Tir- Crx+iWl'i // V' /> *' . ■/ > ■ / 22502851731 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Wellcome Library https ://arch i ve . org/detai Is/b2992988x Old Village Gateway with Circular Stone The stone is levered into position closing the opening. A deep fosse or ditch surrounding the village completes its fortification. The man in front is carrying two packages secured to a pole in the usual manner of the country A NATURALIST IN MADAGASCAR A Record of Observation Experiences and Impressions made during a period of over Fifty Tears' Intimate Association with the Natives and Study of the Animal Ss*5 Vegetable Life of the Island BY JAMES SIBREE, F.R.G.S. Membre de V Ac ademie Malgache AUTHOR OF “ THE GREAT AFRICAN ISLAND,” “ MADAGASCAR ORNITHOLOGY,” fcffc., &c., Sifc. WITH 52 ILLUSTRATIONS & 3 MAPS PHILADELPHIA J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY LONDON : SEELEY, SERVICE 6- CO. LTD. 1915 * — 1 ia:L [CC EKSTiWfc LIBRARY \om waiteOmec 1 ^Uil’ JDeDicatefc WITH MUCH AFFECTION TO MY DEAR WIFE MY CONSTANT COMPANION IN MADAGASCAR AND FAITHFUL HELPER IN ALL MY WORK FOR FORTY- FOUR YEARS PREFACE THE title of this book may perhaps be considered by some as too ambitious, and may provoke comparison with others somewhat similar in name, but with whose distinguished authors I have no claim at all to compete. I have no tales to tell of hair-breadth escapes from savage beasts, no shooting of “ big game,” no stalking of elephant or rhinoceros, of “ hippo ” or giraffe. We have indeed no big game in Madagascar. The most dangerous sport in its woods is hunting the wild boar ; the largest carnivore to be met with is the fierce little fdsa, and the crocodile is the most dangerous reptile. But I ask the courteous reader to wander with me into the wonderful and mysterious forests, and to observe the gentle lemurs in their home, as they leap from tree to tree, or take refuge in the thickets of bamboo ; to come out in the dusk and watch the aye-aye as he stealthily glides along the branches, obtaining his insect food under the bark of the trees ; to listen to the song of numerous birds, and to note their habits and curious ways ; to hear the legends and folk-tales in which the Malagasy have preserved the wisdom of their ancestors with regard to the feathered denizens of the woods and plains, and to admire the luxuriant vegetation of the forests, and the trees and plants, the ferns and flowers, and even the grasses, which are to be found in every part of the island. I invite those who may read these pages to look with me at the little rodents and insect-eaters which abound in and near the woods ; to mark the changing chameleons which are found here in such variety ; to watch the insects which gambol in the sunshine, or hide in the long grass, or sport on the streams. If such unexciting pleasures as these can interest my readers, I 5 6 PREFACE can promise that there is in Madagascar enough and to spare to delight the eye and to charm the imagination. I confess that I am one of those who take much more delight in silently watching the birds and their pretty ways in some quiet nook in the woods, than in shooting them to add a speci¬ men to a museum ; and that I feel somewhat of a pang in catching even a butterfly, and would much rather observe its lovely colours in life, as it unfolds them to the sunshine, than study it impaled on a pin in a cabinet. No doubt collections are necessary, but I have never cared to make them myself. Nothing is here recorded but facts which have come under my own observation or as related by friends and others whose authority is unquestionable. And while my main object is to convey a vivid and true impression of the animal and vegetable life of Madagascar, I have also given many sketches of what is curious and interesting in the habits and customs of the Mala¬ gasy people, among whom I have travelled repeatedly, and with whom I have lived for many years. I have no pretensions to be a scientific naturalist or botanist, I have only been a careful observer of the beautiful and wonderful things that I have seen and I have constantly noted down what many others have observed, and have here included information which they have given in the following pages. I have long wished that someone far more competent than myself would write a popular book upon the natural history and botany of this great island ; but as I have not yet heard of any such, I venture with some diffidence to add this book to the large amount of literature already existing about Mada¬ gascar, but none of it exactly filling this place. For many years I edited, together with my late friend and colleague, the Rev. R. Baron, the numbers of The Antananarivo Annual , a publication which was “ a record of information on the topo¬ graphy and natural productions of Madagascar, and the cus¬ toms, traditions, language and religious beliefs of its people,” and for which I was always on the lookout for facts of all kinds PREFACE bearing on the above-mentioned subjects. But as this maga¬ zine was not known to the general public, and was confined to a very limited circle of readers, I have not hesitated to draw freely on the contents of its twenty-four numbers, as I am confident that a great deal of the information there contained is worthy of a much wider circulation than it had in the pages of the Annual. Finally, as preachers say, although this book is written by a missionary, it is not “ a missionary book ” ; not, certainly, because I undervalue missionary work, in which, after nearly fifty years’ acquaintance with it, and taking an active part in it, I believe with all my heart and soul, but because that aspect of Madagascar has already been so fully treated. Books written by the Revs. W. Ellis, Dr Mullens, Mr Prout, Dr Matthews, Mr Houlder, myself and others, give all that is neces¬ sary to understand the wonderful history of Christianity in this island. Despite what globe-trotting critics may say, as well as colonists who seem to consider that all coloured peoples may be exploited for their own benefit, mission work, apart from its simply obeying the last commands of our Lord, is the great civilising, educational and benevolent influence in the world, deny it who can ! But in this book I want to show that Madagascar is full of interest in other directions, and that the wonderful things that live and grow here are hardly less worthy of study than those events which have attracted the attention of Christian and benevolent people for nearly a hundred years past. The author thanks very sincerely his friends, Mr John Parrett, Monsieur Henri Noyer, and Razaka, for their freely accorded permission to reproduce many photographs taken by them and used to illustrate this book. And his grateful thanks are also due to his old friend, the Rev. J. Peill, for the care he has taken in going through the proof sheets, especially in seeing that all Madagascar words are correctly given. Two or three chapters of this book cover, to some extent, the same ground as those treated of in another book on 8 PREFACE Madagascar by the author, published some years ago by Mr Fisher Unwin. The author here acknowledges, with many thanks, Mr Fisher Unwin’s kindness in giving full permission to produce these, which are, however, rewritten and largely added to. J. S. NOTE. — Throughout this book Malagasy words are accented on the syllables which should be emphasised, and if it is borne in mind that the vowels a , e and i have as nearly as possible the same sound as in French or Italian, and that o is exactly like our English o in do, to and move, and that the consonants do not differ much in sound from those in English, except that g is always hard, s always a sibilant and not like z, and j is like dj there will be no difficulty in pronouncing Malagasy words with a fair amount of accuracy. CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE INTRODUCTORY . . . . . 17 Natural History of the Island — Still Little Known — Roads and Railway — We travel by Old-Fashioned Modes — Great Size and Extent of Madagascar CHAPTER II TAMATAVE AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE COUNTRY . . 20 “ The Bullocker ” — Landing at Tamatave — Meet with New Friends — Landing our Luggage — Bullocks and Bullock Ships — Native Houses — Strange Articles of Food — A Bed on a Counter — First Ride in a Filanjcina — At the Fort — The Governor and his “ Get-Up ” — A Rough-and-Ready Canteen CHAPTER III FROM COAST TO CAPITAL I ALONG THE SEASHORE . . 27 Travelling in Madagascar — Absence of Roads — “ General Forest and General Fever ” — Pleasures and Penalties of Travel — Start for the Interior — My Private Carriage — Night at Hivon- drona — Native Canoes — Gigantic Arums — Crows and Egrets — - Malagasy Cattle — Curious Crabs — Shells of the Shore — Coast Lagoons — Lovely Scenery — Pandanus and Tangena Trees — Pumice from Krakatoa — Sea and River Fishes — Prawns and Sharks — Hospitable Natives — Trees, Fruits and Flowers — “ The Churchyard of Foreigners ” — Unpleasant Style of Cemetery — “ The Hole of Serpents ” — Killing a Boa-constrictor — The White-fronted Lemur — Andovoranto — How the Aye-Aye was caught — What he is like — And where he lives — A Damp Journey CHAPTER IV FROM COAST TO CAPITAL : ANDOVORANTO TO MID-FOREST . 48 A Canoe Voyage — Crocodiles and their Ways — River Scenery — Traveller’s Tree — Which is also “ The Builder’s Tree ” — Maromby — Coffee Plantation — Orange Grove — We stick in the Mud — Difficulties of Road — Ranomafana and its Hot Springs — Lace-leaf Plant — Native Granaries — Endurance of Bearers — Native Traders — Appearance of the People — Native Music and Instruments — Bamboos — Ampasimbe — Cloth Weaving — Native Looms — Rojfta-palms — “ A Night with the Rats ” — Hard Travel¬ ling — Beforona — The Two Forest Belts — The Highest Mountains — Forest of Alamazaotra — Villages on Route — The Blow-Gun 9 10 CONTENTS CHAPTER V FROM COAST TO CAPITAL I ALAMAZAOTRA TO ANTANANARIVO “ Weeping-place of Bullocks “ Great Princess ” Rock- Grandeur of the Vegetation — Scarcity of Flowers — Orchids, Bamboos, and Pendent Lichens — Apparent Paucity of Animal Life — Remarkable Fauna of Madagascar — Geological Theories thereon— Lemurs— The Ankay Plain— An Ancient Lake— Moramanga — River Mangoro — Grand Prospect from Ifody _ The Takatra and Its Nest — Hova Houses — Insect Life — Angavo Rock— Upper Forest— Treeless Aspect of Imerina— Granite Rocks — Ambatomanga — And its big House — Grass Burning _ First View of Capital — Its Size and Situation — Hova Villages _ A Cloud of Locusts — Reach Antananarivo CHAPTER VI THE CHANGING MONTHS IN IMERINA ! CLIMATE, VEGETATION AND LIVING CREATURES OF THE INTERIOR . The Seasons in Madagascar — Their Significant Names — Pro¬ spect from Summit of Antananarivo — Great Rice-plain _ An Inundation of the Same — Springtime : September and October — Rice-planting and Rice-fields— Trees and Foliage— Common Fruits— “ Burning the Downs ’—Birds— Hawks and Kestrels— Summer : November to February— Thunderstorms and Tropical Rains— Lightning and its Freaks— Effects of Rain on Roads— Rainfall— Hail— Magnificent Lightning Effects— Malagasy New Year CHAPTER VII SPRING AND SUMMER • • • Native Calendar — Conspicuous Flowers — Aloes and Agaves _ Uniformity of Length of Days— Native Words and Phrases for Divisions of Time — And for Natural Phenomena — Hova Houses — Wooden and Clay — Their Arrangement — And Furniture “ The Sacred Corner ’’—Solitary Wasps— Their Victims— The Cell-builders — The Burrowers — Wild Flowers CHAPTER VIII THE CHANGING MONTHS IN IMERINA I CLIMATE, VEGETATION, AND LIVING CREATURES OF THE INTERIOR • • • Autumn : March and April — Rice Harvest — The Cardinal- Bird The Egret and the Crow — Harvest Thanksgiving Services —Rice, the Malagasy Staff of Life— Queer “ Relishes to Rice ”— Fish — Water-beetles — A Dangerous Adventure with One _ Dragonflies— Useful Sedges and Rushes— Mist Effects on Winter Mornings— Spiders’ Webs— The “ Fosse-Crosser ” Spider— Silk from it— Silk- worm Moths— And Other Moths— The “ King ” Butterfly— Grasshoppers and Insect Life on the Grass— The Dog- Locust — Gigantic Earthworms — Winter : May to August _ Winter the Dry Season PAGB 63 75 90 103 CONTENTS CHAPTER IX 11 PAGE AUTUMN AND WINTER ..... Il6 Old Towns — Ancient and Modern Tombs — Memorial Stones — Great Markets — Imerina Villages — Their Elaborate Defences — Native Houses — Houses of Nobles — Hova Children — Their Dress and Games — Village Churches — And Schools — A School Examina¬ tion — Aspects of Nightly Sky Epidemics in Cold Season — Vegetation CHAPTER X AT THE FOREST SANATORIUM ..... 1 27 A Holiday at Ankeramadlnika — The Upper Forest Belt — The Flora of Madagascar — Troubles and Joys of a Collector — A Silken Bag — Ants and their Nests — In Trees and Burrows — Caterpillars and Winter Sleep — Butterflies’ Eggs — Snakes, Lizards and Chameleons — An Arboreal Lizard — Effects of Terror — Some Extraordinary Chameleons — The River-Hog — Sun-birds CHAPTER XI FOREST SCENES ...... 140 Forest Scenes and Sounds — The Goatsucker — Owls — Flowers and Berries — Palms and other Trees — The Bamboo-palm — Climbing Plants — Mosses, Lichens and Fungi — Their Beautiful Colours — Honey — The Madagascar Bee — Its Habits and its Enemies — Forest People — The Betrosy Tribe — A Wild-Man-of- the- Woods — A Cyclone in the Forest — A Night of Peril CHAPTER XII RAMBLES IN THE UPPER FOREST .... 150 Forest Parts — Lost in the Woods — Native Proverbs and Dread of the Forest — Waterfalls — A Brilliant Frog — Frogs and their Croaking — A Nest-building Frog — Protective Resemblances and Mimicry — Beetles — Brilliant Bugs — Memorial Mounds — Iron Smelting — Feather Bellows — Depths of the Ravines — Forest Leeches — Ferns — Dyes, Gums and Resins — Candle-nut Tree — Medicinal Trees and Plants — Useful Timber Trees — Superstitions about the Forest — Marvellous Creatures — The Ball Insect — Millipedes and Centipedes — Scorpions CHAPTER XIII FAUNA ....... 162 The Red-spot Spider — Various and Curious Spiders — Pro¬ tective Resemblances among them — Trap-door Spiders — The Centetidse — Malagasy Hedgehogs — The Lemurs — The Propi- theques — The Red Lemur — Pensile Weaver-bird — The Bee- eater — The Coua Cuckoos — The Glory and Mystery of the Forests — A Night in the Forest 12 CONTENTS CHAPTER XIV ROUND ANTSIHANAKA * • • Object of the Journey— My Companions— The Antsihanaka Province— Origin of the People— Anjozorobe— “ Travellers’ Bungalow ” — A Sunday there — “ Our Black Chaplain ’’—The “ stone Gateway ” — Ankay Plain — Ants and Serpents — Hair¬ dressing and Ornaments — Toaka Drinking — Rice Culture _ Fragrant Grasses— The Glory of the Grass— Their Height- Capital of the Province — We interview the Governor _ Flowers of Oratory — The Market — Fruits and Fertility — A Circuit of the Province Burial Memorials — Herds of Oxen — Horns as Symbols Malagasy Use of Oxen — A Sihanaka House — Mats and Mat¬ making — Water-fowl — Their Immense Numbers — Teal and Ducks— The Fen Country— Physical Features of Antsihanaka— The Great Plain— Amparafaravola— Hymn-singing— Sihanaka Bearers “ Wild - Hog’s Spear” Grass— Dinner with the Lieutenant-Governor—” How is the Gun ? ’’—Volcanic Action —Awkward Bridges— Fighting an Ox— Occupations of the P eople — Cattle-tending — Rice Culture — Fishing — Buds CHAPTER XV LAKE SCENERY * The Alaotra Lake Lake Scenery — A Damp Resting-place _ Shortened Oratory— We cross the Lake— An Ancient and Immense Lake The Crocodile — Mythical Water-creatures — A I leasant Meeting ” Manypoles ” Village — A Sihanaka Funeral —Treatment of Widows— A Village in the Swamp— Unlucky Days and Taboos Madagascar Grasses — We turn Homewards CHAPTER XVI LAKE ITASY . • • • Old Volcanoes Lake Itasy — Distant Views of it — Legends as to its Formation Flamingoes — Water-hens — Jacanas — Other Birds Antslrabe Hot Springs — Extinct Hippopotami — Gigantic Birds — Enormous Eggs CHAPTER XVII VOLCANIC DISTRICT . • • • . Crater Lake of Andraiklba— Crater Lake of Trltrlva— Colour of Water Remarkable Appearance of Lake — Legends about it — Its Depth— View from Crater Walls— Ankaratra Mountain— Lava Outflows— An Underground River— Extinct Lemuroid Animals Graveyard of an Ancient Fauna — The Palaeontology — And Geology of Madagascar — Volcanic Phenomena — The Madagascar Volcanic Belt— Earthquakes— A Glimpse of the Past Animal Life of the Island CONTENTS CHAPTER XVIII 13 PAGE SOUTHWARDS TO BETSILEO AND THE SOUTH-EAST COAST . 228 Why I went South — How to secure your Bearers — The Old Style of Travelling — Route to Fianarantsoa — Scenery — Elabor¬ ate Rice Culture — Betsileo Ornament and Art — Burial Memorials — We leave for the Unknown — A Bridal Obligation — Mountains and Rocks — Parakeets and Parrots — A Dangerous Bridge — Ant-hills — The Malagasy Hades — Brotherhood by Blood — Betsileo Houses — “ The Travelling Foreigners in their Tent ” — A Tanala Forest — Waterfalls — A Tanala House — Female Adornment CHAPTER XIX IVOHITROSA ....... 246 Ivohitrosa — Native Dress — a Grand Waterfall — Wild Rasp¬ berries — The Ring-tailed Lemur — The Mouse - Lemur — A Heathen Congregation — Unlucky Days — Month Names — The Z&hitra Raft — A Village Belle and her “ Get-up ” — The Card¬ amom Plant — Beads, Charms and Arms — Bamboos and Pandanus — A Forest Altar — Rafts and Canoes — Crocodiles — Their Bird Friends — Ordeal by Crocodile — Elegant Coiffure — A Curious Congregation — Ambohipeno Fort — We reach the Sea — Gigantic Arums — Sea-shells — Pulpit Decoration — Butterflies — Pro¬ tective Structure in a Certain Species — An Arab Colony — Arabic Manuscripts — Frigate-birds and Tropic-birds — Other Sea-birds CHAPTER XX AMONG THE SOUTH-EASTERN PEOPLES . . • 257 Hova Conquest of and Cruelties to the Coast Tribes — The Traveller’s Tree and its Fruits — A Hova Fort — Ball Head¬ dressing — Rice-fields — Volcanic Phenomena — Voavontaka Fruit — A Well-dunged Village — Water from the Traveller’s Tree — We are stopped on our Way — A Native Distillery — Taisaka Mat Clothing — Bark Cloth— Native Houses and their Arrangement — Secondary Rocks— Ankarana Fort — A Hospitable Reception — A Noisy Feast — “ A Fine Old Malagasy Gentleman A Hearty “ Set-Off ” — Primitive Spoons and Dishes — Burial Memorials CHAPTER XXI THE SOUTH-EASTERN PEOPLES .... 270 A Built Boat— In the Bush— A Canoe Voyage— Canoe Songs— The Angv cecum Orchids — Pandanus and Atafa Trees — Coast Lagoons — A Native Dance — A Wheeled Vehicle — Lost in the Woods — A Fatiguing Sunday — Dolphins and Whales — Forest Scenery — A Tanala Funeral — Silence of the Woods — The Sound of the Cicada — Mammalian Life — Hedgehogs and Rats — Why 14 CONTENTS CHAPTER XXI — continued are Birds comparatively so few ? — Insect Life in the Forest — A Stick-Insect — Protective Resemblances — The Curious Broad- bill Bird — Minute Animal Life in a River Plant — Ambohimanga in the Forest — A Tanala Chief tainess — River-fording and Craft — We reach the Interior Highland — Betsileo Tombs — Return to Antananarivo CHAPTER XXII to sakalAva land and the north-west North-West Route to the Coast — River Embankments — Mission Stations— A Lady Bricklayer— In a Fosse with the Cattle —An Airy Church on a Stormy Night— A Strange Chameleon— The “ Short ” Mosquitoes— Ant-hills and Serpents— A Sacred Tree — Andriba Hill and Fort — An Evening Bath and a Hasty Breakfast— Parakeets, Hoopoes, and Bee-eaters— The Ikopa Valley— Granite Boulders— Mevatanana : a Birdcage Town— We form an Exhibition for the Natives — Our Canoes — Crocodiles — Shrikes and Fly-catchers — Tamarind-trees — Camping Out — The ‘ Agy ’ Stinging Creeper — River Scenery — Fan-palms — Scaly Reptiles and Beautiful Birds— Fruit-eating and Other Bats —Secondary Rocks— Sparse Population— The Sakalava Tribes— A Vile-smelling Tree CHAPTER XXIII TO THE NORTH-WEST COAST . Tortoises — Gigantic Tortoises of Aldabra Island — Park-like Scenery— The Fierce Little Fosa— Small Carnivora— Beautiful Woods — “ Many Crocodiles ” Town — A Curious Pulpit — A Hot Night — A Voyage in a Dhow — Close Quarters on its Deck — An Arab Dhow and its Rig — Bembatoka Bay — Mojanga — An Arab and Indian Town— An Ancient Arab Colony— Baobab- trees— Valuable Timber Trees— The Fishing Eagle— Turtles and Turtle- catching— Herons— The North-West Coast— A Fishing Fish- Oysters and Octopus — Nosibe and Old Volcanoes — Our Last Glimpses of Madagascar LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Old Village Gateway with Circular Stone • • Frontispiece FACING PAGE On the Coast Lagoons 28 A Forest Road .... 32 Low-class Girl fetching Water 50 A Sihanaka Woman playing the Vahiha . 50 Betsimisaraka Women 58 Hova Women weaving 58 Family Tomb of the late Prime Minister, Antananarivo . 66 Royal Tombs, Antananarivo 66 Earthenware Pottery 76 Digging up Rice-fields 76 Pounding and winnowing Rice . 78 Hova Middle-class Family at a Meal 78 Rocks near Ambatovory . 92 Typical Hova House in the Ancient Style 96 On the Coast Lagoons 106 Transplanting Rice 1 12 Hova Tombs .... 118 Friday Market at Antananarivo . 1 20 Ancient Village Gateway . 124 A Forest Village .... *34 Chameleons .... 136 Analamazaotra .... 146 Memorial Carved Posts and Ox Horns . *5* Blacksmith at Work 15 • • • 156 16 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ~ , FACING PAGE Un the Coast Lagoons . . . . . .166 Some Curious Madagascar Spiders . . . .168 Sihanaka Men . . . . . . .176 Forest Village . . . . . . .176 A Wayside Market . . . . . .180 Water-carriers . . , . . . .218 Hide-bearers resting by the Roadside .... 230 Betsileo Tombs ....... 230 Memorial Stone ....... 234 Types of Carved Ornamentation in Houses . . .236 *j n jj • • .238 Group of Tanala Girls in Full Dress .... 242 Tanala Girls singing and clapping Hands . . . 242 Tanala Spearmen ...... 248 Coiffures ........ 250 A Forest River . . . . . . .252 Tree Ferns ....... 260 Traveller’s Trees ....... 260 A Malagasy Orchid . . . . . .272 Malagasy Men dancing . . . . . .274 Woman of the Antankarana Tribe .... 278 Woman of the Antanosy Tribe . . . . .278 The Fosa ...... , . 302 Malagasy Oxen ....... 302 MAPS Ethnographical Sketch Maps of Madagascar . . • lS Physical Sketch Map of Madagascar . . . .16 General Map of Madagascar . . . . .314 A NATURALIST IN MADAGASCAR CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY THE great African island of Madagascar has become well known to Europeans during the last half-century, and especially since the year 1895, when it was made a colony of France. During that fifty years many books — the majority of these in the French language — have been written about the island and its people ; what was formerly an almost unknown country has been traversed by Europeans in all directions ; its physical geography is now clearly understood ; since the French occupation it has been scientifically surveyed, and a considerable part of the interior has been laid down with almost as much detail as an English ordnance map. But al¬ though very much information has been collected with regard to the country, the people, the geology, and the animal and vegetable productions of Madagascar, there has hitherto been no attempt, at least in the English language, to collect these many scattered notices of the Malagasy fauna and flora, and to present them to the public in a readable form. In several volumes of a monumental work that has been in progress for many years past, written and edited by M. Alfred Grandidier,1 the natural history and the botany of the island are being exhaustively described in scientific fashion ; but these great quartos are in the French language, while their costly character renders them unknown books to the general reader. It is the object of the following pages to describe, in as familiar and popular a fashion as may be, many of the most interesting facts connected with the exceptional animal life of Madagascar, and with its forestal and other vegetable productions. During B 17 18 ROADS AND TRAVELLING neatly fifty years connection with this country the writer has travelled over it in many directions, and while his chief time and energies have of course been given to missionary effort, he has always taken a deep interest in the living creatures which inhabit the island, as well as in its luxuriant flora, and has always been collecting information about them. The facts thus obtained are embodied in the following pages. It is probably well known to most readers of this book that a railway now connects Tamatave, the chief port of the east coast, with Antananarivo, the capital, which is about a third of the way across the island. So that the journey from the coast to the interior, which, up to the year 1899, used to take from eight to ten days, can now be accomplished in one day. Be¬ sides this, good roads now traverse the country in several directions, so that wheeled vehicles can be used ; and on some of these a service of motor cars keeps up regular communication with many of the chief towns and the capital. But we shall not, in these pages, have much to do with these modern innovations, for a railway in Madagascar is very much like a railway in Europe. Our journeys will mostly be taken by the old-fashioned native conveyance, the filanjdna or light palanquin, carried by four stout and trusty native bearers. We shall thus not be whirled through the most interesting portion of oui loute, catching only a momentary glimpse of many a beautiful scene. YY e can get down and walk, whenever we like, to observe bird or beast or insect, to gather flower or fern or lichen oi moss, or to take a rock specimen, things utterly impiacticable either by railway or motor car, and not very easy to do in any wheeled conveyance. Our object will be, not to get thiough the journey as fast as possible, but to observe all that is worth notice during the journey. We shall therefore, in this style of travel, not stay in modern hotels, but in native houses, notwithstanding their drawbacks and discomforts ; and thus w e shall see the Malagasy as they are, and as their ancestors have been for generations gone by, almost untouched by Euiopean influence, and so be able to observe their manners and customs, and learn something of their ideas, their super¬ stitions, their folk-lore, and the many other ways in which they differ from ourselves. Let us, however, first try to get a clear notion about this great EXTENT OF THE ISLAND 19 island, and to realise how large a country it is. Take a fair¬ sized map of Madagascar, and we see that it rises like some huge sea-monster from the waters of the Indian Ocean ; or, to use another comparison, how its outline is very like the sole — the left-hand one — of a human foot. As we usually look at the island in connection with a map of Africa, it appears as a mere appendage to the great “ Dark Continent ” ; and it is difficult to believe that it is really a thousand miles long, and more than three hundred miles broad, with an area of two hundred and thirty thousand square miles, thus exceeding that of France, Belgium and Holland all put together.1 2 Before the year 1871 all maps of Madagascar, as regards its interior, were pure guess¬ work. A great backbone of mountains was shown, with branches on either side, like a huge centipede. But it is now clear that, instead of these fancy pictures, there is an extensive elevated region occupying about two-thirds of the island to the east and north, leaving a wide stretch of low country to the west and south ; and as the watershed is much nearer the east than the west of the island, almost all the chief rivers flow, not into the Indian Ocean, but into the Mozambique Channel. When we add that a belt of dense forest runs all along the east side of Madagascar, and is continued, with many breaks, along the western side, and that scores of extinct volcanoes are found in several districts of the interior, we shall have said all that is necessary at present as to the physical geography. Many more details of this, as well as of the geology, will come under our notice as we travel through the country in various directions. 1 Histoire Physique , Naturelle et Politique de Madagascar , publiee par Alfred Grandidier, Paris, a lTmprimerie Nationale ; in fifty-two volumes, quarto. 