberant crops of rice, frequently even two harvests from one sowing, are obtained on a suitable soil, where the plants and weeds, trodden down by oxen, have been left to rot, and then the grain is sown. They make two kinds of wine, one reputed of agreeable taste, from sugar canes, and another represented as hardly inferior, from honey, of which there is great abundance in the pro vince.