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mode of fishing is by baskets and lines; the use of nets is un- 
known. 
Notwithstanding the productions that we have enumerated, 
the inhabitants of Madagascar are but ill fed for half the 
year,—they prefer fried grasshoppers and silkworms, esteem- 
ing the latter a great delicacy; but their principal dainty is 
the flesh of an unborn, and but half-formed, calf; to obtain 
which, they frequently destroy the cows;—an inhuman prac- 
tice, which, since our visit to Emerina, has been forbidden 
by Government. A great number of very large and useless 
dogs are kept by the people: these animals often make a most 
hideous noise during the night, for if one of them chances to 
bark, the others immediately chime in with a dreadful chorus 
of yells and howls. 
The inhabitants eat twice or thrice a day: their common 
meal is boiled rice, with the addition of some roots and leaves, 
seasoned with pimenta and black salt. The latter is extracted 
from the ashes of the Reed mace (Typha communis), called 
Vundra, and which they have a habit of licking frequently. 
Their mode of feeding is disgusting to an European; they 
rarely employ knives or forks to divide the beef or fowl, which 
are their customary meat, but pluck it to pieces with their 
fingers, and put it into the mouth with the hand. Pure water 
is their sole beverage; but those who can procure intoxicat- 
ing liquors are but too fond of them. After every meal, they 
carefully clean their teeth ; a laudable practice, to the neglect 
of which may be attributed the toothaches which are so dis- 
tressingly prevalent in Europe. 
The inhabitants of the province of Emerina call themselves 
Huwa, or Ambaniandru, and, ironically, Ambua-lambu 
(dog and hog); a name originally conferred on them by their - 
enemies, the Saccalawa, and under which they are known in 
the colonies. In person, they are about the middling stature 
of Europeans: their colour varies considerably, some being 
very black, others only swarthy; but the complexion of the 
greater number is olive-brown. All those who are black 
have woolly hair, like the negroes of the African coast, while 
those who resemble mulattoes, or Indians, in tint, have long 
