CHAPTER XXIII
TO THE NORTH-WEST COAST 301
Tortoises—Gigantic Tortoises of Aldabra Island—Park-like Scenery—The Fierce Little Fòsa—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—Bèmbatòka Bay—Mojangà—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—Nòsibé 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 Sihànaka Woman playing the Vahiha 50
Bétsimisàraka Women 58
Hova Women weaving 58
Family Tomb of the late Prime Minister, Antanànarìvo 66
Royal Tombs, Antanànarìvo 66
Earthenware Pottery 76
Digging up Rice-fields 76
Pounding and winnowing Rice 78
Hova Middle-class Family at a Meal 78
Rocks near Ambàtovòry 92
Typical Hova House in the Ancient Style 96
On the Coast Lagoons 106
Transplanting Rice 112
Hova Tombs 118
Friday Market at Antanànarìvo 120
Ancient Village Gateway 124
A Forest Village 134
Chameleons 136
Anàlamazàotra 146
Memorial Carved Posts and Ox Horns 156
Blacksmith at Work 156
On the Coast Lagoons 166
Some Curious Madagascar Spiders 168
Sihànaka Men 176
Forest Village 176
A Wayside Market 180
Water-carriers 218
Hide-bearers resting by the Roadside 230
Bétsiléo Tombs 230
Memorial Stone 234
Types of Carved Ornamentation in Houses 236
” ” ” 238
Group of Tanàla Girls in Full Dress 242
Tanàla Girls singing and clapping Hands 242
Tanàla 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 Antànkàrana Tribe 278
Woman of the Antanòsy Tribe 278
The Fòsa 302
Malagasy Oxen 302
MAPS
Physical Sketch Map of Madagascar 16
Ethnographical Sketch Maps of Madagascar 17
General Map of Madagascar 314
A NATURALIST IN MADAGASCAR