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From 1898 to 1916, the strategic naval base of Diego-Suarez (in the far north of Madagascar) was under construction and faced a labour shortage. The harbour, the barracks and a gold mine attracted migrants seeking work or adventure, coming from all parts of the Indian Ocean region, or even from the empires. The adjacent garrison town, built from scratch a few years earlier, experienced rapid growth. The administration was unable to handle the massive arrival of new populations that did not fit into the colonial categories. The disorders on this pioneer frontier similar to the famous Klondike gold rush prompted the French colonial authorities to adopt unusual urban policies, such as expanding the indigenous’ neighbourhood or establishing an Indochinese control institution (congrégation), giving rise to cosmopolitan dynamics that broke with the town’s military purpose.