CHAPTER V

FROM COAST TO CAPITAL: ALAMAZAOTRA TO ANTANÀNARÌVO 63

“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—Mòramànga—River Mangòro—Grand Prospect from Ifòdy—The Tàkatra and Its Nest—Hova Houses—Insect Life—Angàvo Rock—Upper Forest—Treeless Aspect of Imèrina—Granite Rocks—Ambàtomànga—And its big House—Grass Burning—First View of Capital—Its Size and Situation—Hova Villages—A Cloud of Locusts—Reach Antanànarìvo