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COMORO ISLANDS
Online EncyclopediaOriginally appearing in Volume
V06,
Page 795
of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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See also: COMORO ISLANDS , a See also:group of volcanic islands belonging to See also:France, in the See also:Indian Ocean, at the See also:northern entrance of the See also:Mozambique Channel midway between See also:Madagascar and the See also:African See also:continent. The following table of the See also:area and See also:population of the four largest islands gives one of the sets of figures offered by various authorities: Area sq. m. Population. See also:Great Comoro . . . 385 50,000 Anjuan or Johanna . . 145 12,000 See also:Mayotte 140 11,000 Moheli 90 9,000 See also:Total . 76o 82,000 There are besides a large number of islets of See also:coral formation. Particulars of the four islands named follow. 1. Great Comoro, or Angazia, the largest and most See also:westerly, has a length of about 38 m., with a width of about 12 M. Near its See also:southern extremity it rises into a See also:fine See also:dome-shaped volcanic See also:mountain, Kartola (Karthala), which is over 8500 ft. high, and is visible for more than See also:loo m.Up to about 6000 ft. it is clothed with dense vegetation. Eruptions are recorded for the years 1830, 1855 and 1858; and another eruption occurred in 1904. In the See also:
Mayotte, about 21 M. long by 6 or 7 M. broad, is surrounded by an extensive and dangerous coral See also: reef. The See also:principal heights on its extremely irregular See also:surface are: Mavegani Mountain, which rises in two peaks to a maximum of 2164 ft., and Uchongin, 2100 ft. The French headquarters are on the islet of Zaudzi, which lies within the reef in'22° 46' S., 45° 20' E. There are substantial See also:government buildings and See also:store-houses. On the mainland opposite Zaudzi is Msapere, the chief centre of See also:trade. Mayotte was devastated in 1898 by a See also:cyclone of great severity. 4. Moheli or Mohilla lies S. of and between Anjuan and See also:Grand Comoro. It is 15 m. long and 7 or 8 m. at its maximum breadth. Unlike the other three it has no peaks, but rises gradually to a central See also:ridge about 'goo ft. in height. Fomboni (pop. about 2000) in the N.W. and Numa Choa in the S.W. are the chief towns. All the islands possess a very fertile See also:soil; there are forests of coco-See also:nut palms, and among the products are See also:rice, See also:maize, sweet-potatoes, yams, See also:coffee, See also:cotton, See also:vanilla and various tropical fruits, the papaw See also:tree being abundant.The See also: fauna is allied to that of Madagascar rather than to the mainland of See also:Africa; it includes some land birds and a See also:species of See also:lemur See also:peculiar to. the islands. Large See also:numbers of See also:cattle and See also:sheep, the former similar to the small species at See also:Aden, are reared as well as, in Great Comoro, the See also:zebra. Turtles are caught in abundance along the coasts, and See also:form an See also:article of export. The See also:climate is in See also:general warm, but not torrid nor unsuitable for Europeans. The dry See also:season lasts from May to the end of See also:October, the See also:rest of the See also:year being See also:rainy. The natives are of mixed Malagasy, See also:Negro and Arab See also:blood. The See also:majority are Mahommedans. The See also:European inhabitants, mostly French, number about 60o. There are some 200 British See also:Indians, traders, in the islands. The See also:external trade of the islands has See also:developed since the See also:annexation of Madagascar to France, and is of the value of about £1o0,000 a year. See also:Sugar refineries, distilleries of See also:rum, and sawmills are worked in Mayotte by French settlers. See also:Cane sugar and vanilla are the chief exports.The islands are regularly visited by vessels of the Messageries Mari-times See also: fleet, and a coaling station for the French navy has been established. The islands were first visited by Europeans in the 16th See also:century; they are marked on the See also:map of Diego Ribero made in 1527. At that See also:time, and for long afterwards, the dominant See also:influence in, and the See also:civilization of, the islands was Arab. According to tradition the islands were first peopled by Arab voyagers driven thither by tempests. The See also:petty sultans who exercised authority were notorious slave traders. A Sakalava chief who had been driven from Madagascar by the Hovas took See also:refuge in Mayotte c. 1830, and, with the aid of the sultan of Johanna, conquered the island, which for a century had been given over to See also:civil See also:war. French See also:naval See also:officers having reported on the strategic value of Mayotte, See also:Admiral de See also:Hell, See also:governor of See also:Reunion, sent an officer there in 1841, and a treaty was negotiated ceding the island to France. See also:Possession was taken in 1843, the sultan of Johanna renouncing his claims in the same year. In 1886 the sultans of the other three islands were placed under French See also:protection, France fearing'that otherwise the islands would be taken by See also:Germany. The French experienced some difficulty with the natives, but by 1892 had established their position. The islands, as regulated by the See also:decree of the 9th of See also:April 1908, are under the supreme authority of the governor-general of Madagascar.The See also: local See also:administration is in the hands of an See also:official who himself governs Mayotte but is represented in the other islands by administrators. On the See also:council which assists the governor are two nominated native notables. In 1910 the sultan of Great Comoro ceded his See also:sovereign rights to France. In Anjuan the native government is continued under French supervision. The budgets of the four islands in 1904 came to some 30,000, that of Mayotte being about See also:half the total. The chief See also:sources of See also:revenue are See also:poll and See also:house taxes, and, in Mayotte, a land tax. The Iles Glorieuses, three islets 16o m. N.E. of Mayotte, with a population of some 20 souls engaged in the collection of See also:guano and the See also:capture of turtles, were in 1892 annexed to France and placed under the See also:control of the administrator of Mayotte. See See also:Notice sur Mayotte et See also:les Comores, by Emile See also:Vienne, one of the See also:memoirs on the French colonies prepared for the See also:Paris See also:Exhibition of 1900; Le Sultanat d'An'ouan, by Jules Repiquet (Paris, 1901), a systematic See also:account of the See also:geography, See also:ethnology and See also:history of Johanna; Les colonies franfaises (Paris, 1900), vol. ii. pp. 179-197,in which the See also:story of the See also:archipelago is set forth by various writers; an account of the islands by A. Voeltzkow in the Zeitschrift of the See also:Berlin Geog. See also:Soc.(No. 9, 1906), and See also: Carte See also:des Iles Comores, by A. See also:Meunier (Paris, 1904).Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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