2 1 have often been astonished and amused by the notions some English people have about Madagascar. One gentleman asked me if it was not somewhere in Russia ! — and a very intelligent lady once said to me : “ I suppose it is about as large as the Isle of Wight ! ” CHAPTER II TAMATAVE AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE COUNTRY IT was on a bright morning in September, 1863, that I first came in sight of Madagascar. In those days there was no service of steamers, either of the “ Castle 55 or the 4 4 Messageries Mari times ” lines, touching at any Madagascar port, and the passage from Mauritius had to be made in what were termed “ bullockers.” These vessels were small brigs or schooners which had been condemned for ordinary traffic, but were still considered good enough to convey from two to three hundred oxen from Tamatave to Port Louis or Reunion. It need hardly be said that the accommodation on board these ships was of the roughest, and the food was of the least appetis¬ ing kind. A diet of cabbage, beans and pumpkin led one of my friends to describe the menu of the bullocker as “ the green, the brown, and the yellow.” Happily, the voyage to Mada¬ gascar was usually not very long, and in my case we had a quick and pleasant passage of three days only ; but I hardly hoped that daylight on Wednesday morning would reveal the country on which my thoughts had been centred for several weeks past ; so it was with a strange feeling of excitement that soon after daybreak I heard the captain calling to me down the hatchway : “ We are in sight of land ! ” Not many minutes elapsed before I was on deck and looking with eager eyes upon the island in which eventually most of my life was to be spent. We were about five miles from the shore, running under easy sail to the northward, until the breeze from the sea should set in and enable us to enter the harbour of Tamatave. There was no very striking feature in the scene — no towering volcanic peaks, as at Mauritius and Aden, yet it was not without beauty. A long line of blue mountains in the distance, covered with clouds ; a comparatively level plain extending from the hills to the sea, green and fertile with cotton and sugar and rice plantations ; while the shore was fringed with the tall 20 TAMATAVE AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS 21 trunks and feathery crowns of the cocoanut-palms which rose among the low houses of the village of Tamatave. These, together with the coral reefs forming the harbour, over which the great waves thundered and foamed-— all formed a picture thoroughly tropical, reminding me of views of islands in the South Pacific. The harbour of Tamatave is protected by a coral reef, which has openings to the sea both north and south, the latter being the principal entrance ; it is somewhat difficult of access, and the ribs and framework of wrecked vessels are (or perhaps rather were) very frequently seen on the reef. The captain had told me that sometimes many hours and even days were spent in attempting to enter, and that it would probably be noon before we should anchor. I therefore went below to prepare for land¬ ing, but in less than an hour was startled to hear by the thunder of the waves on the reef and the shouts of the seamen reducing sail that we were already entering the harbour. The wind had proved unexpectedly favourable, and in a few more minutes the cable was rattling through the hawsehole, the anchor was dropped, and we swung round at our moorings. There were several vessels in the harbour. Close to us was H.M.’s steamer Gorgon , and, farther away, two or three French men-of-war, among them the Hermione frigate, bearing the flag of Commodore Dupre, their naval commandant in the Indian Ocean, as well as plenipotentiary for the French Government in the disputes then pending concerning the Lambert Treaty. I was relieved to find that everything seemed peaceful and quiet at Tamatave, and that the long white flag bearing the name of Queen Rasoherina, in scarlet letters, still floated from the fort at the southern end of the town. I had been told at Port Louis that things were very unsettled in Madagascar, and that I should probably find Tamatave being bombarded by the French ; but it is unnecessary to refer further to what is now ancient history, or to touch upon political matters, which lie quite outside the main purpose of this book. Tamatave, as a village, has not a very inviting appearance from the sea, and man’s handiwork had certainly not added much to the beauty of the landscape. Had it not been for the luxuriant vegetation of the pandanus, palms, and other tropical productions, nothing could have been less interesting than the 22 TAMATAVE AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS native town, which possessed at that time few European resi¬ dences and no buildings erected for religious worship.1 Canoes, formed out of the trunk of a single tree, soon came off to our ship, but I was glad to dispense with the services of these unsafe¬ looking craft, and to accept a seat in the captain’s boat. Half- an-hour after anchoring we were rowing towards the beach, and in a few minutes I leaped upon the sand, with a thankful heart that I had been permitted to tread the shores of Madagascar. Proceeding up the main street — a sandy road bordered by enclosures containing the stores of a few European traders — we came to the house of the British Vice-Consul. Here I found Mr Samuel Procter, who was subsequently the head for many years of one of the chief trading houses in the island, and also Mr F. Plant, a gentleman employed by the authorities of the British Museum to collect specimens of natural history in the then almost unknown country. From them I learned that a missionary party which had preceded me from Mauritius had left only two days previously for the capital, and that Mr Plant had kindly undertaken to accompany me on the journey for the greater part of the distance to Antananarivo. At first we thought of setting off on that same evening, so as to overtake our friends, but finding that this would involve much fatigue, we finally decided to wait for two or three days and take more time to prepare for the novel experiences of a Madagascar journey. In a little while I was domiciled at Mr Procter’s store, where I was hospitably entertained during my stay in Tamatave. The afternoon of my first day on shore was occupied in seeing after the landing of my baggage. This was no easy or pleasant task ; the long rolling swell from the ocean made the transfer of large wooden cases from the vessel to the canoes a matter requiring considerable dexterity. More than once I expected to be swamped, and that through the rolling of the ship the packages would be deposited at the bottom of the harbour It was therefore with great satisfaction that I saw all my property landed safely on the beach. Although Tamatave has always been the chief port on the east coast of Madagascar, there were, for many years after my arrival there, no facilities for landing or shipping goods. The bullocks, which formed the staple export, were swum off to the ships, tied by their horns to the sides of large canoes, and then THE BULLOCKER 23 slung on board by tackles from the yard-arm. From the shout¬ ing and cries of the native drovers, the struggles of the oxen, and their starting back from the water, it was often a very exciting scene. A number of these bullockers were always passing between the eastern ports of Madagascar and the islands of Mauritius and Reunion, and kept the markets of these places supplied with beef at moderate rates. The vessels generally ceased running for about four months in the early part of the year, when hurricanes are prevalent in the Indian Ocean ; and it may easily be supposed that the passenger accommodation on board these ships was not of the first order. However, compared with the discomforts and, often, the danger and long delays endured by some, I had not much to complain of in my first voyage to Madagascar. It had, at least, the negative merit of not lasting long, and I had not then the presence of nearly three hundred oxen as fellow-passengers for about a fortnight, as on my voyage homewards, when I had also a severe attack of malarial fever. The native houses of Tamatave, like those of the other coast villages, were of very slight construction, being formed of a framework of wood and bamboo, filled in with leaves of the pandanus and the traveller’s tree. In a few of these some attempts at neatness were observable, the walls being lined with coarse cloth made of the fibre of rofia- palm leaves, and the floor covered with well-made mats of papyrus. But the general aspect of the native quarter of the town was filthy and repulsive ; heaps of putrefying refuse exhaled odours which warned one to get away as soon as possible. In almost every other house a large rum-barrel, ready tapped, showed what an unrestricted trade was doing to demoralise the people. I could not help noticing the strange articles of food exposed for sale in the little market of the Betsimisaraka quarter. Great heaps of brown locusts seemed anything but inviting, nor were the numbers of minute fresh-water shrimps much more tempting in appearance. With these, however, were plentiful supplies of manioc-root, rice of several kinds, potatoes and many other vegetables, the brilliant scarlet pods of different spices, and many varieties of fruit — pine-apples, bananas, melons, peaches, citrons and oranges. Beef was cheap as well as good, and there was a lean kind of mutton, but it was much like goat-flesh, 24 NATIVE HOUSES Great quantities of poultry are reared in the interior and are brought down to the coast for sale to the ships trading at the ports. The houses ol the Malagasy officials and the principal foreign traders were substantially built of wooden framework, with walls and floors of planking and thatched with the large leaves of the traveller s tree. No stone can be procured near Tamatave, nor can bricks be made there, as the soil is almost entirely sand ; the town itself is indeed built on a peninsula, a sandbank thrown up by the sea, under the shelter of the coral reefs which form the harbour. The house where I was staying consisted of a single long room, with the roof open to the ridge ; a small sleeping apartment was formed at one corner by a partition of rofia cloth. There was no window, but light and air were admitted by large doors, which were always open during the day. A few folds of Manchester cottons, to serve as mattress, and a roll of the same for a pillow, laid on Mr Procter’s counter, formed a luxurious bed after the discomforts of a bullock vessel. All around us, in the native houses, singing and rude music, with drumming and clapping of hands, were kept up far into the night ; and these sounds, as well as the regular beating of the waves all round the harbour, and the excitement of the new and strange scenes of the past day, kept me from sleep until the small hours of the morning. The following day I went to make a visit to the Governor of Tamatave, as a new arrival in the country. My host accom¬ panied me, as I was of course quite unable to talk Malagasy. As this was a visit of ceremony, it was not considered proper to walk, so we went by the usual conveyance of the country, the filanjana. This word means anything by which articles or persons are carried on the shoulder, and is usually translated palanquin, but the (Hclwjutki is a very different thing from the little poi table room which is used in India. In our case it was a large eas}^-chair, attached to two poles, and carried by four stout men, or TnciToiTi'itcL , as they are called. They carried us at a quick trot ; but this novel experience struck me — I can hardly now understand why— as irresistibly ludicrous, and I could not restrain my laughter at the comical figure — as it then seemed to me— that we presented, especially when I thought of the sensation we should make in the streets of an English town. 25 THE GOVERNOR The motion was not unpleasant, as the men keep step together. Every few minutes they change the poles from one shoulder to the other, lifting them over their heads without any slackening of speed. A few minutes brought us to the fort, at the southern end of the town ; this was a circular structure of stone, with walls about twenty feet high, which were pierced with openings for about a dozen cannon. We had to wait for a few minutes until the Governor was informed of our arrival, and thus had time to think of the scene this fort presented not twenty years before that time, when the heads of many English and French sailors were fixed on poles around the fort. These ghastly objects were relics of those who were killed in an attack made upon Tamatave in 1845, by a combined English and French force, to redress some grievances of the foreign traders. But we need not be too hard on the Malagasy when we remember that, not a hundred years before that time, we in England followed the same delectable custom, and adorned Temple Bar and other places with the heads of traitors. Presently we were informed that the Governor was ready to receive us. Passing through the low covered way cut through the wall, we came into the open interior space of the fort. The Governor’s house, a long low wooden structure, was opposite to us ; while, on the right, he was seated under the shade of a large tree, with a number of his officers and attendants squatting around him. They were mostly dressed in a mixture of European and native costume— viz. a shirt and trousers, over which were thrown the folds of the native lamba, an oblong piece of calico or print, wrapped round the body, with one end thrown over the left shoulder. Neat straw hats of native manufacture completed their costume. The Governor, whose name was Andriamandroso, was dressed in English fashion, with black silk 44 top hat ” and worked-wool slippers. He had a very European-looking face, dark olive complexion, and was an andrlana — that is, one of a clan or tribe of the native nobility. He did not speak English, but through Mr Procter we ex¬ changed a few compliments and inquiries. I assured him of the interest the people of England took in Madagascar, and their wish to see the country advancing. Presently wine was brought, and after drinking to the Governor’s health we took our 26 A ROUGH AND READY CANTEEN leave. The Hova government maintained, until the French conquest, a garrison of from two to three hundred men at Tamatave. These troops had their quarters close to the fort, in a number of houses placed in rows and enclosed in a large square or rdva, formed of strong wooden palisades, with gateways. The following day was occupied in making preparations for the journey, purchasing a few of the most necessary articles of crockery, etc., and unpacking my canteen. This latter was a handsome teak box, and fitted up most neatly with plates dishes, knives and forks, etc. But Mr Plant said that both the box and most of its contents were far too good to be exposed to the rough usage they would undergo on the journey ; so I took out some of the things and repacked the box in its wooden case. Subsequent experience showed the wisdom of this ad vice, and that it was a mistake to use too expensive articles for such travelling as that in Madagascar, or to have to spend much time in getting out and putting in again everything in its proper corner. Upon reaching the halting-place after a fatiguing journey of several hours, it is a great convenience to get at one’s belongings with the least possible amount of exertion ; and when starting before sunrise in the mornings, it is not less pleasant to be able to dispense with an elaborate fitting of things into a canteen. By my friend’s advice, I therefore bought a three-legged iron pot for cooking fowls, some common plates, and a tin coffee-pot which also served as a teapot when divested of its percolator! These things were stowed away in a mat bag, which proved the most convenient form of canteen possible for such a journey The contents were quickly put in, and as readily got out when wanted ; and, thus provided, we felt prepared to explore Madagascar from north to south, quite independent of inns and innkeepers, chambermaids and waiters, had such members of society existed in this primitive country. It is perhaps hardly necessary to say that for some years past Tamatave has been a very different place from what is described above. Many handsome buildings — offices banks shops, hotels and government offices— have been erected • the own is lighted at night by electricity ; piers have been con- stiucted ; and m the suburbs shady walks and roads are bordered by comfortable villa residences and their luxuriant gardens. 1 UL CHAPTER III FROM COAST TO CAPITAL I ALONG THE SEASHORE RAVELLING in Madagascar fifty years ago, and indeed for many years after that date, differed considerably JL from what we have any experience of in Europe. It was not until the year 1901 that a railway was commenced from the east coast to the interior, and it is only a few months ago that direct communication by rail has been completed between Tamatave and Antananarivo. But until the French occupation, in 1895, a road, in our sense of the word, did not exist in the island ; and all kinds of merchandise brought from the coast to the interior, or taken between other places, were carried for great distances on men’s shoulders. There were but three modes of conveyance — viz. one’s own legs, the lakana or canoe, and the filanjana or palanquin. We intended to make use of all these means of getting over the ground (and water) ; but by far the greater part of the journey of two hundred and twenty miles would be performed in the filanjana , carried on the sinewy shoulders of our bearers or maromita. This was the conveyance of the country (and it is still used a good deal) ; for during the first thirty years and more of my residence in Madagascar there was not a single wheeled vehicle of any kind to be seen in the interior, nor did even a wheelbarrow come under my observation during that time. This want of our European means of conveyance arose from the fact that no wheeled vehicles could have been used owing to the condition of the tracks then leading from one part of the country to another. The lightest carriage or the strongest waggon would have been equally impracticable in parts of the forest where the path was almost lost in the dense undergrowth, and where the trees barely left room for a palanquin to pass. Nor could any team take a vehicle up and down some of the tre¬ mendous gorges, by tracks which sometimes wind like a cork- 28 GENERAL FOREST AND GENERAL FEVER screw amidst rocks and twisted roots of trees, sometimes climb broad surfaces of slippery basalt, where a false step would send bearers and palanquin together into steep ravines far below, and again are lost in sloughs of adhesive clay, in which the bearers at times sink to the waist, and when the traveller has to leap from the back of one man to another to reach firm standing- ground. Shaky bridges of primitive construction, often con¬ sisting of but a single tree trunk, were frequently the only means of crossing the streams ; while more often they had to be forded, one of the men going cautiously in advance to test the depth of the water. It occasionally happened that this pioneer suddenly disappeared, affording us and his companions a good deal of meniment at his expense. At times I have had to cross rivers when the water came up to the necks of the bearers, the shorter men having to jump up to get breath, while they had to hold the palanquin high up at arm’s-length to keep me out of the water. It was often asked : Why do not the native government im¬ prove the roads ? The neglect to do so was intentional on their part, for it was evident to everyone who travelled along the route from Tamatave to the capital that the track might have been very much improved at a comparatively small expense. The Malagasy shrewdly considered that the difficulty of the route to the interior would be a formidable obstacle to an in¬ vasion by a European power, and so they deliberately allowed the path to remain as rugged as it is by nature. The first Radama is reported to have said, when told of the military genius of foreign soldiers, that he had two officers in his 'service “General Hazo,” and “General Tazo ” (that is, “Forest and Fever ”), whom he would match against any European com¬ mander. Subsequent events so far justified his opinion that the French invasion of the interior in 1895 did not follow the east forest road, but the far easier route from the north-west coast. The old road through the double belt of forests would have presented formidable obstacles to the passage of dis¬ ciplined tioops, and at many points it might have been successfully contested by a small body of good marksmen, well acquainted with the localities. It may be gathered from what has been already said that travelling in Madagascar in the old times had not a little of m O o o <3 H in < O U H ffi H 53 o ' O o Gj CD cu G o aT CJ c3 cu G O in and found dinner all ready on our return to the house. My largest case of drawing boards formed, when turned upside down I I and laid on other boxes, an excellent table ; we sat round on I other packages, and found that one of our bearers, who officiated as cook, was capable of preparing a very fair meal ; and although 1 the surroundings were decidedly primitive, we enjoyed it all | the more from its novelty. After our visitor had left us we i prepared to sleep ; three or four boxes, with a rug and my clothes-bag, formed a comfortable bed for myself, while Mr Plant lay on the floor, but found certain minute occupants of the house so very active that his sleep was considerably disturbed. Next morning we were up long before daybreak, and after a s: cup of coffee started a little before six o’clock. We walked down | to the river, which had to be crossed and descended for some distance, and embarked with our baggage in seven canoes. These canoes, like those at Tamatave, are somewhat rude con- i trivances, and are hollowed out of a single tree. They are of various lengths, from ten to thirty or forty feet, the largest being about four feet in breadth and depth. There is no keel, so that they are rather apt to capsize unless carefully handled c 34 GIGANTIC ARUMS and loaded. At each end is a kind of projecting beak, pierced with a hole for attaching a mooring-rope. From the smooth¬ ness of the sides, and the great length compared with the beam, they can be propelled at considerable speed with far less exertion than is required to move a boat of European build. Instead of oars, paddles shaped like a wooden shovel are employed, and these are dug into the water, the rower squatting in the canoe and facing the bows ; the paddle is held vertically, a reverse motion being given to the handle. We went a couple of miles down the stream, which here unites with others, so that several islands are formed, all the banks being covered with luxuriant vegetation. Conspicuous amongst this, and growing in the shallow water close to the banks, were great numbers of a gigantic arum endemic in Madagascar (Ty phono dorum lind- leyanum),1 and growing to the height sometimes of twelve or fifteen feet, and possessing a large white spathe of more than a foot in length, enclosing a golden-yellow pistil, or what looks like one. The leaves are most handsome and are about a yard long. After about twenty minutes’ paddling we landed, and, when all our little fleet had arrived, mounted our palanquins, and set off through a narrow path in the woods. The morning air, even on this tropical coast, was quite keen, making an over¬ coat necessary before the sun got up. Our road for some miles lay along cleared forest, with stumps of trees and charred trunks, white and black, in every direction. It is believed that the white ants are responsible for this de¬ struction of the trees. We saw numbers of a large crow ( Corvus scapulatus), not entirely black, like our English species, but with a broad white ring round the neck and a pure white breast, giving them quite a clerical air. This bird, called goaika by the Malagasy — evidently an imitation of his harsh croak — is larger than a magpie, and his dark plumage is glossy bluish-black. He is very common everywhere in the island, being often seen in large numbers, especially near the markets, where he picks up a living from the refuse and the scattered rice. He is a bold and rather impudent bird, and will often attack the smaller hawks. There were also numbers of the white egret (Ardeci bubulcus) or vorom-potsy (i.e. “ white bird ”), also called voron- tian-bmby {i.e. “ bird liked by cattle ”), from their following the herds to feed upon the ticks which torment them. One may CURIOUS CRABS 35 often see these egrets perched on the back of the oxen and thus clearing them from their enemies. Wherever the animals were feeding, these birds might be seen in numbers proportionate to those of the cattle. This egret has the purest white plumage, with a pale yellow plume or crest, and is a most elegant and graceful bird. The oxen of Madagascar have very long horns, and a large hump between the shoulders. In other respects their appear¬ ance does not differ from the European kinds, and the quality and flavour of the flesh is not much inferior to English beef. The hump, which consists of a marrow-like fat, is considered a great delicacy by the Malagasy, and when salted and eaten cold is a very acceptable dish. When the animal is in poor condition the hump is much diminished in size, being, like that of the camel in similar circumstances, apparently absorbed into I j the system. It then droops partly over the shoulders. These Malagasy oxen have doubtless been brought at a rather remote period from Africa ; their native name, dmby , is practically the I same as the Swahili ngombe. We reached Tranomaro (“ many houses ”) at half-past nine, i and there breakfasted. My bearers proved to be a set of most merry, good-tempered, willing fellows. As soon as they got near the halting-places they would set off at a quick run, and ! I with shouts and cries carry me into the village in grand style, making quite a commotion in the place. Leaving again at noon, | in a few minutes we came down to the sea, the path being close I to the waves which were rolling in from the broad expanse of the Indian Ocean. I was amused by the hundreds of little red crabs, about three inches long, taking their morning bath or watching at the mouth of their holes, down which they dived instantane¬ ously at our approach. One or more species of the Madagascar crabs has one of its pincers enormously enlarged, so that it is about the same size as the carapace, while the other claw is quite rudimentary. This great arm the little creature carries held up in a ludicrous, threatening manner, as if defying all enemies. I was disappointed in not seeing shells of any size or beauty on the sands. The only ones I then observed i which differed from those found on our own shores were a i small bivalve of a bluish-purple hue, and an almost trans¬ parent whorled shell, resembling the volute of an Ionic 36 SEA SHELLS capital, but so fragile that it was difficult to find a perfect specimen. But although that portion of the shore did not yield much of conchological interest, there are many parts of the coasts of Madagascar which produce some of the most beautifully marked species of the genus Conus ( Conus tessellatus and C. nobilis , if I am not mistaken, are Madagascar species), while large handsome species of the Triton (: T . variegatum) are also found. These latter are often employed instead of church bells to call the congregations together, as well as to summon the people to hear Government orders. A hole is pierced on the side of the shell, and it requires some dexterity to blow it ; but the sound is deep and sonorous and can be heard at a considerable distance. The circular tops of the cone shells are ground down to a thin plate and extensively used by the Sakalava and other tribes as a face ornament, being fixed by a cord on the forehead or the temples. They are called jelana. I have also picked up specimens, farther south, of Cyproea (C. madagascariensis ), a well-known handsome shell, as well as of Oliva , Mitra, Cassis , and others (C. madagascariensis). The finest examples are, however, I believe, only to be got by dredging near the shore! After some time we left the shore and proceeded through the woods, skirting one of those lagoons which run parallel with the coast nearly all the way from Tamatave to Andovoranto. A good recent map of Madagascar will show that on this coast, for about three hundred miles south of Hivondrona, there is a nearly continuous line of lakes and lagoons. They vary in distance from the sea from a hundred yards to a couple of miles ; and in many places they look like a very straight river or a broad canal, while frequently they extend inland, spreading out into extensive sheets of water, two or three miles across. This peculiar formation is probably owing, in part at least, to slight changes of level in the land, so that the inner banks of the lagoons were possibly an old shore-line. But this chain of lagoons and lakes is no doubt chiefly due to east coast rivers being continually blocked up at their outlets by bars of sand, driven up by the prevailing south-east trade-wind and the southerly currents. So that the river waters are forced back into the lagoons until the pressure is so great that a breach is made, and the fresh water rushes through into the sea. On COAST SCENERY 37 account of these sand-bars, hardly any east coast river can be entered by ships. The rivers, in fact, flow for the most of the time, not into the sea, but into the lagoons. These are not per¬ fectly continuous, although out of that three hundred miles there are only about thirty miles where there are breaks in their continuity and where canoes have to be hauled for a few hundred yards, or for a mile or two, on the dry land separating them. It will at once occur to anyone travelling along this coast, as we did, that an uninterrupted waterway might be formed by cutting a few short canals to connect the separate lagoons, and so bring the coast towns into communication with Tamatave. That enlightened monarch, Radama I. (1810-1828), did see this, and several thousand men were at one time employed in con¬ necting the lagoons nearest Tamatave ; but this work was interrupted by his death and never resumed by his successors. But soon after the French conquest the work was again taken in hand ; canals were excavated, connecting all the lakes and lagoons between Tamatave and Andovoranto ; and for about twelve years a service of small steamers took passengers and goods between Hivondrona and Brickaville, where, until quite recently, the railway commenced. Since the line of rails has now been completed direct to Tamatave, this waterway will not be of the same use, at least for passenger traffic. The scenery of this coast is of a very varied and beautiful nature, and the combinations of wood and water present a series of pictures which constantly recalled some of the loveliest landscapes that English river and lake scenery can present. Our route ran for most of the way between the lagoons and the sea, among the woods. On the one hand we had frequent glimpses through the trees of sheets of smooth water fringed by tropical vegetation, and on the other hand were the tumbling and foaming waves of the ever-restless sea. In many places islands studded the surface of the lakes, and I noticed thousands of a species of pandanus, with large aerial roots, spreading out as if to anchor it firmly against floods and violent currents. In the woods were the gum-copal tree and many kinds of palms with slender graceful stems and crowns of feathery leaves. The climbing plants were abundant, forming ropes of various