251 
ména have also a different mode of cutting rice from the 
inhabitants of Emerina; that is, they only take off the ear, 
and leave the stalk; and instead of beating out the grain, 
they rub it with the hand over an outspread mat. The 
standing straw is used for manure, instead of being burned, 
as at Emerina; the oxen are littered with it, and it is laid 
over the soil. Women and children only are employed in 
the culture of rice, the men assisting to clear the ground. 
Thus it may be observed that the inhabitants of Madagascar 
could hardly maintain themselves without the existence of 
those extensive marshes, which constantly exhale pestilential 
miasmata, and to which the insalubrity of the climate may 
justly be attributed. 
To return to Emerina. After Rice, Manioc and Batatas 
are the chief articles of food to its population. "The roots of 
Manioc often acquire a monstrous size, and we have measured 
some which were 15 feet long, and almost a foot in diameter. 
Then come Maize, seasoned herbs, “ Giromonds," Calabashes, 
Earth-nuts, ( Arachis,) Sugar-canes, Pine-apples, Breadfruit, and 
the Vine : andamong the articles of manufacture are Cotton and 
Hemp, &c.; Potatoes, that Mr. Hastie introduced, have thriven 
admirably, and are of excellent quality. The same may be said 
of other vegetables, such as beans and peas. The climate of 
Emerina seems peculiarly suitable to European plants, and we 
cannot but hope that a great quantity may soon be naturalized. 
Itis muchto be regretted that thedegrading love of gain, which 
characterizes these people, and of which we shall have to cite 
but too many instances, rarely allows them to wait till the 
productions of the soil have attained a proper maturity: they 
gather their vegetables and fruit, and carry them to the 
bazaar, before they are half ripe, in order to secure some 
paltry pieces of coin. — ET RON Xd 
An exact enumeration of all the indigenous Madagascar 
plants, is, and will long remain, a desideratum in botany. 
Centuries must previously elapse, and the knowledge can 
only be obtained through the exertions of the sons of the 
north, who will render the climate of Madagascar less preju- 
dicial by extending the limits of its cultivation, and exploring 
