Bill Barnes Air Adventurer, July 1935 — page 45: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

AIR ADVENTURER by force but Queen Ranavalona II], drove them out with her own troops under British officers. In 1896 the French sent in twenty thousand French troops under General Duchesne, con- quered the island and took control. General Gallieni, the man who saved Paris in the World War by sending re- serves to the front in taxicabs, was the first governor of Madagascar for France. The half-military code France uses in all her colonies was put into effect. They developed the roads, built a railroad and taxed the natives. The Hovas were the rulers of the island be- fore the French came. They were traced back to Indonesians, building square houses on piles, wearing sarongs, practicing infanticide, and polygamy and using outrigger canoes. They were tillers of the soil, shepherds and trad- ers, “Next to them were the Betsileo and Betsimisaraka. They are supposed to be of Arab descent. Then the warlike Sakalavas and the people of Antandroy. They store and eat cactus berries and fruits and, like all the Malagasy, are successful cattle raisers. “The Sakalavas are big and tall and shiny-black with frizzy hair and flat noses. They practice fetichism, voodoo and are ruled by superstition. They were the last to be reached by the French as a source of revenue. The Sakalavas were great fighters and war- riors. They had some neat tricks. They used to dig a hole near an enemy camp and put a huge, red bull in the hole. Then they would cover over the top, leaving a hollow log inserted to give the bull air. When the enemy heard fear- ful noises coming out of the ground they ran.” “That’s great stuff, Bill,’ Sandy said. “T want to get a book about it.” “Keep it to yourself if you do.” Bill grinned. “Shorty and Red will break both your legs if you begin telling them stories about Madagascar as you did “43 about the Incas when we were in Peru.” ‘Somebody has to help out the ignor- ant,’ Sandy said. “What happened after the French got control ?” “They kept control,” Bill said. “They had trouble with the Sakalava’s and had to kill a few of ’em. They sent Queen Ranavalona into exile in Algiers and kidded the natives by giving, them tin medals and a chance to pay more taxes. “During the World War the natives tried to poison the French officials be- cause they drafted them for service in Europe. The island is nearly a thou- sand miles long and is filled with valu- able minerals. I think that fact fits in with the attempts to kill and kidnap Shorty. Those maps and papers he has are probably the key to the location of valuable deposits. We'll know more about that soon. We'll hop for Cairo in the morning if this motor is all right.” “She sounds sweet, Bill,” Sandy said. “What about giving this rapid-firer a test now?” BILL LOCKED the controls and crossed to one of the cabin windows. The Mediterranean sparkled blue and green below them. Overhead the sky was a vast expanse of deep-blue, fading to aquamarine and white on the hori- zon, The city of Oran was a mere speck on the north shore of Africa. One or two specks that were ships plodded along on the surface of the sea. A gorgeous panorama of land, sea and sky unrolled before his eyes. He listened to the steady drone of the two Diesels for a moment. Then nodded his head with satisfaction. He raised his eyes to the inclosed turret where Sandy sat. “Let her go, kid!” he said. “Only a few shots at a time or she'll tear out the whole bridge.” Sandy settled himself on the gun- ner’s seat and drew a bead on an imagi- nary enemy through the telescopic sights. The big ship bucked and trembled as CON) IElOOOL“K CO