263 
ground at a short distance from one another, for they never 
weave a piece any longer than is needful for a garment. Having 
spread the threads as long as they can reach, they weave them 
by a most simple process, placed almost level with the ground, 
and assisted by a small shuttle. The common cotton cloth 
is called Tuturanah, or Kilusse, and the most valued silk stuff, 
Kachena. 
Silk aud cotton are not so abundant as d should be, 
owing to the deficient culture, especially the former. The 
Madagascar silkworms are totally different from ours, and 
are found on the foliage of the Amberiwatri (Cytisus Cajan), 
and of the TAapia. Mr. Hastie has introduced some from 
Mauritius with their proper food, the mulberry tree, and 
itis much to be hoped that the whole manner of preparing 
their stuffs will be hereby changed. Of hemp, which can 
only be grown in the rainy season, they make very coarse 
. cloth and pagnes for the use of their slaves. The.same sim- 
plicity which prevails in the manufacture of their stuffs is 
also remarkable in that of their utensils. The province 
of Emerina is very rich in iron, and there are spots where it 
is even found rising above ground, in lumps of 4 or 5 lbs. 
weight; itis as soft and malleable as paste, and the natives find 
little difficulty in smelting it, They fabricate scales, hammers, 
anvils, knives of all sorts, spades, hatchets, pincers, spoons, 
and, more recently, also nails, and bayonets, &c. ‘The smith 
lies along on the ground, with a hammer in one hand, and a 
piece of iron in the other, and, instead of an anvil, it is com- 
mon enough to see the people in the country beating the iron 
on a flat stone, placed between their feet. Instead 5. bellows, 
after the European fashion, they use two pieces of a hollow 
tree, about three feet high, and communicating beneath by a 
tube. In the hollow itself are two pistons, which a man moves 
up and down to kindle the fire, much in the manner that they 
churn butter in Europe. - 
The potters make earthen dishes and pots with udine 
neatness; and their earthen plates, which are well varnished 
with lead, that they dig up in some places, have. — the 
shape of a n vessel placed on a pedestal. 
