CHAPTER VIII

THE CHANGING MONTHS IN IMÈRINA: CLIMATE, VEGETATION, AND LIVING CREATURES OF THE INTERIOR 103

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