thicknesses, crossing from tree to tree and binding all together in inextricable confusion, creeping on the ground, mounting to 38 A POISON TREE the tree-tops and sometimes hanging in coils like huge serpents. Great masses of hartstongue fern occurred in the forks of the branches, and wherever a tree trunk crossed over our path it was covered with orchids. Among other trees I recognised the celebrated tangena, from which was obtained the poison used in Madagascar from a remote period as an ordeal. The tangena is about the size of an ordinary apple-tree, and, could it be naturalised in England, would make a beautiful addition to our ornamental plantations. The leaves are peculiarly grouped together in clusters and are somewhat like those of the horse-chestnut. The poison was procured from the kernel of the fruit, and until the reign of Radama II. (1861) was used with fatal effect for the trial of accused persons, and caused the death of thousands of people, mostly innocent, every year during the reign of the cruel Ranavalona I. We arrived at Andranokoditra, a small village with a dozen houses, early in the afternoon. From our house there was a lovely view of the broad lake with its woods and islands, while the sea was only two or three hundred yards’ distance in the rear. Wild ducks and geese of several kinds were here very plentiful, but my friend was not very successful with his gun, as a canoe was necessary to reach the islands where they chiefly make their haunts. After our evening meal Mr Plant slung his hammock to the framework of our hut, and happily did not come to grief, as occasionally happened. I was somewhat disturbed by the cockroaches, which persisted in dropping from the roof upon and around me. There was no remedy, howTever, except to forget the annoyance in sleep. I may here notice that when travelling along this coast a few years later (in August 1888) the sands were everywhere almost covered with pieces of pumice, varying from lumps as big as one s head to pieces as small as a walnut. They were rounded by the action of the wraves, and on some of the larger pieces oysters, serpulas and corals had begun to form. This pumice had no doubt been brought by the ocean currents, as well as by the winds, both setting to the west, from the Straits of Sunda, where they were ejected by the tremendous eruption of Krakatoa, off the west coast of Java, during the previous May. This fact supplies not only an interesting illustration of the 39 VARIETY OF FISH I distances to which volcanic products may be carried by ocean i currents, but also throws light upon the way in which the i ancestors of the Malagasy came across the three thousand miles of sea which separate Madagascar from Malaysia. It is easy to understand how, in prehistoric times, single prahus, or even a small fleet of them, were occasionally driven westward by a hurricane, and that the westerly current aided in this, until at length these vessels were stranded or gained shelter on the coast of Madagascar, stretching north and south, as it does, for a thousand miles. From what I have been told, the pumice was found, if not everywhere on the east coast, at any rate over a considerable extent of it. We were up soon after four o’clock on the following morning, and started while it was still twilight. After going a short distance through the woods we came again to the seashore, and proceeded for some miles close to the waves, which broke repeatedly over our bearers’ feet as they tramped on the firm wet sand. For a considerable distance there was only a low bank of sand between the salt water of the ocean and the fresh water of the lake. In many places the opposite shore showed good sections of the strata, apparently a red sandstone, with a good deal of quartz rock. We left the sea again and went on through the woods, a sharp shower coming on as we entered them. We did not notice any fish in the lagoons, but I was afterwards informed by a correspondent, Mr J. G. Connorton, who lived for several years at Mananjara, and paid much atten¬ tion to natural history, that there is a great variety of fish, crustaceans and mulluscs in the lagoons and rivers, as well as in the sea. He kindly sent me a list of about one hundred and twenty of these, together with many interesting particulars as to their habits and appearance, etc. From this account I will give a few extracts : “ Ambatovazana , a sea-fish which comes also into the entrance of the rivers ; it has silvery scales and yellow fins. In both upper and lower jaws are four rows of teeth very like pebbles ; these are for crushing crabs, its usual food. Its name is derived from its peculiarly shaped teeth (vato, stone ; vazana , molar teeth). Botala , a small sea and river fish ; it is covered all over with rough prickles. These fish inflate their bodies by filling their stomachs with air as soon as they are taken out of the 40 ZOMPONA ^ater ; if replaced in the water suddenly, out goes the air, and S/re r ? flash- Tt is Probab>y Tetrodon fdhaka. Hintana, a river-fish, with purple colouring and darker purple stripes from back to belly. It is generally found among weeds, and has four long spines, one on the dorsal fin, two just behind the gills, and one close under the tail. These spines are very poisonous, and anyone pricked by them suffers great pain for several hours the parts near the wound swelling enormously I have not, however, heard of the wound ever proving fatal.' onto, a small species of octopus found clinging to the rocks The Malagasy esteem them highly, but I found them gluey and lcky in the mouth, as well as rank in flavour. To] oka a sea and river fish probably Mugil borbonicus. It has a habit of jumping out of the water, and if chased by a shark it swims at the surface with great rapidity, making enormous leaps into the air every now and then and often doubling upon the enemv o/mXt ieSf °fr hC many Cdible fish is the Zdmpona, a kind of mullet, only feeding on soft substances such as weeds. It is silvery in colour, with large scales, and is probably the best- known fish on the east coast. When fresh from the sea, its tail hm 'fX X a y fVish tinge’ and ifc is th™ splendid eating ; but if this tinging is lost it shows that the fish has been for some time in fresh water, and the flesh has a muddy flavour. It vanes in size from nine to thirty inches long. The coast people are very ond of zompona ; and when a person is dying and is so suregtoesaia‘ IIeefCaSeiiSia h°P®IeSS ^ S°me °Utsider is almost sure to say, He (or she) won’t get zdmpona again.’ ” 1 can confirm my correspondent’s statements as to the exce ence o t e last-named fish, having frequently eaten it when on the coast. He also mentions several kinds of prawns CUMV hno PS 5 SOme °r these are Iarge and make an excellent cuny. One species of prawn, called Oronkosia, is long and slender, with immense antennae, often a foot in length. One species of shrimp has one large claw, like the crab already mentioned, the other being hardly at all developed. Several species of shark are seen off this coast, amonv them that extraordinary-looking fish, the hammer-headed shark (Zygcena malleus), which _ I have never seen in Madagascar waters, but ^ aye noticed with great interest in South African harbours. The saw-fish (Pristis sp.), called by the natives Vavdno DELIGHTFUL SCENERY 41 sometimes comes into the rivers in search of food. One was caught in the river Mananjara which measured fourteen feet : from tip of saw to end of tail ; the saw alone was three feet six i inches in length, seven inches broad at base, and four inches at tip. The flesh is coarse eating, but the liver is very palatable.” I may remark here that we seldom stopped, either at mid¬ day or in the evening, at any village without a visit from the headman of the place and his family, who always carried some present. Fowls, rice, potatoes, eggs and honey were constantly brought to us, preceded by a speech in which the names and honours of the Queen were recited, and compliments to us on our visiting their village. The Malagasy are a most hospitable people, always courteous and polite to strangers ; and my first experience of them on this journey was confirmed in number- ! less instances in travelling in other parts of the country. Leaving Vavony, where we had our morning repast, between eleven and twelve o’clock, we went on again through the woods along the shores of the lake, which here spreads out into broad sheets of water, two or three miles wide. The scenery was delightful, both shores being thickly wooded, reminding me in t some places of the Wye, in others of the lake at Longleat, and : in narrow parts of Studley Park. Our road for miles resembled a footpath through a nobleman’s park in England : clumps of ' trees, shrubberies, and short smooth turf, all united to complete the resemblance. These all seemed more like the work of some expert landscape gardener than merely the natural growth. In some parts, where the more distinctly tropical vegetation — pandanus, cacti and palms — were not seen, the illusion was complete. In many places we saw many sago palms ( Cycas thouarsii), a tree much less in height than the majority of the palms and not exceeding twelve or fourteen feet, but with the same long pinnate leaves characteristic of so many of the Palmacese. One of the most conspicuous trees on this coast, especially as seen from the sea, is the Filao ( Casuarina equiseti folia), a tall larch or fir-like tree, often called, from the colour of its wood, “ the beefwood tree.” Like the firs, its leaves are fine filaments, and the wind passing through these produces a peculiar gentle sighing noise. Very plentiful, too, is a much smaller tree bearing 42 MOSQUITOES a perfectly globular-shaped fruit as large as a good-sized orange, but having a hard shell which requires a smart blow to crack. It contains a greyish pulp, and a number of large black seeds ; and although by no means equal to an orange in taste, its acid flavour was refreshing enough where one was thirsty and heated with the midday sun. A friend of mine remarks : “ As they are rather more difficult to eat in a cleanly and dainty fashion than ripe mangoes, we smeared ourselves pretty considerably in the process. While the pulp is edible, the seeds are poisonous, and we need not wonder at that when we find that the tree is closely allied to the Strychnos nux-vomica. Its native name is Vdavdtaka ( Brehmia spinosa ) ; vda is the general word for fruit, and enteis into the composition of more than two hundred Malagasy names of trees, plants and fruits. A species of Hibiscus is widely spread along the coast, and yields a valuable fibre. The natives say that its flowers are yellow in the morning and red in the evening. Other noticeable flowering shrubs here are a species of Stephanotis , with lovely large white flowers, and an Ipomoea, which straggles far and wide on the sand of the sea¬ shore. Along the sides of the lagoons and marshes in scattered places may be found the curious pitcher-plant {Nepenthes madagascariensis) ; this is a shrub about four feet high, whose jug-shaped pitchers, four to five inches in length, contain abund¬ ant water and numerous insects. Gum-copal is obtained from a tree ( Trachylobium verrucosa) growing on this coast ; and india-iubber from several plants ( Landolphia madagascariensis and L. gummifera), creepers as well as trees. Notwithstanding the beauty of this part of the country, it is very unhealthy for foreigners. The rivers, as we have seen, all communicate with the lagoons, and during the rainy season great quantities of decaying matter are brought down from the forests. I he large extent of marsh and stagnant water in the lakes breed millions of mosquitoes, and so give rise to the dreaded malarial fevei. The earlier accounts of the French and Poituguese settlements on the coast of Madagascar represent this as a frightful scourge, sweeping off a large proportion of the soldiers and settlers at their forts. From this, the Isle Ste Marie was called the “ Grave of the French,” and “ the Churchyard ” and Dead Island of the Dutch. But the use of quinine and modern piecautions against mosquito bites have done much to SNAKES 43 mitigate the attacks of fever, and since the draining of the i marshes near Tamatave the town is said to be fairly healthy. The Betsimisaraka inhabitants of this coast are accustomed to place their dead in rude coffins hollowed out of the trunk of a tree and covered with a roof-shaped lid. But these are not buried, but are placed on the ground in little groups, in a sheltered grove of trees. In the case of wealthy people, the coffins are put on a kind of trestle, and sometimes are protected from the rain by having a shed fixed over them. This custom, it may be imagined, is not, for the living, a pleasant mode of disposing of the departed, and the presence of these little cemeteries may often be deduced from the effluvium, even if they are not seen. During the dry season one constantly meets with groups of people carrying up the remains of their relatives, Hova who 1 have died on the coast, in order that they may be buried in their ancestral tombs. Sometimes we have had our midday meal, or i have stopped for the night, in houses against whose outer walls these wrapped-up corpses, fastened to long poles for carriage, have been leaning. At one place where we stayed the people were making cakes for the funeral feast, and in pounding the rice for these the women made a special rhythmical beat of their pestles on the top of the rice mortar, as well as on the meal in the hollow of the mortar. But to return to our journey. At about two o’clock we had to cross the lake, but as there was only one small canoe, it took more than two hours to get all our baggage and men over. We therefore strolled into the woods, finding plenty to interest us in examining the orchids, ferns, and other plants, most of them new to me. We captured a new and splendid spider, new to my companion, who had made entomology his special study. We were amused by the little land-crabs, with their curious stalked eyes, folding down into a case, when not raised to look about them. There were also many beautifully marked lizards, as well as other interesting living creatures in these tropical woods. The ferry was close to a village bearing the name of Andavaka-menarana — that is, “hole of serpents.” Notwith¬ standing this ominous appellation, we were not startled from our path by even a solitary reptile, although a cave not far distant is said to be a lurking-place for numbers of these creatures . But on a subsequent journey along this coast I saw a large and 44 A BOA handsome brown serpent on the grass close to the path. I got down, not to kill it, but to examine its beautiful markings and graceful movements ; but on getting near it, which was not easy to do, as its movements were so rapid, it turned and faced me in a menacing fashion. Happily, although there are many species of serpents in Madagascar, not one is a venomous kind _ that is, their bite is not fatal. At the same time there are some kinds which will bite severely if attacked. Later on, I saw another much smaller snake, of a bright green colour, on the trunk of a tree ; doubtless its tints were protective. The larger one I saw is called Mandotra, and was from three to four feet long ; another species found on the coast is called Mdntangdra, and is a foot or more longer. While on the subject of serpents, I will add here some parti¬ culars my friend, Mr Houlder, gives of yet another of these reptiles seen on this east coast, but farther north. This kind is called Akoma (Pelophilus madagascariensis), and appears to be a species of boa, killing fowls, rats and other creatures first by crushing them, and then covering them with saliva before swallowing. At a village he stayed in, my friend found the people much excited about a large serpent seen in their neigh¬ bourhood. Sending out his men to find it, “ at last the creature was seen. Yes, there he was, a villainous-looking monster, apparently asleep, coiled up among the bushes with his great flat head in the middle of the circle. The gun was loaded with several pistol bullets. Luckily it was, perhaps, for the duck- shot sent into him at the next discharge only just penetrated his thick scaly skin. Advancing to within a couple of yards or so, I raised the gun. Bang ! Away went the onlookers for their lives. Peering through the smoke which was slowly moving away, I could just see the head coming towards me. Enough^ I bolted too. This caused a second stampede. But it wras a groundless alarm. I looked back, and saw that the poor creature was incapable of doing serious injury. His back w*as hopelessly broken. No other shot was necessary.” Mr Houlder did not get the serpent to his house without difficulty, owing to the terror of the bearers even when it was dead. 4 4 It was a medium-sized specimen, about nine feet long and as thick round the middle as the calf of a man’s leg. On each side of its body was a long yellow, black, and reddish chain-like LEMURS 45 marking on a brown ground ; and near the extremity of its tail were two abortive claws. Muscular motion did not cease until long after it was dead.” Although we did not see any lemurs in the coast woods, one species at least is, or, at least, was, sometimes met with — viz. the white-fronted lemur [Lemur mongos , var. albifrons). Several specimens of this kind have been brought to England from time to time, and have been kept in the Regent’s Park Zoological Gardens from as long ago as 1830 ; so that their appearance and habits are as well known to English people as to the Malagasy themselves. Their habits are simple enough. They often exhibit great vivacity, and are much given to leaping from one object to another, in which they are aided by the pad-like structure of the soles of their four hands. They are very good-natured and tame and full of fun while still young, but become cross and vicious when old. We shall, however, see and hear more of the lemurs when we come into the denser forests. A little before dusk we arrived at Andovoranto, a large village situated at the mouth of the river Iharoka, and formerly the capital of the Betsimisaraka tribe, before they were reduced to subjection by the Hova. This place would be the natural port of the capital, but for the bar of sand at the entrance of the river. Were it not for this obstruction, ships and steamers could come up into the interior for many miles. The house in which we stayed here was quite a large one, divided into three rooms, the walls covered with rojia matting, and actually possessing windows (but, of course, without glass) and doors. All the places where we had stayed previously had no windows, and a mat hung over the entrance supplied the place of a door. While our dinner was being prepared we walked down to the sea and along the river banks, hoping to find some natural history specimens. During our walk Mr Plant related to me his success in obtaining a specimen of that remarkable creature, the aye-aye, an animal peculiar to Madagascar, and of which, at that time, only one or two specimens had reached Europe. The example he secured was sent to England in spirits, and from it, I believe, Sir Richard Owen prepared his monograph, giving full details and drawings, life size, showing its remarkable 46 THE AYE-AYE structure. The animal, although apparently not scarce, is difficult to obtain, as it comes out from its retreat only at night ; besides which, the forest people have a superstitious fear of it, so that even a large reward is often insufficient to induce them to attempt its capture. The aye-aye is included among the four-handed animals, but it is very unlike the monkeys, having a smaller brain and much less intelligence ; and from its powerful teeth it was at first thought to be a link between them and the rodentia, or gnawing animals. Its structure presents some of the most interesting illustrations of typical forms, being modified to serve special ends that any animal organisation can exemplify. The food of the aye-aye consists of a wood-boring larvae, which tunnels into the wood of certain trees. To obtain these, the animal is furnished with most powerful chisel-shaped incisor teeth, with which it cuts away the outer bark. As, however, the grub retreats to the end of its hole, one of the fingers of the aye-aye’s hands is slightly lengthened, but much diminished in thickness, and is finished with a hook-like claw. Thus provided, the finger is used as a probe, inserted in the tunnel, and the dainty morsel drawn forth from its hiding-place. There are also other modifications, all tending to the more perfect accomplishment of the purposes of its creation : the eyes being very large to see in the night, the ears widely expanded to catch the faint sound of the grub at work, and the thumbs of the feet largely developed so as to enable the animal to take a firm hold of the tree while using its teeth. Since then, living specimens of the aye-aye have been sent to Europe, and careful observations were made for several months on the habits of one in the Regent’s Park Gardens ; and other information has been obtained as to the animal as observed in its native forests by intelligent natives. The creature some¬ what resembles a large cat in size, being about three feet in total length, of which its large bushy tail forms quite half. Its colour is dark brown, the throat being yellowish-grey ; a some¬ what silvery look is given to the fur in certain lights by many whitish hairs on the back. The probe finger is used as a scoop when the aye-aye drinks ; it is carried so rapidly from the water to the mouth that the liquid seems to pass in a continual stream. A remarkable lact has been pointed out in the structure THE AYE-AYE 47 of the lower jaw — namely, that the two sides are only joined :i together by a strong ligament, and do not, as in other animals, tj form one connected circle of bone. This accounts for the prodigious power of gnawing that the aye-aye possesses. It was seen to cut through a strip of tin-plate nailed to the door of its cage. The aye-aye constructs true nests, about two and a half feet in diameter, which are found on trees in the dense parts of the i forest. Near the coast these are composed of rolled-up leaves of the traveller’s tree, and are lined with twigs and dry leaves. The opening of the nest is at the side, and a small white insect called andaitra, probably the larva of some beetle, forms the animal’s chief food. It is said to be very savage, and strikes rapidly with its hands. The coast people believe it to be an embodiment of their forefathers, and so will not touch it, much less do it an injury ; and if they attempted to entrap it, they think they would surely die in consequence ; and their supersti¬ tion extends even to its nest. The aye-aye is one of the many instances which the animal life of Madagascar presents of isolation from other forms. It : remains the only species of its genus, and, like many of the I peculiar birds of the island, is one of the many proofs that I Madagascar has for long ages been separated from Africa; so ; that while allied forms have become extinct on the continent, I here, protected from the competition of stronger animals, many birds, mammals and insects have been preserved, and so this i island is a kind of museum of ancient and elsewhere unknown 1 forms of life. CHAPTER IV FROM COAST TO CAPITAL : ANd6vORANTO TO MID-FOREST IT rained heavily during the night of Tuesday and nearly until daybreak, so it was half-past six o’clock before we were able to leave Andovoranto. Hitherto we had followed the seashore southwards ; now we were to start west¬ wards into the interior. After an immense deal of shouting and some quarrelling on the part of our bearers, who seemed to think it necessary for everyone to give his opinion at the same moment, we pushed off in six large canoes and paddled away up the river Iharoka. For several miles the stream is upwards of a mile in width. It was a fine calm morning after a stormy night, and as we glided rapidly over the broad smooth expanse of water, and turned our canoe’s prow towards the interior mountains, I began really to feel that I was on my way to the capital. After half-an-hour we came to a point where the river is a junction of three streams, the one we took being about half the width of the main current. We passed many canoes and over¬ took others ; some of these were filled with rice and other pro¬ duce, and had but a single rower ; he sat generally at the stern and gave a few strokes with the paddle on each side of the canoe alternately, so as to keep the craft in a fairly straight course through the water. Other canoes were filled with what was evidently a family party, going together to some market held in one of the neighbouring villages. Our men seemed to enjoy the exercise of paddling, which was a change from bearing our palanquins and baggage on their shoulders, and they took us up the stream at a great speed. More than once, indeed, I wished they had been less vigorous, for they commenced racing with the other crews, making me not a little apprehensive of being upset. It would not have mattered much to them, as they swam fearlessly and had nothing to lose; but it would have been unpleasant and dangerous for us, even apart from 48 CROCODILES 49 the risk of crocodiles, which abound in most of the rivers of Madagascar. These reptiles are so numerous in many parts as to be a great pest ; they often carry off sheep and cattle, and not unfre- quently women and children who incautiously go into or even near the water. The Malagasy, however, have a superstitious dread of these monsters, which prevents them from attempting to kill them. They rather try to propitiate the creature by prayers and offerings thrown into the water, and by acknow¬ ledging its supremacy in its own element. At Xtasy, a lake fifty miles west of the capital, the people believe that if a crocodile be killed a human life will, within a very short time, be exacted by the animal’s brother reptiles, as an atonement for his death. Two or three French travellers once shot a crocodile in this lake, and such was the people’s consternation and dread of the consequences that their visitors found it expedient to quit the neighbourhood as quickly as possible. The eggs of the crocodile are collected and sold for food in the markets, and are said to be perfectly good, but I confess I never brought myself to test their merits. We kept near the banks of the river, and so were able to examine and admire the luxuriant vegetation with which they were covered. In many places the bamboo is conspicuous, with its long-jointed, tapering stem, and its whorls of minute leaves, of a light delicate green ; but it is small here compared with what we afterwards saw in the main forest. Plantations of sugar-cane and manioc were mingled with banana-trees, palms, pandanus and other trees, many not unlike English forms. Numbers of great water-lilies with blue flowers were growing in the shallow water, and convolvuli, as well as numerous other flowers of new kinds and colours, everywhere met the eye. The shores were flat at first, but became more hilly, and the scenery more varied, as we proceeded. As we sailed up the river the traveller’s tree ( Ravenala madagascariensis) became very plentiful, and soon gave quite a peculiar character to the landscape. This remarkable and beautiful tree belongs to the order which includes the plantains and bananas, although in some points its structure resembles the palm rather than the plantain. It is immediately recog¬ nised by its graceful crown of broad green leaves, which grow D 50 THE TRAVELLER’S TREE at the top of its trunk in the form of an immense fan. The leaves are from twenty to thirty in number, and are from eight to ten feet long by a foot and a half broad. They very closely resemble those of the banana, and when unbroken by the wind have a very striking and beautiful appearance. The name of “ traveller’s tree ” is given on account of its affording at all times a supply of cool pure water upon piercing the base of the leaf-stalk with a spear or pointed stick. This supply is owing to the broad surface of the leaves, which condenses the moisture of the atmosphere, and from which the water trickles down into the hollow, where the leaf-stalks join the stem. Each of these forms a little reservoir, in which water may always be found. The leaves, as are also those of the banana, are used to beat the thatched roofs in case of fire, on account of the amount of water which they contain. The name of “ builder’s tree ” might be given to it with equal or greater propriety, for it is as useful to the coast people as the cocoanut-palm is to the South Sea islanders. The leaves are used for thatching, and the long leaf-stems fastened together form the filling-in of the framework for the walls and partitions ; the bark is beaten out flat and forms the flooring ; while the trunk supplies timber for the framing. Quantities of the fresh leaves are used every day and take the place of plates and dishes ; and at the New Year’s festival the jaka , or meat eaten at that time, was always served up, together with rice, upon pieces of the leaves of this tree or of the banana ; and a kind of spoon or ladle was, and is still, formed, made by twisting up part of a leaf and tying it with the tendrils of some climbing plant. The tree ranges from the sea-coast to the height of about fifteen hundred feet, after which it begins rapidly to disappear. At an elevation of about a thousand feet it is extremely abundant, much more so, in fact, than any other tree, and is the one striking and peculiar feature in the vegeta¬ tion. It is not found so much in the forests as on the hillsides in the open country ; it has some half-dozen or more different names among the various tribes on the eastern side of the island. Our canoe voyage was nearly twenty miles in length, the last two or three up a narrow creek not above twenty or thirty feet in width. In one