European exploration of Africa
One of the ships under command of Diogo Dias arrived at a coast that was not in East Africa. Two years later, a chart already showed an elongated island east of Africa that bore the name Madagascar. But only a century later, between 1613 and 1619, did the Portuguese explore the island in detail. They signed treaties with local chieftains and sent the first missionaries, who found it impossible to make locals believe in Hell, and were eventually expelled.
James Sibree
In addition to publishing many popular, detailed books about the flora and fauna of Madagascar, the country's general history, and the mission history on the island, he also edited "Register of Missionaries and Deputations of the LMS" (1923) and wrote several works in the Malagasy language, as well as articles about Madagascar which were published in several editions of "Encyclopædia Britannica" and "Chambers's Encyclopaedia". In all, he published sixteen books in English, including his autobiography, "Fifty Years in Madagascar" (1923) and the following works:In addition to his writing, Sibree regularly designed and built new mission buildings, almost 100 in all, in addition to 50 churches. He was the chief English authority on Madagascar, and was elected as a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, as well as the International Society of Philology. His work on the geography and bibliography of the island earned him Sir George Back's Grant in 1892. In 1902, he became a member of the Malagasy Academy ("l'Académie Malgache"), and he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from the University of St Andrews in 1913. Sibree's dwarf lemur ("Cheirogaleus sibreei") was named after him in 1896 by the Swiss zoologist Charles Immanuel Forsyth Major.