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

_showing lines of Forest, and limits of high land of Interior exceeding 2500 feet above Sea-level_]

A NATURALIST IN MADAGASCAR