of the narrowest parts of the stream we were Low-class Girl Fetching Water On her head is the shiy, in her hand the ztnga A Sihanaka Woman Playing the Vaiaha The strings are cut out of the bamboo, with calabash bridges COFFEE AND ORANGES 51 stopped by a tree which had fallen across the creek, just above the surface of the water. With some trouble and difficulty the canoes were each hoisted over the obstruction, the luggage being shifted from one to another. Some friends who came up about five months afterwards told me that the tree was still there. Probably it had caused a stoppage hundreds of times, yet no one dreamed of taking the little extra trouble necessary to remove it altogether from the passage. It was just the same in the forest : when a tree fell across the path, there it lay for months until it rotted away. Palanquins had to be hoisted over it, or with difficulty pushed beneath it, but it was never removed until nature helped in the work. It was no one’s business to cut it up, or to take it out of the way ; there were no “ turnpike trusts,” and the native government never gave themselves any concern about the matter. We were glad to land at Maromby at ten o’clock, for rain came on, and before we were well housed it poured down heavily for some time. Here we got as dessert, after breakfast, a quantity of wild raspberries, which, while not equal in flavour to the English kind, are very sweet and refreshing. Close to the house where we stayed for our meal was a coffee plantation ; the shrubs grow to a height of seven or eight feet, and have dark glossy leaves, with a handsome white flower. The small scarlet fruit, in which the seed — what we term the “ berry ” — is enclosed, contains a sweetish juice. The coffee plant thrives in most parts of the island, and its produce probably will become an important part of its exports. Near the house were also a number of orange-trees, and here I had the gratification of seeing an orange grove with the trees laden with thousands of the golden-hued fruit. We were allowed to take as many as we liked, and as the day was hot and sultry we were not slow to avail ourselves of the permission. Perhaps there are few more beautiful sights than an orange grove when the fruit is ripe on the trees. The 44 golden apples ” of the Hesperides must surely have been the produce of an orange plantation. The rain ceased after a time, but we did not get off until past two o’clock, for our men became rather obstinate, and evidently wanted to stay at Maromby for the rest of the day. This we were not at all disposed to allow. At last we started, and in a 52 DIFFICULT TRAVELLING few minutes had a specimen of the adventures that were in store for us in passing through the forest. In attempting to ford a stream, one of my men suddenly sank nearly to his waist in a thick yellow mud. It was by the barest chance that I was not turned over into the water ; however, after some scrambling from one man’s shoulder to another, I managed to reach dry land. There was a shaky, rickety bridge a little higher up the stream, and by this I contrived to get across. We now struck right into the hills, up and down, down and up, for nearly four hours. The road was a mere footpath, and sometimes not even that, but the bed of a torrent made by the heavy rains. It wound sometimes round the hills and some¬ times straight up them, and then down into the valleys at inclinations difficult enough to get along without anything to carry but oneself, but, with heavy loads, requiring immense exertion. My palanquin described all kinds of angles ; some¬ times I was resting nearly on my head, and presently almost on my feet. When winding round the hills we were continually in places where a false step of my bearers might have sent us tumbling down sixty or seventy, and sometimes a hundred, feet into the valley below. A dozen times or so we had to cross streams foaming over rocks and stones, to scramble down to which, and out again, were feats requiring no ordinary dexterity. Again and again I expected to be tumbled over into the water or down the rocks, the path being often steeper than the roof of a house. Several times I got out and walked up and down the hills in order to relieve the men ; but I afterwards found that I need not have troubled myself, as they easily carried me up much steeper ascents. Some of these scenes were exceed¬ ingly beautiful and, with the rushing, foaming waters, overhung with palms, ferns, plantains and bamboos, made scores of scenes in which a landscape artist would have delighted. In passing along I was struck with the peculiar outline of the hills ; they are mostly rounded cones or ma??ze/fe-shaped, not connected together in chains, but detached, so it appeared that road-making would be very difficult and would have to be very circuitous. In almost every sheltered hollow were clumps of the traveller’s tree, together with palms and bamboos. The hills increased in height as we advanced, while beyond them all in the far distance we could see the line of the mountains form- HOT STREAMS 53 ing the edge of the central highland, and covered with dense forest in every part. The scene, but for the tropical trees, resembled the Lancashire and West Riding scenery, along the Todmorden valley. As far as I could make out, the hills ap¬ peared to be mostly of bright clay, interspersed with quartz. Great black masses of gneiss rock crop out on the sides of many of them in most curious, fantastic shapes. On the east coast and for some way westward there is no distinct rainy season, as in the interior of Madagascar ; it rains more or less all through the year. The temperature did not exceed that of warm summer days in England, with cool mornings and evenings. We reached Ranomafana as it was getting dusk, my lads bringing me in, as usual, at a smart trot, after doing fifteen or sixteen miles in less than four hours. The name of this village means “ hot waters,” and is derived from some hot springs which bubble up in a small stream not far from the houses. The water close to this spot is too hot to touch with the hand or foot ; but as it mingles with the cold river water it soon becomes tepid, and I found that in wading in the stream I could have any degree of heat or cold as I chose. Many people come to bathe in these hot waters, and find benefit in certain complaints. At this place I procured specimens of that remarkable vegetable production, the lace-leaf plant, or water yam (Ouvirandra jenestralis). The existence of this plant had long been known to botanists, but it was introduced into Europe by the Rev. W. Ellis after his first visit to Madagascar (1853-1854) ; and from plants brought by him to England it was propagated, and specimens were sent to many of the chief botanical collec¬ tions, as well as to Kew, Chiswick and the Crystal Palace. I knew of this plant being abundant in some of the streams on the east side of the island, and I therefore described it as well as I could to one of my bearers. A little time after our arrival at the village he brought me three or four plants, together with the roots, and in one case with the flower also attached. The leaves were from six to eight inches long and an inch and a half wide ; but I afterwards found at Mauritius that they grew to more than double this size in the Royal Gardens at Pample- mouses. As the name implies, the leaf is like a piece of lace-work, or, 54 THE LACE PLANT more strictly speaking, like a skeleton leaf, the spaces between the veining being open. The veining is something like that of a lily leaf, the longitudinal fibre running through the whole length, and crossed at very regular intervals by the transverse veins, which are of thread-like fineness. The specific name, jenestralis (“ windowed ”), conveys this idea of a regular arrangement of structure. The leaf stalk varies in length with the depth of the water, always keeping a little below the surface. Each plant has ten or a dozen leaves branching from the root, which in the specimens brought to me resembled a small potato. It can be eaten, as its taste is like the farinaceous yam, common to most tropical countries ; and from this like¬ ness the generic name, ouvirandra , is derived — onvy or dvy being the native word for yam. The plant grows in running water and thrives best in warm situations. The flower grows on a long stalk and rises a little above the surface of the water ; it is of a pinkish colour, dividing into two curved hairy tufts. Few objects can be imagined more beautiful or interesting for cultivating in an aquarium than this lace-leaf plant, which Sir W. J. Hooker termed “ one of the most curious of nature’s vegetable productions.” It is an endogenous plant, included in the order Juncaginaceos , to which the arrow-grasses and the rushes belong ; it is found not only in the eastern region, but occurs in streams near the upper belt of forest in the interior. It is said to be very tenacious of life, retaining its vitality even if the stream where it grows is dried up ; the leaves in their various stages of growth pass through a gradation of colour, from a pale yellow to a dark olive-green. When full grown, its dark green leaves form the limit of a circle two or three feet in diameter. Taking a walk round the village before it was dark, I noticed several houses raised on posts five or six feet above the ground. At the top of each post, just under the floor, was a projecting circle of wood a foot or more in diameter and polished very smooth. I found that these buildings were granaries, and were raised in this way to protect the rice from rats, which are a great annoyance in most parts of the country. The smooth ring of wood effectually prevented them from getting any farther than the top of the upright posts. The ladder for getting up to these granaries is a very primitive contrivance ; it OUR BEARERS 55 consists merely of a round pole with notches cut in the upper side to prevent the foot from slipping. On a subsequent visit to Madagascar my wife and I had to use one of these trano ambo (4< raised houses ”), as they are called, as a bedroom, and very clean and comfortable we found it, free from all insect plagues ; the floor was of plaited bamboo, springy to walk on, although the getting up to it or down from it was a somewhat difficult feat. We were astir early on the Wednesday morning and left our quarters at six o’clock. It was a beautiful morning as we com¬ menced our journey and began to mount hills and descend valleys and cross streams as before — with this difference, that the hills became higher and steeper, and the paths more difficult. How our men managed to carry themselves up and down, to say nothing of the heavy loads on their shoulders, puzzled me, but they did their work apparently without much fatigue. I noticed that many of those who carried heavy loads had the flesh and muscles on the shoulders thickened into a sort of pad, caused, I suppose, from the constant weight and friction of their burdens. When carrying they wore but little clothing, merely the salaka or loin-cloth, and sometimes a sleeveless jacket of hempen cloth or other coarse material. In the cool mornings they generally wore over the shoulders the lamba 1 of rofia , or of hemp cloth ; but during the rest of the day this was bound tightly round the waist, or thrown upon the palanquin. The two sets of four bearers used to take the work in 44 spells ” of a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes at a time ; when the others relieved them they did not stop, but those taking the poles of the palanquin would stoop under and take it on their shoulders with hardly any jerk, even when running at full speed. Occasionally one set would take the duty for an hour or more, while if going fast, or on very difficult ground, they relieved each other very frequently. Every three or four minutes they changed the load from one shoulder to another, the leaders lifting the pole over their heads. In proceeding on our journey we met great numbers of men bringing poultry, manioc, potatoes, rice, and other produce from the interior to the coast. These articles are mostly brought to Tamatave and other ports, so that the ships trading to these places are supplied with abundance of provisions at a 56 NATIVE MUSIC very moderate rate. The poultry were enclosed in large open panniers or baskets made of strips of bamboo plaited together and slung at each end of a bamboo or a pole of light wood. We also overtook many men taking European goods up to the capital quantities of cheap and gaudily painted crockery, iron cooking-pots, and a variety of other articles. Many also carried salt, and others the same open wicker baskets in which fowls are brought down, but now containing quantities of the fibre of the rojia palm. This is taken up into the interior to be manufactured into cloth. Sometimes these men were met singly, or two or three together, but more often they travelled in companies of ten, twenty or thirty. Occasionally we met a Hova officer in a palanquin borne by his slaves, and often with his wife and other members of his family, also in palanquins, with female slaves attending them and running at a good pace to keep up with the men. In one day we often saw a great variety of face and colour, and met representatives of several of the different tribes which people the island ; and these differ considerably in colour and featmes. Among the faces we saw, although there were few that could be called handsome, judging by a European standard, there was yet a large proportion of good heads, with high, well- formed foreheads, and a general look of quickness and intelli¬ gence. The impression given was certainly not that of a race low in mental organisation or capabilities. At Ambatoharanana, where we breakfasted, we were favoured with a little native music while our meal was being prepared. The instrument consisted of a piece of bamboo about four feet long, with paits of the strong outer fibre detached and strained o\oi small pieces of pumpkin shell like the bridge of a violin. With this simple contrivance the performer produced a soft plaintive kind of music, not unlike the tones of a guitar. This instrument is called a vcilihtt, and is played by the fingers. A simpler and ruder musical effect is obtained by a kind* of bow of wood, with two or three strings, and to which, at one end, the half of a large gourd is fixed to give resonance ; this is called lokangam-boatavo ( voatavo , pumpkin), but its sound is poor and monotonous. Although the paths we traversed were most difficult, the scenery was singularly delightful. There are few more beautiful 57 RICHES OF THE COUNTRY forms in tropical vegetation than the bamboo, which unites the most perfect symmetry and bright colour, and in some places a particular species 2 gave quite a special character to the scenery. The long elastic stems, thirty or forty feet in length, three inches or more in diameter at the base, and tapering to a fine point, i were curving over the path in every direction, and with their feathery whorls of leaves, yellowish-green in colour, growing from every joint, were a constant delight to the eye. Some¬ times a whole valley seemed filled with bamboos ; while in i others the rofia palm and the tree-ferns were the prevailing forms. Our midday journey this day was a continual ascent, until 1 we were evidently at a considerable elevation above the sea. From one ridge we had a most extensive prospect and could see the Indian Ocean fifty or sixty miles behind us, while before us was a yet higher chain of hills, dark with dense woods of the main line of forest. As we rode along, I could not but observe the capabilities of the country and its vast powers of production, 1 were it brought extensively under cultivation. The country is rich also in mineral wealth — iron, gold, copper, and other metals, i as well as graphite and probably also petroleum. We came this day into a belt of tree-ferns, some of large size, with their great graceful fronds arranged horizontally in a circle round the top of the trunk. There were also numbers of pine- i apples growing wild, with the magnificent scarlet flowers just developing into fruit. We descended to, crossed, and for some : time went along a beautiful river, resembling in many parts the Dove at Dovedale, and in others the Wharfe at Bolton. The view from the top of an immense hill of the river winding far below was most charming. The paths by which we ascended i and descended would have astonished us in England, but by this time a moderately level and smooth path had become an : object of surprise. In some places there was only a narrow passage between rocks overhung with vegetation, most pictur¬ esque, but most difficult to travel by. We got in early in the afternoon to Ampasimbe, a rather | large village. While waiting for dinner we watched the women ; at the opposite house preparing the material from which they make the rofia cloths, called rabannas in Mauritius. It is the inner fibre of the long glass-like leaves of the rofia- palm.3 The 58 WEAVING cuticle on each side is peeled off, leaving a thin straw-coloured fibrous substance, which is divided by a sort of comb into different widths, according to the fineness or otherwise of the material to be made. The fibre is very strong and is the common substitute for string in Madagascar. In other villages we saw the women weaving the cloth with most rude and primitive looms, consisting merely of four pieces of wood fixed in the mud floor of the house, and a framework of two or three pieces of bamboo. The material they make, however, is a good, strong¬ looking article, with stripes of various colours and patterns woven into the stuff, and is extensively used by the poorer classes. With the same simple loom the Hova women make many kinds of woven stuffs ; of hemp, cotton, rofia fibre, and of this last, mingled with silk or cotton, very pretty and useful cloth of a straw colour, being made in this way. Of the strong native silk they also weave very handsome lambas of bright and varied colours and patterns, such as used to be worn on all festive occasions by the higher classes, as well as the more sombre dark red lambas which are used by all classes for wrapping the dead. We had now reached a part of the country where the rofia palm was the most prominent object in the vegetation, not on the hills, however, like the traveller’s tree, but chiefly in the valleys, where there is plenty of moisture. This palm grows very abundantly and can easily be distinguished from the other trees of its order. The trunk has a rough and rugged surface, and this reaches the height of twenty to thirty feet ; but the leaves are its most striking feature ; they are magnificent plumes, of enormous length, quite as long as the trunk itself. The midrib of these leaves has a very strong but light structure, some four to five inches wide at the base, and on this account it is largely used for ladders, for palanquin poles, for roofing, and indeed for anything needing lightness as well as strength. On these midribs are set a great number of grass-like pinnate fronds, from which, as already noticed, string and fibre are prepared for weaving. Great clusters of seeds (or fruits ?), which are enclosed in a shiny brown skin, hang down from the top of the trunk. These are used for boxes to enclose small articles, as jewellery, etc. At one part of our journey the only road was through an extensive sheet of water, through which Betsimisaraka Women They are standing- on a native mat outside a wooden house Hova Woman Weaving The article is a silk lamba on a native loom A PLAGUE OF RATS 59 : a rose hundreds of r of las, like the interior of some great temple, oja most peculiar and beautiful sight, the great fronds above us [quite shutting out the sunshine and making a green twilight [: below them. If we had been disposed to copy the titles of some popular r evening entertainments, the nights preceding this Wednesday’s » one might have been termed : “ A Night with the Fleas,” and • “A Night with the Mosquitoes,” but this was emphatically A Night with the Rats.” We saw and heard them racing around the eaves of the house before we lay down, but as soon as the light was put out they descended and began to rattle )i about our pots and pans in search of food. We got up and fired a pistol among them, and this appeared for a time to scare them away ; but later on their attentions became so i: personal that we were obliged to light a candle and keep it [ burning on the floor all night. After this we had comparative [ quiet, but before lighting the candle they had been scampering 3 over my companion in his hammock and over myself as I lay on the floor. Thursday’s journey, although shorter than that of most days, ijwas perhaps the most difficult of all, especially the morning division of it — hills steeper than ever, and, if possible, rougher footpaths, so that we were often obliged to get down and walk, making the journey very fatiguing. For nearly three hours we were passing through dense forest, and in some places the path was really frightful. I do not wonder that a small company of soldiers brought up in the early years of the century by [ Captain Le Sage laid themselves down in despair at the diffi¬ culties of the roads they had to traverse. I found along the roadside several varieties of those beautiful-leaved plants, i: veined with scarlet and buff, which were so much cultivated in England about that time. Ferns of all kinds were very ) abundant, from the minutest species to the great tree-fern. Our afternoon’s journey took us for some distance along a beautiful river which foamed and roared over the rocks in its course, and which we forded repeatedly. The path was most picturesque, but very fatiguing ; in many places the track t could hardly be distinguished at all from the dense rank growth of plants and long grass. We arrived at Beforona at one o’clock and fully intended to have proceeded another stage, as 60 FOREST REGIONS it was so early in the afternoon, but we found our men so exhausted that we were obliged to stay there for the rest of the day. Here it may be noted that we had now entered some way into the lower and wider of the two belts of dense forest which extend for several hundred miles along the eastern side of Madagascar, and cover the mountains which form the great ramparts of the highland of the interior. There is continuous forest from nearly the north of the island to almost the southern extremity ; its greatest width is about fifty miles, north of Antongil Bay ; but to the south of the Antsihanaka province it divides into two. Of these two belts, the upper one, which clothes the edge of the highland, is the narrowest, being not much above ten or twelve miles across, but the lower belt is from twice to three times that breadth. On the western side of Madagascar there is no such continuous line of forest ; there are, it is true, many extensive portions covered with wood, but in many places the vegetation consists more of scattered clumps of trees ; while in the south-west, which is the driest part of the island, the prevailing trees and shrubs are euphorbia, and are spiny in character. Mr Baron reckoned that an area of nearly thirty thousand square miles of the whole surface is forest-covered country. We shall have other opportunities of examining these extensive forest regions, so all we need say further at present about them is, that no one with any eye for the beautiful and wonderful can pass through them without astonishment and delight. The variety and luxuriance of the foliage, the great height of many of the trees, the countless creeping and climbing plants that cover their trunks and branches, the multitude of lianas that bind everything together in a maze of cordage and ropes, the flowers which sometimes cover whole trees with a mass of colour, crimson, or golden, or purple — all these make a journey through these Madagascar forests a new pleasure and lead one to exclaim : “ O Lord, how manifold are Thy works ! ” We were now also ascending towards the central highland of the interior, which lies at an elevation of from five to six thousand feet above the sea-level. Above this general eleva¬ tion, which, however, is broken up by lesser hills and mountains in all directions, so that there is no level country except what BEFORONA 61 ! have been the beds of ancient lakes, now dried up, the highest mountains do not rise to great altitudes. The massif of Ankaratra, which forms the south-western boundary of i Imerina, the home of the Hova tribe, does not quite reach nine thousand feet in height above the sea. Until quite recently the summits of Ankaratra were always supposed to be the J highest points of the island, but it has lately been discovered that there is a mountain called Amboro, about eighty miles from ; the northernmost point, which is still higher, being nine thou- i sand four hundred feet above sea-level. On my return to the coast in 1867 I found how much less difficult the journey from Antananarivo to Andovoranto was than that in the opposite i direction, owing, of course, to our descending nearly five thousand feet instead of ascending the same. Beforona is situated in an almost circular valley, with a river running through it and surrounded by forest-covered hills. The village, like most in this part of the country, has the houses j arranged in a square. Their floors are generally raised a foot or two above the surface of the ground, and are formed of bark, : beaten out fiat and laid on bamboos. The framing and roof are made of poles or bamboo, filled in with the stalks of the traveller’s tree, and thatched with leaves of the same tree. In i the centre of these village squares was a flagstaff, and in others a pole with the skulls and horns of bullocks fixed to it. These are mostly memorials of the festivities connected with the last observance of the circumcision ceremonies, which are very i important events with all the Malagasy tribes. We had a visit from the wife of the chief of the village, who brought us a i present of fowls and rice. After resting a while we strolled along one of the streams with our guns, to try to obtain specimens of some of the birds peculiar to the neighbourhood. On our way back we observed i some boys using an instrument called tsirika , with which they i were able to kill small birds. It consists of a long and straight palm stem, taken from a small and beautiful palm with a stem resembling a bamboo. A small arrow, tipped with an iron i point, is inserted and is discharged by blowing at the larger end. About three inches of the end has wool to fill up the aperture and prevent any windage. They use this blow-gun with great precision and can strike a mark at a considerable distance. A 62 A BLOW-GUN very similar weapon, but with poisoned arrows, is used by the Indians of South America in the countries bordering the Amazon and its tributaries. 1 Lamba is the Malagasy word for cloth generally, but it has also a specific use as applied to the chief article of native dress. 2 Raphia ru ffia. . , 3 This rofia fibre has of late years been largely used m .England for tying up plants ; but dealers in it persist in calling it “ rofia grass,” which is certainly not a collect name. Lace Plant CHAPTER V FROM COAST TO CAPITAL : ALAMAZAOTRA TO ANTANANARIVO ON the Friday morning we left Beforona soon after five o’clock and for nearly four hours were passing through the forest, here known as that of Alamazaotra, over the highest hills and the most difficult paths we had yet seen. Certainly this day’s journey was the most fatiguing of any on the whole route, so that when we reached our halting-place I was thoroughly exhausted and glad to throw myself on the floor and sleep for an hour or more. At one part of the road there is a long slope of clay, known as “ Fitomanianomby,” or “ weeping- place of the bullocks,” so called from the labour and difficulty with which the poor animals mount the steep ascent on their way down to the coast. In coming down this and similar places the utmost care was necessary on the part of the bearers ; but they were very surefooted and patient and took every precau¬ tion to carry their burden safely. In ascending we often required the help of all eight men to drag the palanquin up to the top. The villages in the heart of these vast woods are few and far between. Our halting-place for breakfast consisted merely of three or four woodcutters’ huts in a few square yards of cleared ground. Our afternoon’s work was much the same as that of the morning. In many places the rain had made a perfect slough of thick mud, and our men had hard work to get through. I could not cease to wonder how my heavy luggage was brought along. For a considerable distance our way lay along a most romantic-looking stream, whose course was broken by great masses and shelves of rock, reminding me of Welsh river scenery. Often in the higher parts of the road, where the rivers down in the gorges were hidden by the dense masses of wood, we could hear the roar of waters in the otherwise pro¬ found stillness of the forest. At the chief pass in this chain of hills we passed a tremendous cliff of rock, which rises sheer out 63 64 LUXURIANT FOLIAGE of the valley to a height (so it has been ascertained) of nearly two thousand feet, certainly one of the grandest natural objects I had ever seen. This stupendous mass is called Andri- ambavibe, “ Great Princess ” ; the large trees on the summit looked like mere bushes seen from below. Notwithstanding the fatigue of the journey, it was impossible not to be struck with admiration and delight at the grandeur of the vegetation. The profusion and luxuriance of vegetable life were very extraordinary. There appeared to be few trees of great girth of trunk, but their height was considerable, especially in the valleys. High over all the other trees shot up the tall trunks of many varieties of palms, with their graceful crowns of feathery leaves. A dense undergrowth of shrubs, tree-ferns, and dwarf palms made in many places quite a green twilight ; while overhead the branches were interlaced and bound together by countless creeping and climbing plants, whose rope-like tendrils crossed in all directions and made a labyrinth which it was impossible to pass through. Occasion¬ ally we came across large trees in flower, giving a glorious mass of colour. With these exceptions, however, flowers were com¬ paratively few ; and during subsequent journeys I have found that it is true in Madagascar what Dr Alfred R. \\ allace has pointed out as characteristic of all tropical countries viz. that in the tropics are not to be found great masses of floral colour. For these one must go to the temperate zones ; foliage, over¬ powering in its luxuriance and endless variety, is indeed to be found in the tropics, but not the large extent of colour given by heather, buttercups, primroses, or a field of poppies in England. The orchids, however, were very abundant. Wherever a fallen tree hung across the path, there they found a lodging- place, and beautified the decaying trunks with their exquisite waxy flowers of pink and white. Although what has just been said" of wild flowers is true on the whole, there were a con¬ siderable number to be seen, if carefully looked for. My bearers soon perceived how interested I was in observing their novel and curious forms, and brought to me all the different varieties they could find, so that in the evening my palanquin contained a collection of flowers and plants gathered during the day. I managed to dry a few, but the greater part had to be thrown ANIMAL LIFE IN THE FOREST 65 away, as I had no means of preserving them to take up to the capital. In some parts of the woods the different species of bamboo give quite a distinct character to the vistas. Some of them i shoot up in one long slender jointed stem, with fringes of delicate leaves, and hang over the paths like enormous whips. Another kind, a climbing species, with stems no thicker than a quill, clothes the lower trees with a dense mantle of pale green drapery. As we got into the higher and cooler parts of the forest, numbers of the trees had long pendent masses of feathery grey lichen, a species of Usnea , giving them quite a venerable appearance, and reminding me of the opening lines of Long¬ fellow’s “ Evangeline ” : lf This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks. Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight, Stand like Druids of old, with voices sad and prophetic. Stand like harpers hear, with beards that rest on their bosoms. Although the vegetation was most luxuriant, I was surprised and somewhat disappointed by the stillness of the forest, and the few signs of animal life and the rarity of the song of birds. It is true that at certain seasons the notes of many songsters i may be heard, and that in certain places the cries of different species of lemur resound through the woods. Still, on the whole, I had imagined that a tropical forest would be much more visibly full of life. Subsequent experience and research showed me that there is a considerable variety and number of i living creatures in these forests, but they have to be looked for, and when found they are full of interest, as we shall see. It i may be noticed, too, that both bird and insect life are more evident in the outskirts of the woods and in the occasional openings among the trees than in the densest forest, all living things delighting in sunlight. From what has been already said it will be seen that the flora of Madagascar presents many new and striking forms of vegetable life ; but its fauna is still more noteworthy, for it presents one of the strangest anomalies in the geographical distribution of animals. This zoological peculiarity consists as much, or more, in what is wanting, as in what is present. Separated from Africa by a channel not three hundred miles E 66 ABSENCE OF LARGE ANIMALS broad at one point, we should have supposed that Madagascar would partake to a great extent of the same characteristics, as regards animal life, as the neighbouring continent. But it is really remarkably different. There is a strange absence of the larger species of mammalia, and this statement applies not only to the forests but to all parts of the island, the bare highlands of the interior and the extensive lower plains of the west and the south. First of all, the large carnivora are all wanting ; there are no lions, leopards, tigers, panthers, or hyenas. The large thick-skinned animals, so plentiful in the rivers and forests of Africa, have no representatives in Madagascar ; no elephant browses in the woods, no rhinoceros or hippopotamus lazily gambols in the streams, although there was a small species of the last-named pachyderm which was living during the latest quaternary epoch. The numerous species of fleet-footed animals — antelope, gazelle, deer, and giraffe, zebra and quagga — which scour the African plains are entirely absent ; and the ox, the sheep, the goat, the horse and the ass have all been introduced, the three former from Africa and the others from Europe. The order of mammalia most developed here is the quadrumana, but this, again, is represented by but a single division, the lemurs and their allies, which are the most char¬ acteristic animals of the island. There are no true monkeys, baboons, or apes, nor do the gorilla or chimpanzee put in an appearance. The lemurs are very distinct from all these and are pretty creatures, bearing little resemblance to the half¬ human, grotesque appearance of many of the quadrumanous animals, or to the savage character of the larger apes and baboons. They vary in size from that of a large monkey to species not larger than a rat. They are mostly gentle in disposition, and some kinds are tame enough to be kept about the house as pets. It is probable that the mammalia of Madagascar are now fairly well known, although a few of the smallest species may still await discovery ; and the following summary may be here given of their divisions and numbers — excluding the bats, of which there are seventeen species, ninety species ol terrestrial mammals have been classified and described, and of the iollow- ing orders : — Lemuroida, thirty-nine species ; Carnivora, Family Tomb of the Late Prime Minister, Antananarivo The tomb is under the upper open arcade Royal Tombs in the Courtyard of the Palace, Antananarivo On the right is that of Radama I, on the left that of Rasoheriva MADAGASCAR AND AFRICA 67 almost all being civets and quite small animals, ten species ; Insectivora, including shrews and small creatures resembling hedgehogs, twenty-four species ; Rodentia, rats and mice, ; sixteen species ; and Ungulata, one or two species of river-hog. It will be seen that about two-fifths of the mammalian fauna belong to the lemurs, and that with very few exceptions, all the others are small and inconspicuous animals ; many, however, are of exceptional interest, as we shall see. From a considera¬ tion of the facts regarding the mammals, as well as those of the other forms of animal life found here — birds, reptiles and \ insects — the following conclusions may be drawn : First, Madagascar was anciently joined to Africa, receiving its fauna I: from the continent, whose animal life was then much like that ] of Madagascar at the present time ; but it had also certain connections at an early geological epoch with Asia and even with South America, as there are undoubted affinities between i its fauna and those of these distant regions. Secondly, I this African connection of Madagascar existed before the I, abundant animal life of the continent entered it from the north, j and when Africa was a great continental island — that is, its 'i central and southern portions, and separated from Europe and Asia by a shallow sea, now the Sahara Desert. The upheaval of that sea-bottom was probably to some extent contem¬ poraneous with the subsidence of the land which is now the i Mozambique Channel. Thirdly, Madagascar must have re¬ mained for a long period separated from every other part of the globe ; and while the western and southern portions have been repeatedly submerged, the highland interior, of palseozoic rocks, is very ancient land, and much of its fauna is also antique in its character. But to leave this zoological dissertation and return to our journey. I have not mentioned that more than once we saw i small companies of lemurs high over our heads, leaping with wonderful agility from branch to branch, and uttering their peculiar cry. These cries could often be heard when the animals were not seen, and sounded almost like the cry of I children ; and to myself there was always something pleasant in it, as that of living creatures rejoicing in their freedom in these boundless forests. On Saturday morning I wished Mr Plant good-bye and set off, 68 THE BED OF A GREAT LAKE leaving him at the village, which he was to make his head¬ quarters for some time while collecting natural history specimens in the forest. The road was not nearly so difficult as on the previous day, so that I had no need to alight from the palanquin all the way to Ampasimpotsy, where I stayed to breakfast. The hills were much more moderate in height, with a good dea of open clearing, although the forest still continued on either hand but not in those dense masses of wood through which we had passed the last three or four days. Leaving our halting- place at noon, we gradually got clear of the woods, and early m the afternoon ascended a very high hill, from which we could see a great distance both westward and eastward. Behind us were the hills and valleys covered with forest through which we had travelled, while in front stretched a great undulating plain, bare and almost without a tree, except in a few places, where there were large circular patches of wood. This was the plain of Ankay, which separates the two belts of forest, and is the home of the Bezanozano tribe. Beyond this again, ten or twelve miles away, was the upper forest, clothing the slopes and summits of the edge of the interior highland. Careful examina¬ tion of this region has shown that it was formerly the bed ot a great lake, from two to three hundred miles long, extending from the present Lake Alaotra, farther north, and is its gradu¬ ally diminishing remnant. Subsequent action of water has, however, so cut up its former level that it now presents a very uneven surface. . It was dull travelling alone after the pleasant companionship of a fellow-traveller ; and in making arrangements for meals, etc., I felt how perfectly helpless a man is when he cannot speak so as to be understood. 1 was a barbarian to my men, and they were barbarians to me ; for my stock of Malagasy words was very limited, and probably almost unintelligible as to pronunciation, so that I was at a complete standstill for nearly everything 1 wanted to say. We reached Moramanga, a rather larve village, at the commencement of the plain, soon after three in the afternoon and there halted for the rest oi the day. This place was a military post of the Ilova government, and on pass¬ ing through passports were examined by the officer in charge. Next morning we were stirring early and left Moramanga while it was yet dusk. There was a thick mist, and my men AN EXTRAORDINARY NEST 69 were shivering with the cold, for we were now two thousand nine hundred feet above the sea, and their scanty clothing was but a poor protection. For an hour or two we saw little except for a few yards around us ; but as the sun rose the fog rolled up like a vast curtain, revealing the line of the Xfody and Angavo hills straight before us ; the slopes were partly covered with trees, but a good deal of their surface was brown and bare. In the deepest of the many valleys which cut the surface of the Ankay plain runs a beautiful and rapid river, the Mangoro, about one hundred and fifty feet wide where we crossed it in canoes. This is the longest river of the east coast, and would make a fine means of access to the interior, were its course not interrupted by rapids and cataracts at many points. Soon after crossing the river we commenced the ascent of Ifody, a very steep and difficult path, for an hour or more ; but as we mounted higher and higher a glorious prospect gradually revealed itself. Looking back after we had reached the summit, there was the Moramanga plain, bounded by the distant forest stretching away north and south, until lost in the dim distance, while below us the Mangoro could be seen in a wavy blue line in the Ankay plain. Before us, to the left, was a lovely valley, fertile and green with rice-fields, watered by the Valala river and shut in by the Angavo range of mountains, while on the right was a confused mass of hills, looking like a mighty sea which had suddenly been hardened and fixed in its tossings. There was much more evidence of cultivation as we proceeded, the valleys being occupied by rice-fields, which were kept covered with a few inches of water by careful irrigation. Among the bird population of Madagascar there are some eighteen species of herons and storks which are seen in the marshes and rice-fields. One of the most noticeable of these is the Takatra or tufted umber, a long-legged stork with a large plume or crest. It builds an extraordinarily large nest, which is visible at a considerable distance and might be taken at first sight for half-a-load of hay. It is usually placed on the fork of a large tree, and is composed of sticks and grass, plastered inside with a thick lining of mud. It is from four and a half to six feet in diameter, dome-shaped, with a lateral entrance, and is divided into three chambers, in one of which its'two large eggs are laid. The entrance is by a narrow tunnel and is always placed so as 70 THE HOVAS to be difficult of access, though the nest itself may be quite easy to approach. From this conspicuous nest, and the sedate way in which the takatra marches about seeking for its food, many native superstitions have gathered about the bird, one of which is that those who destroy its nest will become lepers. If the sovereign’s path was crossed by a takatra, it was considered unlucky to proceed, and the royal procession had to retrace its steps. Many native proverbs also refer to this bird. There are also two other species of stork, one of which is always found together with other shore birds ; it lives in companies of from six to twelve individuals at river-mouths, feeding on Crustacea and mulluscs, from which habit comes its name of F amakiakdr a or “ shell-breaker.” We were now nearing the country of the Hovas, and could see an evident difference in the appearance of the inhabitants. They were lighter in colour and had longer and straighter hair than the coast tribes. But owing to the fashion, at that time, of both sexes wearing their hair done up in a number of knots, and from the apparent absence of whisker or beard, I was sometimes puzzled to know at first sight whether the people we passed were men or women ; and there was little difference in dress, the \arriba being worn by both. Not only were the people different in appearance to those we had mostly seen, but the dwellings also had a much more civilised look. Several of the houses at Ambodinangavo were of the true Hova type, with high-pitched roofs, made of strong timber framing and filled in, for the walls, with thick upright planking, instead of the slight bamboos and leaves of the coast and forest houses. Some had boarded floors and had a room in the roof ; and the crossed rafters at the gables were carried up for two or three feet above the ridge. The house in which I stayed had a much more comfortable appearance than any I had been in before, having two rooms on the ground floor, the walls covered with matting, and there were actually chairs ! a luxury I had not experienced since leaving Tamatave. I felt that I was getting near civilisa¬ tion again. While dinner was preparing I strolled out into a ravine near the house and was struck with the beauty and variety of the insects, as indeed I had been in many parts of the journey. There were butterflies of gorgeous hues, dragonflies, crimson, 71 A COMBINATION OF BEAUTY blue and dull gold in colour, grasshoppers with scarlet wings, and the very spiders with gold and silver markings. Some species of these latter were of great size ; we saw hundreds of them in their large geometric webs stretching over the paths as we came along. On Monday morning, 12th October, we left the village before sunrise and immediately began the ascent of Angavo, which rises from fifteen hundred to sixteen hundred feet above the valley. It is an enormous mass of granite, capped with clay, the summit being scarped and fortified with earthworks ; it is, however, not a detached mountain rising from a plain on every side, but rather a vast natural bastion or outwork of a higher level of country. There was a gorgeous sunrise, which covered the greater part of the sky with a crimson light, unlike anything I had ever seen before. Then for another hour or two we were passing through the upper belt of forest, here very narrow, being only ten or twelve miles across, but as dense and as beauti¬ ful as the lower and wider belt. And it was just as difficult to travel through as the other forest, descending into the gorge of the Mandraka river and then scaling the steep ascents. One place especially, where we crossed the stream, was a perfect combination of beauty — rushing waters, luxuriant foliage of fern and palm and bamboo — and hundreds of large blue and black papilio butterflies hovering over the river. At eight o’clock we reached Ankeramadinika, a village close to the last ascent of the forest, and waited for a few minutes while my bearers bought manioc root at the little market. The people crowded round me, bringing various articles of food for sale — sweet -potatoes, honeycomb, and wild raspberries. We had now left behind us the forest region and were on the bare open uplands of Imerina, the air being clear and keen. The hills were less steep and more rounded, reminding me of some parts of the English chalk downs, and there was hardly a tree to be seen. In several places the granite or gneiss takes a dome¬ like form ; and in others the same rock formed the highest points. For many miles I could see them rising high over every other hill ; one of these, on the southern side of a huge mountain called Angavokely, was like a titanic castle ; another, which is divided into three and called Telomirahavavy (“ Three Sisters ”), was like a vast church. 72 AMBATOMANGA There were signs of approaching the capital in the number of villages which came in sight. The country also was much more cultivated, chiefly, however, in the valleys, where the bright green patches of the newly sown rice gave a refreshing contrast to the bare and brown appearance of the hills and downs, now parched and dry after five or six months without rain. In many places great black patches showed where the dry grass had been set on fire. This is done shortly before the rains come on, and the rank hay-like grass is succeeded by a crop of fine short herbage suitable for pasture. About noon we caught sight of the large village of Ambatomanga, then two or three miles distant. This place had an important and picturesque appear¬ ance, being considerably larger than any town on the road. Over a number of smaller dwellings one large house rose con¬ spicuous, with its lofty high-pitched roof and double verandah. Close to the village is a lofty mass of blue gneiss rock, about a couple of hundred feet in height, and crowned by a stone tomb and other buildings, giving it the air of a fortification. Passing through a large weekly market, where hundreds of people were buying and selling, we at length entered the last station on the road to Antananarivo. Ambatomanga had quite the appearance of a fortified town, having walls of clay surrounding it, and deep fosses outside them. I stopped at the large house which I had noticed at first, and found it a well-finished timber structure, with Venetian shutters and framed doors, quite a contrast to the mere sheds in which I had slept for ten nights past. It was divided into three rooms on the ground floor, with walls, floor and ceiling all well planed and finished. The owner, a fine-looking man and a native noble, gave me a welcome in a little broken English ; but his knowledge of European tongues was apparently confined to half-a-dozen short phrases, for he repeatedly said, “ Thank you, sir,” giving me a hearty shake of the hand at the same time, as if he thought that was the proper formula to be observed. A little before dusk I walked out with him to the fort-like tomb on the top of the rock. In the light of the setting sun the red clay hills gave back the warm rays with an intensity of colour that was remarkable. The tomb at the top is a large stone structure, well worked, with an open balustrade and bold mould¬ ings. Walking round the house after dusk, I saw a lurid glare FIRST VIEW OF THE CAPITAL 78 in the sky on all sides, and then found it was produced by the grass burning on the hills and downs, which showed in lines of fire for many miles in all directions. Early on Tuesday morning, with a glad heart I took my seat in my palanquin, rejoiced to think that this was the last stage in my long journey. About three quarters of an hour after leaving Ambatomanga we caught our first sight of the capital, still twelve or fourteen miles distant, and I could not but be struck by its size and fine situation, a much larger city than I had expected, built on the summit and slopes of a lofty rocky hill some two miles long from north to south, which was covered with dark-looking houses. In the centre stood conspicuous the great bulk of the chief palace and its smaller neighbour, their arched verandahs and steep roofs, all painted white, and shining in the morning sun, towering over every other object. It was a memorable moment to me, as I thought of what had happened in Antananarivo within the last quarter century, and that my work was to raise lasting memorials to the brave Malagasy who had suffered and died for their faith. On we went over the long rolling moor-like hills, losing sight of the city every now and then, and presently coming in view of it again as we mounted the ridges ; and every half-hour brought out more of the details of the place and revealed its masses of dark houses, clustered on the slopes of the rocky hill. Several streams we crossed by means of stone arched bridges, and I was struck by the number of villages to be seen in every direction, many of them enclosed in high walls made of red clay, laid with care in regular courses and apparently hard and durable. The houses were all built of the same material, and many of them were enclosed in circular and others in square courtyards with gateways. Many of the villages were surrounded with deep fosses, sometimes two and even three yards deep, now generally filled with bananas, peach and other fruit trees, and some with walls and stone gateways, giving one the impression that there must have formerly been much internal warfare to need such elaborate defences. This indeed was the case before Imerina was governed by one sovereign, about a hundred years ago. Within a mile or two of the city we passed for a quarter of an hour through a perfect cloud of locusts, which covered the ground and filled the air. At a distance these insects appeared like a 74 LOCUSTS low-lying cloud of dust ; and when near to one, and seen in certain directions, the sun shining on their wings gave them almost the appearance of a snow shower. I began to realise one of the plagues of Egypt. Many varieties of locust are common in Madagascar, and occasionally they do great damage to the crops. The Malagasy, however, make use of them for food, and when a cloud of them appears, men, women and children are all out catching them ; and for a few days afterwards great brown heaps of them are to be seen at all the little wayside shops. They are said to taste something like shrimps, without any insides ; but I must confess I never brought myself to taste them, for they are anything but inviting in appearance. At length I was carried into a compound near the foot of the city hill, and after some delay was met by one of the L.M.S. missionaries and conducted by a most difficult and breakneck path up into the triangular central space called Andohalo. At the north-eastern corner of this space was the dispensary and dwelling of our good medical missionary, Dr Davidson, from whom and Mrs Davidson I received a hearty welcome, and in a short time also from the rest of the missionary brethren. With a glad and thankful heart I found myself in the capital of Madagascar, with cheerful anticipations of being able to do something in the service of Him who had protected me thus far, and of helping in various ways the Malagasy people. CHAPTER VI THE CHANGING MONTHS IN IMERINA : CLIMATE, VEGETATION AND LIVING CREATURES OF THE INTERIOR MY object in these chapters is to describe, as vividly as I am able, the varied aspects of the different months throughout the year in this central province of Xmerina, as they present themselves to anyone who lives in the capital city of Antananarivo, and is frequently travelling in the country around it. I want to show the variety of nature during the changing seasons, as the result of the heat or cold, and of the moisture or drought of the climate. And it must be i remembered that although this central province of Madagascar j is by several degrees well within the tropics, our climate for i some months of the year is by no means the ct tropical 55 one supposed in our ordinary English use of that word. On these interior highlands, from three to five thousand feet above the sea-level, the south-easterly winds blow from June i to August with a keenness and force which it needs thick clothing to withstand, and makes a wood fire during the long evenings a very pleasant addition to the comforts of i home life. The seasons in the central regions of the island are practically i only two : the hot and rainy period, from the beginning of 1 November to the end of April ; and the cool and dry period, during the other months, from May to October. The Malagasy are, however, accustomed to speak of four seasons of their year — viz. the Lohataona — i.e. “ head of the year ” — during September and October, when the planting of the early rice is going on, and a few showers give promise of the coming rains ; the Faha- i varatra — i.e. “ thunder-time ” — when severe storms of thunder and lightning are frequent, with heavy downpours of rain, from I the early part of November to the end of February or into March ; the Fararano — i.e. “ last rains ” — from the beginning of March and through April ; and lastly, the Rininina — i.e. 75 76 “THE HEART OF IMERINA ” “time of bareness ” — when the grass becomes dry and withered, from June to August. Taking therefore the seasons in order, from the beginning, not of January, which gives no natural division of the ycai, but from the early part of September, when the blossoms of the trees speak of the “good time coming’ of renewed \erduie, I shall note down, in their succession, the varying aspects of the country, in climate, vegetation, and culture of the soil, as well as the animal life, throughout the changing year. Before, however, proceeding to do this, it may give greater distinctness to the mental picture I want to draw for those who have never been in Madagascar, if I try to describe in a few words the appearance of this central province of the island, especially of that portion of it which is in the neighbourhood of the capital. From the usually pure and clear air of this ele\ ated region, which is not defiled by the smoke of chimneys, nor often thickened by the mists of the lowlands, one can see for extra¬ ordinary distances, and hills and rocks twenty or thirty miles away stand out more sharp and distinct than they would usually do in England at only four or five miles’ distance. Let us go up to the highest point of the long rocky ridge on and around which Antananarivo is built, from which we can “ view the landscape o’er,” and try and gain a clear notion of this 44 heart of Imerina,” as it is often called by the Malagasy. The city hill reaches the greatest elevation at a point called Ambohimitsfmbina — i.e. 4‘ Hill of regarding ” which is seven hundred feet above the general level of the rice-plains around it. From this 44 coign of vantage ” there is of course a very ex¬ tensive view in every direction, and we see at once that the surrounding country is very mountainous. East and south there is little but hills of all shapes and sizes to be seen, except along the valleys of the river Ikopa and its tributaries, which come from the edge of the upper forest, thirty miles or so away to the east. To the north the country is more undulating, but at ten or twelve miles away high hills and moors close in the view, some of the hills rising into mountains. The country is everywhere in these directions, except in the ri\ er valleys, covered with red soil of various shades of colour, through which the granite and gneiss foundations protrude at almost every elevated point in huge boulder-like rocks, and form the Earthenware Pottery Making cooking utensils and pitchers (Shiy) Digging Up Rice fields Notice the long-handled and long-bladed native spade, the handle serving as a lever to turn over the clods THE GRANARY OF ANTANANARIVO 77 summits of every hill and mountain, often in dome-shaped or ; boss-like masses, and in some like titanic castles and towers. ; There is little foliage to be seen except on the top of some of : the hills where the ancient towns and villages are built, and in such > places a circle of old aviavy trees and an occasional amdntana tree give a pleasant relief to the prevailing red and ochre tints of the soil, and, in the cold and dry season, to the russet and grey hues of the dry grass on the bare hills and downs. The largest ; mass of green is at the old capital, Ambohimanga, eleven miles away to the north, where the steep sides of the hill are still covered with a remnant of the original forest, which formerly .3 was doubtless much more extensive in this part of the central province. In the deep fosses which surround old villages there is also often a considerable amount of foliage, as well as in the hollows and along the streams. But it must be confessed that a large extent of Imerina, in common with the rest of the I interior, consists of bare rounded down-like hills, very uninter- ! esting in character ; although towards sunset, in the slanting rays, these hills have a softness of outline in their curves which has a decided element of beauty not to be ignored. To the west, from north to south, the prospect is very exten¬ sive. To the south-west there rises by very gradual slopes, at some thirty-five miles’ distance, the mass of Ankaratra, its three or four highest peaks reaching an elevation of nearly [ nine thousand feet above the sea, and about half that height 1 above the general level of the country. But even at such a j distance the summits usually stand out sharp and clear against j the sky. Due west and north-west is a considerable extent of comparatively level country, beyond which mountains |] fifty miles away are distinctly seen on the horizon. In the [3 foreground, stretching away many miles, is the great rice-plain i of Betsimitatatra, from which numbers of low red hills, most j of them with villages, rise like islands out of a green sea whei e the rice is growing. Along the plain the river Ikopa can be ;3 seen, winding its way northwards to join the Betsiboka , the i united streams, with many tributaries, flowing into the sea 1 through the Bay of Bembatoka. This great plain, the granary of Antananarivo,” was formerly an immense maish, and earlier still an extensive lake with numerous bays among the surrounding hills ; but since the embanking of the river by 78 DAMAGE BY STORMS some of the early kings of Imerina, it has become the finest rice- plam of the island and, with its connected valleys, furnishes the bulk of the food of the people of the central province. The embankments require, of course, constant attention during the rainy season, when the river is swollen by the heavy rains ; and during the time of the native regime, an unusually wet season would cause them to give way, so that the 1 ice-fields were flooded. At such times the whole population would be called out to help in stopping the breaches, and I remember one occasion, a Sunday, when we had no afternoon service, and with others of my brother missionaries I spent several hours in carrying sods and stones, together with our people. Another such calamity occurred in January 1893 ; foi on the night of Saturday, the 28th, and the following day, there was an unusually heavy storm, doing immense damage, destroying hundreds of houses and village churches, and breaking the river banks, so that in a day or two hundreds of thousands of acres of the great rice-plain were under water, three or four feet deep. In some parts it was difficult to trace the liver banks ; it was “ water, water everywhere,” and scores of low lulls were again turned into islands, cut off from all communication, except by canoe, with the world around them. If one could have forgotten the terrible loss to the people of their ciops of lice just ready to be cut, it was a most beautiful scene, and reminded one that in ancient times this great plain was always a lake, when many now extinct animals, reptiles and gigantic birds found a home in it and on its shores. For centuries the heavy rains— probably far heavier then than now, from the greater extent of forest — went on filling up the vallevs with the rich black and blue loam ; gradually the lake became less and less deep ; slowly the river cut out its bed ; and then man came on the scene, and the old native kings aided nature by embanking the river ; the marshes became rice-fields and supplied with food the present large population which lives all around it. Fiom this elevated point at least a hundred small towns and villages can be recognised, many of them marked by the tiled loot, and often the tower, of the village church, which shines out distinctly amid the brown thatched roofs of most of the houses. This view from the summit of the capital is certainly Pounding and Winnowing Rice A palanquin bearer is in the doorway A Hova Middle-class Family at a Meal Rice is the staple food, with a meat or vegetable relish RICE-FIELDS 79 an unrivalled one, in Madagascar at least, for its variety and extent, as well as for the human interest of its different parts, ias shown by the large population, the great area of cultivated land, the embanked rivers, and the streams and water-channels | for irrigation seen in every direction. Springtime : September and October. — With the early days of September we may usually say that springtime in Imerina fairly sets in, and that the year in its natural aspects i properly commences. By a true instinct, arising doubtless from long observation of the change of the seasons, the Malagasy call this time Ldhataona — i.e. “ the head, or beginning, of the year ” — when nature seems to awake from the comparative i deadness of the cold and dry winter months, during which the :j country has looked bare and uninviting, but now begins again to i give promise of fertility and verdure. The keen cold winds and 1 drizzly showers of the past few weeks give place to warmer air i and clearer skies, and although usually there is but little rain i during September, the deciduous trees begin to put forth their leaves, and flower-buds appear as heralds of the fuller display I of vegetable life which will be seen after the rains have i fallen. The great rice-plain to the west of Antananarivo still looks, i during the early days of the Ldhataona , bare and brown ; but, if we examine the prospect more closely, we shall see that in various places, where the plain borders the low rising grounds on which the villages are built, there are bright patches of vivid green. These are the ketsa grounds or smaller rice-fields, where I the rice is first sown thick and broadcast, and where it grows ! for a month or two before being planted out in the larger fields, which are divided from each other by a low bank of earth, a few inches broad and only a foot or two in height. As the season advances, the people everywhere begin to be i busy digging up their rice-fields, both large and small, the clods i being piled up in heaps and rows in order to give the soil the benefit of exposure to the sun and air. All this work is done by I the native long-handled and long and narrow bladed spade, driven into the ground by the weight of the handle, as the I Malagasy wear no shoes and so could not drive down the spade by the foot, in European fashion, while the plough is still an unknown implement to them. The water-courses, by which 80 THE WATER-SUPPLY water is brought to every rice-plot, are now being repaired in all directions. The chief supply of water is from the springs found at the head of almost every valley, which is carefully led by channels cut and embanked round the curves of the hillsides, being often taken thus for a considerable distance from its source. Eventually this little canal resolves itself into a small stream traversing the valley, from which smaller channels convey the water to every field, so as to moisten the clods after they have been dug over. The water-supply for the great Betsimitatatra plain is derived from the Ikopa river and its many tributaries. Canals tap these rivers at various points, in order to irrigate the fields at lower levels farther down their course. A large quantity of water is thus diverted from the rivers during September and October, so that the smaller streams are almost dry, and even the Ikopa and its affluents, good-sized rivers at other times of the year, then become shallow and easily fordable. Before the end of October a large extent of the great plain, especially to the north and north-west, is completely planted with rice ; and a green level, looking like one vast lawn, stretches away for many miles in this direction, without any break or visible divisions. This green is the vary aloha, or “ former rice,” the first crop, which will become ripe in the month of January, or early in February. Smaller expanses of bright green appear in other directions also, especially along the courses of the rivers, but a considerable extent of the plain directly to the west of the capital is still russet-brown in colour, and will not be planted until a month or two later. From this will come the later rice-crop, the (vary) vdky ambiaty, which is planted in November or December and becomes fit for cutting about April. This latter crop is so called because the flowering of the ambiaty (V ernonia appendiculata) shrub, about November, gives notice to the people that planting-time has come. This shrub is very conspicuous about this time of the year from its masses of white — slightly tinged with purple — flowers. The ketsa grounds are covered before sowing with a layer of wood and straw ashes, so that they have quite a black appear¬ ance. Before this, however, the clods have been broken up and worked by the spade into a soft mud, with an inch or two of water over all, and on this the grain is sown broadcast, springing ORCHARDS 81 up in two or three weeks’ time and looking like a brilliant emerald carpet. There are usually a few heavy showers about the end of September or the early part of October, which are called ranonorana mampisara-taona — i.e. “rain dividing the year”; but occasionally no rain falls until the rainy season regularly commences, so it is dry and dusty everywhere, the ground cracks, and everything seems thirsting for moisture. The heat increases as the sun gets more vertical, although the nights are pleasantly cool. Yet notwithstanding the dry soil the trees begin to blossom. Most conspicuous among them is the Cape lilac ( Melia azederach), a tree introduced from South Africa about eighty or ninety years ago by the first L.M.S. mission¬ aries, and now thoroughly naturalised in the interior of Mada¬ gascar. It grows to be a good-sized tree, and many hundreds of them are to be seen in and around Antananarivo, making the place gay with their profusion of pale greyish-lilac flowers, and fragrant with their strong perfume. There are many large orchards in Imerina, planted chiefly with mango-trees and presenting a refreshing mass of evergreen all the year round. But at this time, when looking from a little distance, the green of the leaves is largely mingled with a tinting of reddish-brown, caused by masses of flowers, in spikes, chiefly in the upper part of the trees. Later on the purplish tint of the new leaves gives another shade of colour. The produce of these trees is an excellent fruit ; and there are three or four varieties of it, one kind, “ the stone mango,” being more globular in shape; another, “the satin-mango,” being smaller, like a large plum, with a delicate flavour and scent. Another most widely grown fruit is the peach, which is more used cooked than eaten raw ; and others are the bibasy or loquat, the quince, the rose-apple, the orange, and the rotra , a good-sized tree with a profusion of small black pear-shaped fruits, somewhat astringent when eaten raw, but excellent for cooking and for preserves. The vine also is largely cultivated, chiefly a black variety ; while bananas and plantains and pine¬ apples are to be had all the year through. The low banks of earth which form the boundary walls of plantations are largely planted with a species of Euphorbia , of which there are two varieties, one with brilliant scarlet bracts F 82 BIRDS and the other of pale yellow tint, the leaves appearing on the prickly stems later on. As the season advances the people burn the grass over the hillsides and open moors, as we saw at Ambatomanga when coming up the country. There can be no doubt that to this practice is largely attributable the bare and treeless appearance of the central provinces. The young trees which would spring up, especially in the hollows and sheltered places, have no chance against the yearly fires which sweep over the country, and the little vegetation which has held its own is constantly liable to be lessened as time goes on. Sometimes a dozen fires, long curving lines of flame, may be seen at once in different directions, and these give a strangely picturesque appearance to the nights of springtime in Imerina. The weather often becomes very hot and sultry before the rains come on, and the usually bright clear skies and pure atmosphere of other months are exchanged for thick oppressive days, when the distant hills disappear altogether, and the nearer ones seem quite distant in the dense haze. This is probably due, to a great extent, to the grass-burning just described, and also to the frequent burning of the forest away to the east. As the weather gets warmer a few birds come up from the wooded regions of the country, and wherever there is a small patch of wood the oft-repeated cry of the Kankafotra , the Madagascar cuckoo, may be heard, much resembling the syllables “ how-how , how-how-hoo And here we must notice more fully the birds to be seen in Imerina. They are few compared with those in the warmer and forest regions, and are mostly of powerful flight, principally birds of prey, swifts, swallows and water-birds. The tvx> coast regions — east and west — are, on the contrary, well peopled with birds of all sorts, and while the greater part of these inhabit indifferently one or the other region, there are a certain number which have their habitat almost exclusively in one region only, and give it its special characteristics. There are also some which keep to a still more limited area, not going beyond a very restricted range. As far as is at present knovrn, two hundred and ten species of birds have been found in Mada¬ gascar ; and the very special character of its avi-fauna may be seen from the fact that it includes forty-one genera and a RAPACIOUS BIRDS 83 hundred and twenty-four species, which are all peculiar to the island. The rapacious birds of the country comprise twenty-two species, the majority being hawks, kites and buzzards, with several owls and two eagles. The most common bird of this order is the Papdngo or Egyptian kite, a large hawk found all over the island. It may be seen every day flying gracefully along in search of lizards and snakes, and the mice, rats and small birds which form its chief food, and continually swooping down upon its prey. When the long dry grass is being burned on the downs the papango may be noticed sweeping backwards and forwards close to the edge of the blazing grass, so as to pick up the smaller creatures escaping the advancing flames, or those which have been overtaken by them and killed. I have occasionally observed hundreds of these birds in the neighbour¬ hood of Ambohimanga, describing great circles, at an immense height, and have wondered how such large numbers could obtain food. This kite is the dread of the country-dwelling Malagasy, for it swoops down on their chickens and is only scared away by their loud cries and execrations. From these habits comes one of its provincial names, Tsimaldho—i.e. 44 the one who does not ask,” but takes without saying 44 by your leave. It is constantly seen in company with the white¬ necked crows, and, like them, feeds near the villages, especially near where the oxen are killed. Another very widely spread rapacious bird is the little lively and noisy 11% tsiki tsikci or kestrel, which is found in or about every village, often perched on the gable 44 horns ” of the houses, oi even on the extreme point of the lightning conductors. It is by no means shy, and one can sometimes approach it quite closely and see its bright fearless eyes, before it darts away. It is fond of the same resting-place and, after a noisy chatter with its mate, takes a sweeping flight for a few hundred yards and i etui ns to its former condition. Several native proverbs refer to the kestrel’s quick restless flight and its frequent habit of hovering aloft, poised almost motionless, or with an occasional quivering of the wings, which, in Malagasy idiom, is called dancing,” for the native dances consist as much in a graceful motion of the hands as in that of the feet. Among some tribes, or families, the kestrel is a tabooed bird and it is crime to kill it. 84 HAWKS Another hawk worth noticing, although much less common than the two previously mentioned ones, is the lesser falcon, a small but very courageous bird, which has long attracted the attention of the Malagasy for its swiftness. The native name, Vdromahery , or “Powerful bird,” is also that of the tribe of Hova Malagasy who inhabit the capital and its near neighboui- hood, and this falcon also was adopted as a crest or emblem by the native government, and its figure was engrav ed on theii official seals. Its flight is extremely rapid, more like that of an arrow than that of a bird. Many of the Malagasy hawks are beautiful birds, with horizontal bars of alternate light and dark colour on breast and tail ; but perhaps the most handsome of them all is the Rayed Gymnogene, which is of a pearly-grey colour, barred with black, while on the tail and quill feathers are broad bands of pure white and intensely glossy black. This bird stands high, having very long legs, with a crest of feathers on the crown and neck. As the end of October draws near the people are busily at work, not only in the rice-fields, but also repairing their houses, mending their grass or rush roofs, and hurrying on their sun- dried brick or clay building before the heavy rains fall. The majority of native houses are of those materials, and everything must be finished, or at least well protected from the weather, before the rainy season comes on. The water-courses, too, need attention, and the river banks must be repaired, lest a succession of heavy rains should swell the streams, break through the embankments and flood the rice-plains. Summer : November, December, January and February. _ Summer in central Madagascar is not only the hot season, but it is also the rainy season, very little rain falling at any other time of the year. It is accordingly called by the Malagasy Fahavaratra—i.e. “ thunder-time ” — since almost all heavy rain is accompanied by a thunderstorm ; and taking the average of a good many years, this season may be said to commence at the beginning of November. As the sun gets every day more nearly vertical at noon, on his passage towards the southern tropic, the heat increases, and the electric tension of the air becomes more oppressive. For a week or more previous to the actual commencement of the rains, the clouds gather towards evening, and the heavens are lighted A TROPICAL STORM 85 i up at night by constant flashes of lightning. But at length, after a few days of this sultry weather, towards midday the huge cumuli gather thickly over the sky and gradually unite into a dense mass, purple-black in colour, and soon the thunder is heard. It rapidly approaches nearer and nearer, the clouds touching the lower hills, then down darts the forked lightning, followed by the roar of the thunder, and presently a wild rush of wind, as if it came from all quarters at once, tells us that the ; storm is upon us, and then comes the rain, in big heavy drops for a few seconds and soon in torrents, as if the sluice-gates of the clouds were opened. The lightning is almost incessant ; now and then, in one of the nearer crashes, it is as if the whole ; artillery of heaven were playing upon the doomed earth ; and for half-an-hour or so there is often hardly any interval between the crashing and reverberations of the thunder peals, the hills around the capital echoing back the roar from the clouds. Certainly a heavy thunderstorm in Madagascar is an awfully grand and glorious spectacle and is not without a considerable i element of danger too, especially for anyone caught in the i storm in the open, or in a house unprotected by a lightning- i conductor. Every house of any pretensions in the central provinces has this safeguard, for every year many people are killed by lightning, some while walking on the road, and others in houses unprotected by a conductor. One often hears of strange freaks, so to speak, played by the lightning ; for instance, one of our college students, travelling with wife and children to the Betsil£o, was killed instantaneously, as well as a slave near him, when sitting in a native house, while a child he was nursing at the time escaped with a few burns only. A missionary of the Norwegian Society was struck by lightning, which melted the watch in his pocket, drove the nails out of his shoes, and yet he escaped with no other harm than some burns, which eventually healed. A large quantity of rain sometimes falls during such storms in a very short time. On one occasion three and a quarter inches fell in less than half-an-hour ; and as the streets and paths through the capital were formerly all very steep, and there was no underground drainage, it may be imagined what a roar of water there was all over the city after such a storm. The three or four chief thoroughfares were transformed into the beds of 86 RAINFALL rushing torrents and a series of cascades ; from every compound spouted out a jet of water to join the main stream, and it used to be no easy matter to get about at all in the rush and the roar. It was no wonder that most of the highways of the capital got deeper and deeper every year. Even where there was an attempt at a rough paving, a single storm would often tear it up and pile the stones together in a big hole, with no more order than obtains in the bed of a cataract. After the rains were over, the red soil was dug away from the sides to fill up the channel cut by the torrent, and so the road gradually sank below the walls of the compounds on either side of it.1 The annual rainfall of Antananarivo is about fifty inches, December and January being the wettest months, with an average fall of ten to twelve inches each. It is very unusual for thunderstorms to occur in the morning, they mostly come on in the afternoon ; and after the first heavy downpour a steady rain will often continue for three or four hours, and occasionally far into the night. It is generally bright and fine in the early morning ; all vegetation is refreshed by the plentiful moisture ; and the people are busy in their plantations on the sloping hillsides, digging up the softened earth for planting manioc, sweet potatoes, the edible arum, and many other vegetables. Hail also very frequently falls during these thunderstorms ; and should it be late in the season, when the rice is in ear, great damage is often done to the growing crop. A large extent of rice-field will sometimes be stripped of every grain, the stalks standing up like bare sticks. Charms against hail had therefore in the old heathen times a prominent place in the popular beliefs and, there can be little doubt, are still trusted in and used by many of the more ignorant people. Occasionally the hailstones are of very large size and kill sheep and small animals, if they are left unsheltered. I remember a storm of this kind, when the hailstones were as large as good-sized nuts, while some were cushion-shaped and hexagonal, with a hollow in the centre, and nearly one and a half inches in diameter. In other cases they have been seen as jagged lumps of ice ; and it may be easily imagined that it is very unpleasant and somewhat dangerous to be exposed to such a fusillade. LIGHTNING 87 Besides the thunderstorms like those just described, which come so close and are often so awful in their results, there is another kind of storm we frequently see in the rainy season which is an unmixed source of delight. This is when, for two i or three hours together in the evening, a large portion of the i sky is lighted up by an almost incessant shimmer of lightning, now revealing glimpses of a glory as if heaven itself were opening, and anon showing many different tiers and strata of i clouds lying one behind the other, and alternately lighted up, i making clear the outlines of the nearer masses of cumulus upon I the brilliant background. How wonderful are the different i colours of this lightning ! intense white, like glowing metal, now red, and now violet ; and not less wonderful are its forms ! | now it is a zigzag, which plunges downwards, now it branches i out horizontally, and again it darts upwards into the clouds ; : and then, for a few moments, there is nothing but an incessant quiver and shimmer, which lights up first one quarter of the heavens, and then another, and then the whole. All the time i no thunder is heard from this celestial display, but it is most I fascinating to watch the infinitely varied effects of light and i darkness, till we sometimes feel as if a door was opened in I heaven,” and we could catch a glimpse of “ the excellent ! glory ” within. Something may be said here about the native division of I time. Although the European months and year have become ; generally known and used, the old style of months are still recognised to some extent by the Malagasy. Their months were lunar ones, and therefore their year was eleven days shorter than ours, their New Year’s Hay coming consequently at different times, from the first to the twelfth month, until the i cycle was complete after thirty-three years. When I first i came to Madagascar the Malagasy New Year began in the i month of March ; and this style of reckoning time was kept up j until the accession of the last native sovereign, Queen Rana- valona III., in 1883. The Malagasy appear never to have l made any attempt, by the insertion of intercalary days or any other contrivance, to fill up their shorter year to the true time occupied in the earth’s annual revolution round the sun ; for of course they must have noticed that their New Year came at quite different periods after a few years. The names of the I 88 OLD STYLE DIVISION OF TIME Malagasy months are all Arabic in origin, as indeed are also the days of the week (Alahady (Sunday), Alatsinainy (Monday), Talata (Tuesday), Alarobia (Wednesday), etc.) ; but it is curious that the month names are not the Arabic names of the months, but are those of the constellations of the Zodiac. Thus, Ala- hamady is the Ram, Adaoro is the Bull (daoro =taurus), Adizaoza is the Twins, and so on. This appears to have arisen from the connection between astrology and the divination ( sikidy ) introduced by the Arabs several centuries ago. The New Year was the great festival of the Malagasy and was observed on the first day of the first month, Alahamady. It was called the F andrdana or Bathing,” and was kept up until the French conquest in 1895, but since then has been super¬ seded by the Fete of the French Republic on 14th July every year. The ancient customs were, however, very interesting, and were chiefly the following: — (1) The lighting of little bundles of dried grass at dusk on the evenings of the last day of the old year and the first of the new one. These fires, possibly a relic of the old fire-worship, were called harendrina , and formed one of the most pleasing features of the festival in the gathering darkness of the evening. (2) The ceremonial Royal Bathing at the great palace, when all the principal people of the kingdom were present, as well as representative foreigners, was the most prominent of all the ceremonies, giving, as it did, the name to the whole festival. At a fixed time in the evening the queen retired behind curtains fixed at the north-east (the sacred corner) of the great hall and bathed in a silver bath ; after which she emerged, robed and crowned, and, carrying a horn of water in her hands, went down the assembly to the door, sprinkling the people as she passed. (She would playfully give some of us an extra splash as she went along.) (3) On the following day came the killing of oxen, doubtless the most important of all the observances in the estimation of the people generally, at any rate of the poorer classes, who then got, for once a year at least, a plentiful supply of beef. Presents of the newly killed meat were sent about in all directions to relatives and friends, and feasting and merry-making prevailed for several days among all classes. (4) For some time previous to the actual festival it was customary for the Malagasy to visit their elders and superiors in rank, bringing presents of money, WILD FLOWERS 89 fowls, fruit, etc., using certain complimentary formulas and expressions of good wishes. The rains which usually fall in November soon make the hills and downs, which have got so brown and dry during the cold I season, become green again. Especially does the fresh grass I brighten those portions of the hillsides where the withered grass i and fern had been burnt two or three months before ; and j although, as already noticed, wild flowers are not so plentiful or prominent in Madagascar as they are in European countries, ; there are several kinds which now make their appearance and ; give some beauty to the scene. Among these are the vonenina ( Vinca rosea), with large pink flowers; the avoko (Vigna angi- vensis), bright crimson ; the nifinahanga ( Commelyna madagas- carica ), deep blue ; several small vetch-like plants with yellow flowers ; many others with minute yellow compound flowers, and some few other kinds. A beautiful scarlet gladiolus is i seen sparingly on the downs, as well as a conspicuous and handsome white flower, with a long tubular calyx, very like a : petunia. 1 It will be understood that all this refers to Antananarivo i under native rule. Since the French occupation the city has been wonderfully improved ; well paved and drained streets i have been engineered all over the place, with electric lighting i and abundant water-supply. CHAPTER VII SPRING AND SUMMER BESIDES flowers growing on the ground, there are many shrubs and small trees now in blossom, although some are by no means confined in floral display to the warm and rainy season. Along the hedges in some localities is a small bush, with clusters of purple leguminous flowers, called famdmo ( Mundulea suberosa ) ; branches of these shrubs are sometimes placed in a pool or stream, so as to stupefy, and thus easily obtain, any fish present in the water. Very conspicuous are the bright yellow flowers of the tainakoho ( Cassia Icevigata ), and the tsiafakomby ( Ccesalpinia sepiario ), and the orange- yellow spikes of the seva (Buddleia madagascariensis). More showy and handsome still perhaps are the abundant large yellow flowers of the prickly pear, which is so largely used for hedges and for the defences of the old towns and villages. The strong and sharp spines, from an inch to an inch and a half long, are the usual native substitute for pins. A species of Hibiscus ( Hibiscus diver si] olius) is not uncommon, with yellow flowers, which have deep red in the centre ; yellow seems indeed the most common colour in the flora of Imerina. At this time of the year also three or four species of aloe come into flower. The larger of these, called vahona ( Aloe macroclada) by the Malagasy, is much used for planting as a hedge, from its fleshy leaves being armed with sharp prickles ; its tall flower spike shoots up very rapidly to a height of four or six feet. Another and smaller one, called sahondra ( Aloe capitata ), has its flowers branching at the top of the stalk something like a candelabra. The numerous flowers attract, as they expand, swarms of bees. Another plant, like an aloe in appearance, called taretra (Fourcroya gigantea) by the natives, has long leaves, with a sharp spine at the ends only ; and its flower-stalk shoots up like a small mast to a height of twenty feet, with widely spreading branchlets and an immense number of light coloured 90 WATER-PRODUCING INSECTS 91 i flowers. Strong fibre used as thread is obtained from the : leaves, the name of the plant being indeed that used for 44 thread.” The tall flower-stalks of these aloes and agaves form quite a noticeable feature in the Imerina landscape in the early summer. In the orchards, soon after the mango has finished flowering, we may see the curious whitish flowers of the rose-apple, a sort of ball of long stamens, showing conspicuously i among the foliage. It is well known by those who live in Madagascar that there i are, at certain seasons of the year, a number of insects found i on trees which produce a constant dropping of water. Happen- t ing one day to be standing under a peach-tree in our garden from which water was dropping, I found that there were clusters of insects on some of the smaller branches. In each cluster there were about twenty to thirty insects, and these were i partly covered with froth, from which the water came. The i insects producing this appeared at first sight to be small beetles, about half-an-inch long, black in colour, with golden-yellow i markings on the head and thorax, while on the wing-cases there was a chequer of minute spots of yellow on the black ground. After observing a single insect for a few seconds, I noticed that the tail was quite flexible and moved sideways, and was con¬ stantly protruded and then withdrawn a little, and it was evident that these little creatures were the larval form of a ! species of beetle. The sap of the tree is extracted in such quantities as to maintain their bodies in a state of saturated humidity. The activity of the larvge seems to increase as the heat of the day progresses, and to diminish again towards evening. But the object of this abstraction of fluid from the tree, and the purpose it serves, is still a subject needing investi- i gation. I have observed these insects on other trees — mangoes, i acacia, zdhana , and others ; they appear indeed to be very common, and the ground underneath the branches where they cluster is covered with small patches soaked with water. A French naturalist, M. Goudot, described an insect apparently of the same kind as that found in Imerina as the larva of a species of Cercopis , and nearly related to the cicada of Europe. The quantity of water produced from a tree at Tamatave seems to have been much greater than that observed in the interior, and resembling a small rain-shower ; probably this was due to 92 DAYS AND NIGHTS the greater heat of the coast. M. Goudot says that the perfect insect attains a length of an inch and a half, and that these also emit small drops of clear and limpid water. Towards the beginning of December the earlier crop of rice comes into ear ; and should the rains fall as usual during November, the remaining portions of the great rice-plain will be all planted out with the later crop, the whole of the level and its branching valleys presenting an unbroken expanse of green. Of this, the early rice shows distinctly as a darker shade of colour, although it will soon begin to turn yellow, as the grain ripens under the steady heat and the plentiful rainfall. Perhaps this is the time when Betsimitatatra is seen in its most attractive and beautiful aspect, for every part of it is covered with rice in some stage or other of growth and cultivation. To anyone coming for the first time into a tropical country from England, the comparative uniformity in the length of the days and nights throughout the year seems very strange. In Imerina there is only about two hours’ difference in the length of the longest day, about Christmas, and the shortest day, early in July. It is dark at about seven o’clock on the first of January, and at about six o’clock on the first of July. Thus we have no long evenings, which are such a delight in the summer months in England ; but, on the other hand, we escape the long nights and the short gloomy days of the English winter. We lose also the long twilights of the temperate zone, although I have never seen the almost instantaneous darkness following sunset which one sometimes reads about. There is a twilight of from fifteen to twenty minutes’ duration in this part of Mada¬ gascar. While, therefore, we miss the much greater variety of the seasons in England, we have many compensations, especi¬ ally in the very much larger proportion of bright sunny days, the clear skies, and the pure atmosphere of our Imerina climate. Very seldom have we a wet morning in any part of the year ; and the heat is not more oppressive than it is in hot summers in England, while in the cold season the sharp keen air is bracing and health-giving. We never see snow in Madagascar, but a thin film of ice is very occasionally seen on the slopes of the Ankaratra mountains in July and August. It may be interesting to notice at this point the numerous words used by the Malagasy to indicate the different times of THE HOURS 93 :he day, from morning to evening. Clocks and watches are 3omparatively a recent introduction into Madagascar, nor do :he people ever seem to have contrived any kind of sun-dial, although, as will be seen, they did use something else as a kind Df substitute for such a time-keeper. It should be remembered that the hours given (counting in European fashion) as equiva¬ lents for these native divisions of the night and the day are only approximations, and must be taken as the mean of the year, or, in other words, at about the time of equal day and night, towards the end of March or of September. They are as follows : — ! (Mamaton' alina, ~\ or „ Misasaka alina, Maenno sahona , i, Maneno akaho, i Maraina alina koa, i Maneno goaika, | (Manga vodilanilra, [ 1 Mangoan ’ atsinanana , [Mangiran-dratsy , j Ahitan-tsoratr ? omby , | Mazava ratsy Mifoha lo-maozoto , Maraina koa , {Vaky masoandro, Vaky andro , Piakandro , Antoandro be nanahary, Efa bana ny andro , Mihintsana ando , Mivoaka omby , Maim-bohon-dravina, A fa-dranom-panala, Manara vava nya ndro, Misandratra andro, Mitatao haratra, Mitatao vovonana, Mandray tokonanany andro, Centre of night i or V Halving of night J Frog croaking, Cock-crowing, Morning also night, Crow croaking, Bright horizon 1 Reddish east r Glimmer of day J Colours of cattle can be seen, Dusk, Diligent people awake, Early morning, Sunrise Daybreak V About 12.0 midnight } > > yy y y y y y y yy y y About 2.0 A.M; >> 3*° > > 4.0 „ 5-o „ 5-i5 „ 5-30 » >> )> )> >> yy yy 6.0 yy Broad daylight yy yy J Dew-falls, y y 6.1 5 yy Cattle go out (to pasture), yy yy yy Leaves are dry (from dew), yy 6.30 „ Hoar-frost disappears \ 1 >, 6.45 ,, The day chills the mouth J Advance of the day, ,, 8.0 ,, Over (at a right angle with) the purlin, yy Q.Q yy Over the ridge of the roof, ,, 12.0 noon Day taking hold of the threshold, ,, 12.30 P.M. 1 These refer only to the two or three winter months. 96 THE HOVA HOUSE There is frequently another window at the north end of the house, and often one also in the north gable. The material used always to be the hard red clay found all over the central provinces ; and this is still largely used, although sun-dried bricks are supplanting the old style of building. This clay, after being mixed with water, is kneaded by being trampled over thoroughly, and is then laid in courses of about a foot to eighteen inches in height, and about the same in thickness. Each layer is allowed to become hard and firm before the next one is set, and it is well beaten on both sides as it dries. If properly laid and of good material, the cracks are not very large when the clay is dry, and are filled up ; and it makes a very substantial and durable walling, quite as much, and more so, as the majority of cheap brick houses in England. The boundary walls of the compounds are also made of the same hard clay ; and it is remarkable how many years such material will last without much damage, although exposed almost daily, for four or five months every year, to the heavy rains of the wet season. (I know walls which had been built for several years before I saw them first forty-three years ago, and yet they seem little altered since that time.) The houses of the upper classes and richer people used to be built of timber framework, the walls being of thick upright planks, which are grooved at the edge, a tenon of the tough anivona palm bark being inserted so as to hold them together. Two or three lengths of the same fibrous substance were also passed through each plank longitudinally at different heights from the ground, so as to bind them all firmly together round the house. The accompanying drawing will show more clearly than any verbal description the details of the structure of a Hova trano-kotona , as this style of wooden house is called (no such houses are built nowadays ; and very few of them remain ; the use of brick, sun-dried and burnt, has entirely superseded them). The roof in both clay and timber houses does not depend for its stability on the walls only, but is mainly supported by three tall posts, which are let into the ground for some depth and carry the ridge-piece. One of these posts is in the centre, and one is at each end, close to the walls inside the house. This is a wise provision, as the roofs are generally of high pitch, and in violent winds would need much more support than A Malagasy House. Showing elevation, plan, internal arrangement, and month names. See page 96 THE INTERIOR 97 could be given by the walls. The gables were always thatched with the same materials as the roof, either of long grass or the herana sedge. At each gable the outer timbers cross the apex, and project upwards for about a foot or two, the extremities being notched, and often having a small wooden figure of a bird. In the houses of people of rank, the tandro-trano or “ house-horns 55 were three or four feet long, while in some of the royal houses they projected ten or twelve feet, the length being apparently some indication of the rank of the owner. In some tribes these gable ornaments, which have become only conventional horns among the Hovas, are carved in exact i resemblance of those adorning the head of a bullock. The interior arrangements of a Hova house are very simple and are (or perhaps it would be more correct to say were) i almost always the same. Let us, following Malagasy politeness, call out before we enter, “ Haody , haody? ” equivalent to, “ May we come in ? 55 And while we wait a minute or two, during which the mistress of the house is reaching down a clean mat for us to sit down on, 1 we notice that the threshold is raised a foot or more above the ! ground on either side, sometimes more, so that a stone is placed i as a step inside and out. Entering the house in response to the i hospitable welcome, “ Mandrosda, Tompoko e,” “Walk forward, sir ” (or madam), we step over the raised threshold. In some parts of Imerina a kind of closet, looking more like a large oven than anything else, is made of clay at the south-east corner, i opposite the door, and here, as in an Irish cabin, the pig finds i a place at night, and above it the fowls roost. Near the door the large wooden mortar or laona for pounding rice generally stands, and near it are the janoto or pestle, a long round piece of wood, and the sahaja or large shallow wooden dish in which the i rice is winnowed from husk removed by pounding. At about I the middle of the eastern side of the house are placed two or I three globular siny or water-pots, the mouths covered with a small basket to keep out the dust. Farther on, but near the west side, is the fatana or hearth, a small enclosure about three ; feet square. In this are fixed five stones, on which the rice¬ cooking pots are arranged over the fire. And over this is some¬ times fixed a light framework upon which the cooking-pots are placed when not in use. There is no chimney, the smoke G 98 FURNITURE finding its way out through windows or door or slowly through the rush or grass thatch, and so the house is generally black and sooty above, long strings of cobweb and soot hanging down from the roof. Such appendages were considered as marks of long residence and honour, and so the phrase, mainty moldly , lit 44 black from soot,” is a very honourable appellation, and is applied to things andent, such as the first Christian hymns ; and missionaries who have been a long time resident in the island are given this name as a mark of respect. The north-east corner of the house is the sacred portion of it, and is called zoro firarazana—i.e. the corner where the retry or war-chant was sung and where any religious act connected with the former idolatry was performed, and in which the sampy or household charm was kept in a basket suspended from the wall. In this corner also is the fixed bedstead, which, especially in royal houses, was often raised up some height above the ground and reached by a notched post serving as a ladder, and sometimes screened with mats or coarse cloth. West of this, close to the north roof-post, is the place of honour, avdra-pdtana , 44 north of the hearth,” where guests are invited to sit down, a clean mat being spread as a seat, just as a chair is handed in European houses. There is little furniture in a purely native house ; a few rolls of mats, half-a-dozen spoons in a small but long basket fixed to the wall, some large round baskets with covers, and perhaps a tin box containing lambas for Sunday and special occasions , a few common dishes of native pottery, and perhaps two or three of European make ; a horn or a tin zinga, for drinking water ; a spade or two— these with the rice mortar and pounder and winnower already mentioned — the water-pots, and the implements for spinning and wearing, constitute about the whole household goods in the dwellings of the poorer classes. The earthen floor is covered with coarse mats, and sometimes the walls are lined with finer mats ; in the roof an attic is often formed for a part of or the whole length of the house and is reached by a rude ladder. The floor of this upper chamber is frequently covered over with a layer of earth and is used as a cooking-place, with much advantage to the lower part of the house, which is thus kept comparatively free from smoke and soot. NEST OF BLACK WASP 99 It must be understood the foregoing description applies to the original style of native house, as unaffected by modern innovations. In the capital and the more important places, as well as in many villages, numbers of brick houses, with upper storeys and three or four or more rooms, have been built of late years ; and hundreds of six-roomed houses, with verandahs carried on brick pillars, have also been erected, following a model introduced about the year 1870 by the late Rev. J. Pearse. This struck the fancy of the well-to-do people, and similar ones have been built all over the central provinces. Few people who have lived in Madagascar can have failed to notice a small longish lump of light coloured clay stuck under the eaves of the house, or on the side of a window, or, in fact, in any sheltered place ; and if we take the trouble to break off a piece, we find that this lump of clay contains a number of cells, all filled with caterpillars or spiders in a numbed and semi¬ lifeless condition. The maker of these cells is a black wasp about an inch long, with russet wings, and as one sits in the verandah of one’s house one may often hear a shrill buzz somewhere up in the rafters, and there the little worker is busy bringing in pellets of clay with which she builds up the walls of the cell. (When I lived at Ambohimanga, one of these wasps made a nest with several cells in my study, as the window was generally open to the air.) Presently she is off again for another load to the banks of a little stream where she has her brick-field. Kneading the red earth with her mandibles, she quickly forms it into a pellet of clay, about the size of a pea, which she dexterously picks up and flies away back to the verandah. This pellet is placed on the layer already laid, carefully smoothed and “ bonded in ” with the previous structure, until a cell is completed. Observations made by a careful student of animal and insect life show that about twenty-six journeys finish one cell, and that on a fine day it takes about forty-five minutes to complete it. This is only one out of many cells, however, placed on the top of each other. With regard to the storing of these cells with food for the grubs of the wasp, Mr Cory1 found that the number of spiders enclosed in eleven cells varied from eight to nineteen. These are caught by the wasp, stung so as to be insensible, but not 102 LUXURIANT GROWTH arew much scarcer as we travelled over higher ground ; but six weeks previously these upper tanety had also been gay with .Treat masses of the brilliant crimson flowers of a leguminous plant which grew in clusters of many scores of spikes growing close ’together. Our ride that day obliged us to modify the opinions previously held as to the poverty of Madagascar in wild flowers. 1 The Rev. C. P. Cory, B.A., formerly of the Anglican Mission in Madagascar. , , , ^ I am indebted for the information here given about wasps to an interesting paper contributed by Mr Cory to the fourteenth number of The Antananarivo Annual for 1890. CHAPTER VIII THE CHANGING MONTHS IN IMPREST A : CLIMATE, VEGETATION AND LIVING CREATURES OF THE INTERIOR AUTUMN : March and April. — It will be understood from what has been previously stated as to the divisions of the seasons in the Imerina province that, as with the seasons in England, there is some variety in different years in the times when they commence and finish. Generally, both crops of rice — the earlier and the later — are all cut by the end of April, although in the northern parts of the province it is usually five or six weeks after that date. But if the rains are late, and should happen to be scanty in February and March, harvest work is still going on at the end of May. In fact, owing to there being these two crops of rice, with no very exactly marked division between the two, autumn, in the sense of rice harvest, is going on for about four months, and sometimes longer, as just mentioned, and extends over the later months of summer as well as the two months of autumn or Fararano (March and April). In January those portions of the great rice-plain which lie north-west of the capital, as well as many of the lesser plains and valleys, become golden-yellow in hue, very much indeed like the colour of an English wheat-field in harvest -time ; and after a few days patches of water-covered field may be noticed in different places, showing where the crop has been cut, and the few inches of water in which it was grow¬ ing show conspicuously in the prospect. As the weeks advance, this water-covered area extends over larger portions of the rice- plain, until the whole of the early crop has been gathered in, so that in many directions there appear to be extensive sheets of water. I well remember, when once at Ambohimanarina, a large village to the north-west of Antananarivo, how strange it appeared to see people setting out to cross what seemed a considerable lake. But of course there was no danger, as the water was only a few inches deep. 103 104 THE RICE CROP As there are channels to conduct water to every rice-field, small canoes are largely used to bring the rice, both before and after it has been threshed, to the margin of the higher grounds and nearer to the roads. At the village just mentioned, which is like a large island surrounded by a sea of rice-plain, there is one point where a number of these channels meet and form quite a port ; and a very animated scene it presents at harvest-time, as canoe after canoe, piled up with heaps of rice in the husk, or with sheaves of it still unthreshed, comes up to the landing- place to discharge its cargo. In a very few weeks’ time the watery covering of the plain is hidden by another green crop, but not of so bright and vivid a tint as the fresh-planted and growing rice. This is the kolikbly , or after-crop, which sprouts from the roots of the old plants. This is much shorter in stalk and smaller in ear than the first crop, and is often worth very little ; but if the rains are late, so that there is plenty of moisture, it sometimes yields a fair quantity, but it is said to be rather bitter in taste. In cutting the rice the Malagasy use a straight-bladed knife ; and, as the work proceeds, the stalks are laid in long curving narrow lines along the field, the heads of one sheaf being covered over by the cut ends of the stalks of the next sheaf. This is done to prevent the ears drying too quickly and the grain falling out before it reaches the threshing-floor. This last- named accessory to rice-culture is simply a square or circle of the hard red earth, kept clear from grass and weeds, sometimes plastered with mud, and generally on the sloping side of the rising ground close to the rice-field. Here the sheaves are piled round the threshing-floor like a low breastwork. (Occasionally the rice is threshed in a space in the centre of the rice-field, mats being spread over the stubble to prevent loss of the grain.) No flail is used, but handfuls of the rice-stalks are beaten on a stone fixed in the ground, until all the grain is separated from the straw. The unhusked rice is then carried in baskets to the owner’s compound and is usually stored in large round pits with a circular opening dug in the hard red soil. These are lined with straw, and the mouth is covered with a flat stone, which is again covered over with earth ; and in these receptacles it is generally kept dry and uninjured for a considerable time. In most years the end of April and the beginning of May are BEAUTIFUL BIRDS 105 very busy times with the Malagasy ; almost all other work must give way to the getting in of the harvest ; the fields are every¬ where dotted over with people reaping ; most of the poorer people we meet are carrying loads of freshly cut grain on their heads, or baskets filled with the unhusked rice, and large quantities are spilt along the roads and paths. Some of the chief embankments swarm with rats and mice, which must pick up a very good living at this time of the year. Other creatures also take toll from the harvest, especially the Fddy , or cardinal- bird, the bright scarlet plumage of the cock-bird making a very noticeable feature of the avi-fauna during the warmer months. This colour is not seen on the wings, which are sober brown, but is brilliant on head, breast and back ; it fades away in the winter months, returning again as the breeding-time comes round. The white egret, which we saw on the coast, is equally in evidence in Xmerina, and sometimes flocks of two or three hundred of them may be seen in the rice-fields and marshes. When living at Ambohimanga we used to notice that in the winter months a large number of the Voromyotsy were accus¬ tomed to assemble on the open down towards sunset ; and on a signal apparently given by one of them the whole flock rose and flew slowly away to roost in the large trees to the north¬ west of the town. The white-necked crow is also plentiful, and is perhaps the most commonly seen bird in Xmerina. On one occasion when walking with a friend near Ambohimanga, he had his gun and shot one of a small flock of crows near us. For a few seconds there was a dead silence, and then all the others filled the air with hoarse cries and came dashing round us so closely that X feared they would injure our eyes, so angry did they seem with those who had killed their companion. One of the most beautiful birds to be seen is the Vintsy , or kingfisher, of lovely purplish-blue, with yellow and buff breast and belly. With short blunt tail and long beak, it may be seen perched on the rushes or other aquatic plants, or darting over the streams and marshes, flying in a curious jerking manner, like a flash of purple light, pursuing the insects which form its food. From what has been already said about rice-culture it may be easily understood that it occupies a large amount of the time and attention of the Malagasy. The digging and preparation of the ground ; the sowing in the ketsa plots ; the uprooting of 106 ARTICLES OF FOOD the young plants ; the planting, by the women, of these again in the soft mud of the rice-fields ; the bringing of water, often from a long distance, to the fields, and the repairing of the water¬ courses ; the weeding of the rice-fields ; and, finally, the cutting, the threshing, the bringing home, and the drying and storing of the rice — all this bulks largely in their daily life through a good deal of the year. Rice is the staff of life to the Malagasy, and they cannot understand how Europeans can make a proper meal without it. Mihinam-bary , “ to eat rice,” is the native equivalent for the Eastern phrase, “ to eat bread ” ; they eat other things of course — manioc root, a little meat or fish, and various vegetables, but these are only laoka or accompaniments to the staple food. The Malagasy have a saying, when speaking of things which are inseparable, that they are “ like rice and water.” And when we remember that rice is sown on water, that it is trans¬ planted in water, that it grows still in water, that it is reaped in water, that it is usually carried by water, in canoes, that it is boiled in water, and that water is generally the only beverage with which it is eaten, it will be seen that there is much force in the comparison. Besides the above-mentioned additions to rice, the people eat as a relish with it other things, many of them very repulsive to our European notions — for instance, snails, locusts, certain kinds of caterpillars, moths, and even, so it is said, some species of spiders ! But I never realised so distinctly what queer things they will eat as when taking a ride one afternoon to the north of Ambohimanga. Passing along one of the long rice- valleys, we saw some girls dredging for fish in the shallow water ; and thinking we might perhaps buy some to take home, we called to them to bring the basket for us to see. They immediately complied, but, on inspecting the contents, we found no fish, but a heap of brown, crawling, wTiggling, slimy creatures, really very disgusting in appearance, considered as possible articles of food. This mass of creeping animal life consisted of shrimps, water-beetles, tadpoles, and the larvas of many kind of insects. It is needless to say that we did not make a purchase of these tempting delicacies ; but I believe they would all go into the pot in some Malagasy house that evening and give a relish to the rice of some of our native friends. On the Coast Lagoons Fish traps. The way is blocked for fish with occasional openings for traps THE TSINGALA 107 The rivers of the interior are singularly deficient in fish of any size ; but in the shallow water of the rice-fields numbers of minute shrimps are caught, as well as small fish of the kinds called Toko and Trondro , but they are very bony and poor in flavour: somewhat larger kinds, called Marakely and Tdhovdkoka , are, however, very good eating, but are not plentiful. Very large and fine eels are caught in the rivers, as well as crayfish, of a kind peculiar to Madagascar. On the water of the streams many kinds of water-beetles and water-boatmen may be seen darting about in mazy circles ; one of these, called Tsingala , causes death if swallowed by cattle or human beings, oxen dying in less than twenty-four hours, unless a remedy is promptly given. The Rev. H. T. Johnson wrote thus about this insect : 44 1 was travelling one day to Ambohimandroso ; the day had been very hot, and passing by a dirty pool, one of my bearers stooped down and drank with his hands and then hastily followed to carry the palanquin. I saw the man drink and presently, hearing sounds behind, I turned and discovered that the very man, who only a few minutes before had drunk the water, was now in agonies of pain. He stood stretching out both his arms and throwing back his head in a frantic manner, at the same time shrieking most hideously. My first thoughts were speedily seconded by the words of his com¬ panions, who said, cHe has swallowed a tsingala .’ Of course, I immediately got down and went back to the poor fellow. He was now lying on the ground and writhing in agony, and I felt that unless something could be done, and that speedily, the man must die. My other bearers, seeing the extreme urgency of the case, called to the passers-by, but none could render any assist¬ ance. Presently a Betsileo was appealed to, and he said that he knew what would cure him, but wanted to know how much money we would give. I said immediately that it was no time for bargaining, but that I would give him sixpence if he relieved the poor man from his sufferings. Off he ran to procure some leaves, with which he returned in about ten minutes ; he soaked them in water from a stream close by, and then gave the sufferer the infusion to drink. With almost the quickness of a flash of lightning the poor fellow showed signs of relief, and after drinking this infusion several times more he said 108 MARSHES that he was free from pain, but felt very weak and faint. It was some weeks before the man got thoroughly strong again.” No one can pass along the little narrow banks and paths which divide the rice-fields without noticing the large dragonflies which dart over the water. Their colours are very various. A rich crimson, steely-blue and old gold are some of these. They are voracious creatures, as their name implies, and I saw one, one day, deliberately, and audibly, crunching up a smaller one. At another time, however, I noticed a fair-sized one being devoured by a spider, which was barred with lines like a zebra. The marshes in Imerina are not useless to the people, for a variety of useful plants grow there and are also planted in them. Among these are the Herana , a sedge which grows to three or four feet in height, and is extensively used for thatching native houses. If the roof is a proper pitch this sedge is very durable, and when cut and trimmed has a very neat appearance. Then there is the Zozoro , a much taller sedge, closely allied to the papyrus, with a triangular stem, and a feathery head of flowers. The strong tough peel is used to make the excellent mats em¬ ployed for flooring, and also all sorts and sizes of baskets ; the pith is used for stuffing pillows and mattresses ; and the stems firmly fixed together are used for temporary doors and window shutters, and for beds. A rush, called Hazondrano , is employed for making baskets and mats. As the colder weather advances, the mornings are often f°ggy5 at least a thick white mist covers the plains and valleys soon after the sun rises and remains for an hour or two until his increasing power disperses it. Seen from the higher grounds and from the most elevated parts of the capital, this mist often presents a very beautiful appearance ; a billowy sea of vapour is brilliantly lit up by the sunlight, and out of this sea the hill¬ tops rise up like islands. But these misty mornings also reveal many things which cannot be seen, or can only be seen by very close observation, in clear sunshine, especially the webs of various species of spider. There they are all the time, but we are not aware of their presence except on a misty autumn or winter morning, when a very delicate thread and filmy net is marked out by minute drops of moisture which reveal all their SPIDERS 109 wonderful beauty of structure. Many kinds of bush are seen to be almost covered by geometrical webs : one species seems to choose the extremities of the branches of the sdngosdngo Euphorbia, but the most common is a web averaging five or six inches in diameter which is spread horizontally on tufts of grass, and may be seen by thousands, half-a-dozen or so in a square yard. This web has a funnel-shaped hole near the centre, with a little shaft leading down to the ground. Near this, the maker and tenant of the structure — a little greyish-brown spider about half-an-inch long — may often be found, if carefully searched for. As the sun gains power, these numerous webs become almost invisible, but before the moisture is all dried from them, they present a beautiful appearance in the sunshine, for they are exactly like the most delicate gauze, studded with numberless small diamonds, flashing with all the prismatic colours as we pass by and catch the light at varying angles. The most conspicuous of the many species of spider seen in Madagascar is a large Nephila, a creature about an inch and a half long, with a spread of legs six or seven inches in diameter. It is handsomely marked with red and yellow, and may be noticed by scores in the centre of its geometric web stretching across the branches of trees. From the considerable distances spanned by the main guys and supports of its great net, this spider is called by the Malagasy Mampita-hady, or “fosse crosser ” ; and these main lines are strong enough to entangle small birds, for at the mission station at Ambatoharanana a cardinal-bird and a kingfisher were both caught in these nets. The male spider is only about a quarter the size of the female as just described, and, sad to say, he frequently is caught and devoured by his affectionate spouse, after mating. Attempts have been made, and with some success, to employ the silk made by this spider in the manufacture of a woven fabric ; but it is very doubtful whether such silk could be procured in such quantities as to be of commercial value. Silk from the silkworm moth is produced to a considerable extent, and, as we have seen in speaking of native weaving, is employed in manufacturing a variety of handsome lambas. The moth is a large and beautiful insect, with shades of buff and brown and yellow, and with a large eye-like spot on the hind wings. The caterpillars are fed on the leaves of the mulberry- 110 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS trees and also on those of the tapia ( Chrysopia sp.) shrub. Another moth, somewhat like the silk-producing one in colour¬ ing, has an extraordinary development of the hind wings, which have long delicate tail-like appendages ; these have extremely narrow shafts and are enlarged at the ends. Their points have two spiral twists or folds, very graceful in appearance. There are four distinct eye-like spots near the centre of each wing, which are light buff in colour, with lemon-yellow. The insect measures eight and a half inches from shoulder to point of tail, and eight inches across the upper wings. It is allied to Tropcea leto. Some species of moth, very dark brown in colour, and yet beautifully marked, often fly into our houses at night, the female being much larger than the male. The Malagasy are afraid of seeing these almost black-looking insects, which they call lolom-paty (“ death-moths ”), in their houses, as they think them presages of evil and death. Another moth, with death’s- head marking on its thorax, is also often seen. But the most beautiful of the Malagasy lepidoptera is a diurnal moth, which one would always call a butterfly — viz. the Urania riphoea , a large and lovely insect, with golden-green, crimson and black markings, and edged all round its wings and tails with delicate pure white. It is a curious fact that the nearest ally to this Madagascar species is a native of Hayti and Cuba ( U . sloana ), a remarkable instance of discontinuity of habitat. This fact, however, has a parallel in the family of small insectivorous animals called Centelidas, which are also confined to Madagascar and some of the West India islands. During 1899 this butterfly was unusually abundant, while in some seasons it is seldom seen. At Isoavina I noticed a great many flying around the tall blue-gum trees in the dusk of the evening. Great numbers also were seen at Ambohimanga in the garden there. They appeared to be intoxicated with the strong flavour of the nectar from the loquat-trees, then in flower, so that almost any quantity of them could have been captured in the early morning, while still under the influence of the flowers, which have a powerful scent of prussic acid. The Malagasy call it Andriandblo — i.e. “ king-butterfly.” In these bare upper highlands of Madagascar butterflies are not found in as great variety as in the warmer regions of the island. Still there are a few species which are common enough, GRASSHOPPERS, CRICKETS AND LOCUSTS 111 the most plentiful being one which is satiny-blue above and spotted with brown and grey underneath. This is to be seen all the year round, especially hovering over the euphorbia hedges which divide plantations from the roads. Another, also tolerably common, is a large reddish-brown butterfly, the wings edged with black and white. More rare is an insect with four large round white spots on dark chocolate-brown wings ; and another, dark brown in colour, with eye-like spots of blue and red. Several small species, yellow, white, or brown, or silvery-grey and blue, are found hovering over, or settling on, damp places ; and there are two or three white species, with black spots or lines on the edges of the wings. In the warmer season a handsome large Fapilio is rather common in our gardens, with dark green and sulphur-yellow spots and mark¬ ings. The eggs of some of these are beautiful objects in the microscope, being fluted and sculptured like a Greek vase. My friend, M. Ch. Matthey, who has made large collections of Madagascar insects, tells me that there are a few cases of mimicry and dimorphism, especially the latter, among the butterflies of the interior. On the open downs, and when the sun is shining, the air is filled with the hum of chirping insect life from the many species of grasshoppers, crickets and small locusts which cover the ground. Every step among the long dry grass disturbs a score of these insects, which leap in all directions from one’s path as we proceed, sometimes dashing on one’s face with a smart blow. The majority of these are of various shades of brown and green, and some of the larger species of grasshopper are remarkable for their protective colouring. Here is one whose legs and wings are exactly like dry grass ; the body is like a broad blade of some green plant, the antennse are two little tufts, like yellow grass, and the eyes are just like two small brown seeds. But, curi¬ ously enough, when it flies, a pair of bright scarlet wings make its flight very conspicuous. You pursue it, to catch such a brightly coloured insect, when it settles, and lo ! it has vanished, only something resembling green or dry grass remains, which it re¬ quires sharp eyes to distinguish from the surrounding herbage. Other grasshoppers are entirely like green grass blades and stalks, and others again resemble, equally closely, dried grass ; and unless the insects move under one’s eyes it is almost impos- 112 PROTECTIVE RESEMBLANCE sible to detect them. One is puzzled to guess where the vital organs can be placed in such dry-looking little sticks. Them is one species of mantis also, which, in the shape and colour of its wings, legs, antennae and body, presents as close a resemblance to its environment as do the grasshoppers. Their cuiious heads, however, which turn round and look at one in quite an uncanny manner, and their formidably serrated foie legs 01 arms, put up in mock pious fashion, give them a distinctly different appearance from the other insects. In the dry and cooler season on almost every square foot of ground is a large brown caterpillar, often many of them close together, feeding on the young blades of grass. But the most handsome insect one sees on the downs is the Valalanambba or dog-locust. This is large and is goigeously coloured, the body being barred with stripes of yellow and black, while the head and thorax are green and blue and gold, with shades of crimson, and the wings are bright scarlet. It seems a most desirable insect for a cabinet, but it is impossible to keep one, for it has a most abominable smell, and this appears to be its protection, as well as its probable possession of a nauseous taste, so that no bird or other creature feeds upon it. This insect seems therefore a good example of 44 warning colours ” ; it has no need of 4 4 protective resemblance ” lest it should be devoured by enemies ; it can flaunt its gay livery without fear, indeed this seems exaggerated in order to say to outsiders, 44 Hands off ! ” 44 Nemo me impune lacessit.” The Malagasy have a proverb which runs thus : 44 T alalanamboa : ny tompony aza tsy tia azy ” — i.e. 44 The dog-locust, even its owner dislikes it.” On the Imerina downs, and on the outskirts of the forest, there are occasionally seen some enormous earth-worms. These are about four times the size, both in length and thickness, of those we see in England ; and when I first saw a small group of them they seemed more like small serpents than worms. Darwin’s researches on the part played by earth-worms in the renewal of the soil have shown us what a valuable work these humble creatures do for our benefit ; and on a morning after a little rain has fallen the grass here in Imerina is sometimes almost covered by the innumerable little mounds of fresh earth brought up by worms, thus confirming what he has told us about them. b/D a 12 o £ nd c aj Oh 3 (3) rt cG X ~ b/3 G o ANCIENT TOWNS 118 The aspect of vegetation, except in the rice-fields, can hardly be said to change much during the autumn months. A plant with pale yellow flowers may be noticed by thousands in marshy grounds, giving quite a mass of colour in many places. A significant name given to autumn is MSnahitra—i.e. 44 the grass is red ”• — that is, turning brown. Winter : May, June, July and August. — As already mentioned in the introductory sentences of the previous chapter, winter in central Madagascar is very different from winter in England. We have no snow, nor is there any native word for it, for even the highest peaks of Ankaratra are too low for snow to fall on them ; we never see ice (although adventurous foreigners have once or twice seen a thin film of it on pools on the highest hillsides) ; hoar-frost, however, is not uncommon, and occasionally the leaves of some species of vegetables, as well as those of the banana, turn black with the keen night air. And since there is no rain during our Imerina winter, the paths are dry, and it is the best time for making long journeys, especially as there is little to be feared from fever when going about at this season of the year. Winter is therefore a pleasant time ; the skies are generally clear, the air is fresh and invigorating, and to the cool and bracing temperature of the winter months is doubtless largely due the health and strength which many Europeans enjoy for years together in the central provinces of Madagascar. The long period without rain at this season naturally dries up the grass, and the hills and downs become parched and brown. Maintany—i.e. 44 the earth is dry is one of the native names for this season, and it is very appropriate to the condition of things in geneial. The rice-fields lie fallow, affording a scanty supply of grass for the cattle ; and many short cuts can be made across them in various directions, for the beaten track over embankments, great and small, may be safely left for the dry and level plain. In travelling about Imerina, and indeed in the southern central provinces as well, one cannot help noticing the evidences of ancient towns and villages on the summits of a large number of the high hills. These are not picturesque ruins, or remains of buildings, but are the deep fosses cut in the hard red soil, often three or four, one within the other, by which these old H 114 HOVA TOMBS villages were defended. These show very conspicuously from a great distance, and are from ten to twenty feet deep ; and as they are often of considerable extent they must have required an immense amount of labour to excavate. These elaborate fortifications are memorials of the feudal period in central Madagascar, when almost every village had its petty chief or mpanjdka , and when guns and gunpowder were still unknown. These old places are now mostly abandoned for more convenient positions in the plains or on the low rising grounds ; and the fosses or hady are often capital hunting-grounds for ferns and other wild plants. Perhaps more noticeable even than the old towns are the old tombs, as well as more modern ones, which meet one s eye in the neighbourhood of every village. The Hova tombs aie mostly constructed of rough stonework, undressed and laid without mortar ; they are square in shape, from ten to twenty feet or more each way, and generally of two or three stages of three to four feet high, diminishing in size from the lowest. This superstructure surrounds and surmounts a chamber formed of massive slabs of bluish-grey granitic rock, partly sunk in the ground, and partly above it. In this chamber are stone shelves, on which the corpses, wrapped in a number of silk cloths or Idmba , are laid. The tombs of wealthy people, as well as those of high rank, are often costly structures of dressed stonework, with cornices and carving ; some are surmounted with an open arcade, and have stone shafts to eariy lightning conductors. Within the last few years some large tombs have been made of burnt brick (externally), although no change is made in the ancient style of interior construction, w ith single stones for walls, roof, door and shelves. Near some villages are a large number of these great family tombs ; and at one place, on the highroad from the present to the old capital, a long row of such tombs, from thirty to forty in all, may be seen. In many places a shapeless heap of stones, often overshadowed by a Fano tree, resembling an acacia, marks a grave of the Vazimba, the earlier inhabitants of the country. These are still regarded with superstitious dread and veneration by the people, and offerings of rice, sugar-cane and other food are often placed on them. HOVA TOMBS 115 The winter months are a favourite time for the native custom of famadihana — that is, of wrapping the corpses of their deceased relatives in fresh silk cloths, as well as removing some of them to a new tomb as soon as this is finished. These are quite holiday occasions and times of feasting and, not infrequently, of much that is evil in the way of drinking and licentiousness. CHAPTER IX AUTUMN AND WINTER OTHER noticeable objects when travelling about the central provinces are tall stones of rough undressed granite, from eight to twelve feet high, called J atolahy ( i.e . 44 Male stones ”), which have been erected in memory of some bygone worthy, or of some notable event, now foi gotten, and which often crown the top of prominent hills. They aie also sometimes memorials of those who went away to the w ai s of olden times, and who never returned to their homes. In these cases a square of small stones — at least three sides of one is formed as part of the memorial, as a kind of pseudo-tomb. These little enclosures are from eight to ten feet square. A wonderful variety of lichens is often to be seen on these tall stones— red, yellow, grey of many shades, black, and pure white embroidering the rough stone. Some have supposed, from the name of these memorials, that we have here a relic of phallic worship. A very prominent feature of the social life of the Malagasy is the system of holding large open-air markets all over the central province on the various days of the week. The largest of these is naturally that held in the capital every Friday (Zoma), at which probably from twenty thousand to thiity thousand people are densely crowded together, and where almost every thing grown or manufactured in the province can be purchased. But*two or three of the other markets held within five or six miles of Antananarivo do not fall far short of the Zoma market in size, especially those at Asabotsy (Saturday) to the north, and at Alatsinainy (Monday) to the north-east. To a stranger these great markets present a very novel and interesting scene, and a good idea may be obtained as to what can be purchased here by taking a stroll through them and noticing their different sections. In one part are oxen and sheep, many of which are killed in the morning, while the meat is cut up and sold duiing 1 16 MARKETS 117 the day ; here are turkeys, geese, ducks and fowls by the hundred ; here are great heaps of rice, both in the husk, and either partially cleaned, as 44 red rice,” or perfectly so, as 44 white rice ” ; here are piles of brown locusts, heaps of minute red shrimps, and baskets of snails, all used as 44 relishes ” for the rice ; here is mangahazo , or manioc root, both cooked and raw, as well as sweet potatoes, earth-nuts, arum roots ( saonjo ) and many kinds of green vegetables, and also capsicums, chillies and ginger. In another quarter are the stalls for cottons and prints, sheetings and calicoes from Europe, as well as native-made cloths of hemp, rofia fibre, cotton and silk ; and not far away are basketfuls and piles of snowy or golden- coloured cocoons of native silk for weaving. Here is the iron¬ mongery section, where good native-made nails, rough hinges, and locks and bolts, knives and scissors can be bought ; and formerly were the sellers of the neat little scales of brass or iron, with their weights for weighing the 44 cut money,” which formed the small change of the Malagasy before foreign occupa¬ tion. (The five-franc pieces were cut up in pieces of all shapes and sizes, so that buying and selling were very tedious matters.) Then we come to the vendors of the strong and cheap mats and baskets, made from the tough peel of the zozdro papyrus, and from various kinds of grass, often with graceful interwoven patterns. Yonder a small forest of upright pieces of wood points out the timber market, where beams and rafters, joists and boarding can be purchased, as well as bedsteads, chairs and doors. Not far distant from this is the place where large bundles of her ana sedge, arranged in sheets or 44 leaves,” as the Malagasy call them, for roofing, can be bought ; and near these again are the globular water-pots or smy for fetching and for storing water. But it would occupy too much space to enu¬ merate all the articles for sale in an Imerina market. Before the French occupation it was not uncommon to see slaves exposed for sale, but happily that and slavery are now things of the past. In the old times of Malagasy independence there were few more interesting scenes than that presented by a great national assembly or Kabary. These were summoned when new laws were made, or a new government policy was announced, and also when war was imminent with France, both in 1882 and again in 1895. On such occasions the large triangular central 118 A NATIONAL ASSEMBLY space near the summit of the capital, called Andohalo, was filled with many thousands of people from early morning. Lines of native troops kept open lanes for the advance of the queen’s representative, generally the Prime Minister, who was always attended by a number of officers in a variety of gorgeous uniforms. At the eastern or highest portion of Andohalo a place was kept open for the royal messengers, whose approach was announced by the firing of cannon. Taking his stand so as to be seen by the vast assembly, the Prime Minister would draw his sword and commence the proceedings by turning towards the palace and giving the word of command for a royal salute, all the troops presenting arms, and all the cannon round the upper portion of the city being fired. The next officer in rank then took the word, and the troops all saluted the Prime Minister, who stood bareheaded, acknowledging the respect due to his high position. He then proceeded to give the royal message, or read the new laws, often with a great deal of eloquence, for the Malagasy are ready and clever speakers. At passages where the national pride or patriotism was touched, much enthusiastic response was often aroused, especially as each paragraph of the speech was followed by a question : 44 Fa tsy izay, va , ry am- banilanitra? ” (“For is it not so, ye 4 under-the-heaven ’ ? ”) These questions were replied to with shouts of 44 Izay ! ” (t4 It is so ! ”) from the assembled multitude. But the greatest pitch of loyal enthusiasm was generally evoked by the chiefs of the different tribes, as they, one after another, replied to the queen’s message and gave assurances of obedience and loyalty. Surrounded by a small group of their fellow-clansmen, they would wind their lamba round their waists, brandish a spear, and at the conclusion of each part of their speech they also demanded : 44 Fa tsy izay va? ” And sometimes the whole of the people would leap to their feet, the officers waving their swords, the soldiers tossing up their rifles, and the people dancing about in a perfect frenzy of excitement. We noticed just now the signs of the ancient villages and towns in the central province ; but something may be added here as to the existing villages we see as we travel through it. The ancient towns were, as we have seen, all built for safety on the top of hills, and many of those now inhabited by the people are still so situated, although in several districts the Hova Tombs Closed with Huge Stone Doors The baie, locky hills are characteristic of the interior of Madagascar STONE GATEWAYS 119 French authorities have obliged them to leave the old sites and build their houses, with plenty of space round each, on the sides of the newly made roads. But a good number of the old style of village still remain, and it is these I want to describe. They mostly have deep fosses, cut in the hard red soil, surrounding them, about twenty to thirty feet across, and as many feet deep, sometimes still deeper ; and before guns and cannons were brought into the country they must have formed very effective defences against an enemy, especially as there is often a double or even treble series of them. The gateways, sometimes three deep, are formed of stone, often in large slabs, and instead of a gate a great circular stone, eight or ten feet in diameter, was rolled across the opening and was fitted into rough grooves on either side, and wedged up with other stones inside the gate. I have slept in villages where it was necessary to call several men before one could leave in the morning, until they had answered our inquiry : “ Who shall roll us away the stone ? ” In these fosses, which are of course always damp, with good soil, ferns and wild plants grow luxuriantly ; and the bottom forms a plantation in which peach, banana, guava and other fruit trees are cultivated, as well as coffee, arums and a variety of vegetables. Tall trees often grow there, so that these hddy or fosses are often the prettiest feature of the village. It must be added that the paths between and leading to the gateways are often winding, and formed by a thick mass of prickly plants. In some parts of the central provinces the villages have no deep trenches round them, but they are protected by a dense and wide plantation of prickly pear. The thick, fleshy, twisted stems, the gaily tinted flowers, and even the fruits, are all armed with spines and stinging hairs ; and it is no easy matter to get rid of the minute little needles, if they once get into one’s skin. So one sees that a thick hedge of prickly pear was a very effectual defence against enemies, especially since the people wore no shoes or any protection for legs and feet. In many places, instead of prickly pear, the fence round the village is made of tsiafakbmby (“ impassable by cattle ”), a shrub with bright yellow flowers and full of hook-like prickles. In some cases, instead of a door at the gateway, a number of short poles are hung from a cross-piece at the top, which passes through 120 A MALAGASY VILLAGE a hole in each of them ; and one has to hold up two or three poles in order to pass through. Here, however, we are at last inside the village, and we see at once that it is a very different place from an English village, with the turnpike road passing through it, its trim houses and cottages, with neat gardens and flower-beds, its grey old church, and its churchyard with elms and yews overshadowir the graves. There is nothing at all like this in our Malagasy village. There are no streets intersecting it, and the houses are built without much order, except in one point — namely, that they are almost all built north and south, and that they have their single door and window always on the west side, so as to be protected from the cold and keen south-east winds which blow over Imerina during a great part of the year. The houses are mostly made of the hard red earth, laid in courses of a foot or so high. They are chiefly of one storey and of one room, but they generally have a floor in the roof, which is used for cooking ; and, if of good size, they are sometimes divided into two rooms by rush and mat partitions. On the east of Imeripa, near the forest, the houses are made of rough wooden framing, filled up with bamboo or rush, and often plastered with cow-dung. In the neighbourhood of the capital, and indeed in most places, the houses are now often made of sun-dried bricks, in two storeys, with several rooms, and often with tiled roofs. Here and there throughout the province one comes across a village which was formerly the capital of a petty kingdom, where we find several strong and well-built timber houses. Such a place was Ambohitritankady (I say “was,” because it now no longer exists), one of the villages in my mission district. It was on a high hill, and in the centre of the village were ten large houses of massive timber framing and with very high-pitched roofs, with long “ horns ” at the gables, and these were arranged five on each side of a long oblong space sunk a couple of feet below the ground. Here, in former times, bull-fights took place, and various games and amusements were carried on. One of the houses, where the chief himself resided, was much larger than the rest, and the corner posts, as well as the great central posts supporting the ridge, were very massive pieces of timber. It was all in one great room, without any partitions, the whole T5 L> -C o & d o CD O > w < -- < Q c4 Ph C/l CU t/l 3 o c/} CL) CL,