MADAGASCAR (1) 75 
to do was to take a taxi to Joffreville up in the hills some sixteen 
miles from the town, where there was a quiet and peaceful hotel 
and a pleasantly cool climate. This was all arranged and we were 
delighted at the prospect of getting from the ship for a while 
and coming to grips with nature in a country that was new to 
us both. 
Little did I know then what a big part Madagascar was to play 
in my life in later years. 
My entry into Madagascar was auspicious, for some mild excite- 
ment greeted us on the evening of our arrival at Joffreville. We 
went for a short walk before dinner in the bright moonlight, and 
had not gone far when a dark form slithered across the road in 
front of us. We ran up and saw that it was a Madagascar Boa 
Constrictor. This was an opportunity too good to be missed, so I 
seized it by the tail and ran towards the hotel. Each time it 
doubled up with its head near my hand, appearing to be about to 
strike, I dropped the creature, waited for it to straighten out, and 
then grabbed it again by the tail. In this way we eventually 
arrived at the hotel and shouted to the proprietor for a sack. As 
he saw us arriving at the porch carrying a boa, I had the feeling 
he thought we were like all Englishmen—completely crazy and 
therefore to be pitied. Anyway we got the prize, about eight feet 
long, safely in the bag. Next morning I smuggled it on board 
and, to avoid panic on the part of the cabin steward, locked it 
in a drawer. 
We duly arrived at Tamatave, and as the customs and immi- 
gration authorities had been advised of our arrival, we had no 
difficulties at all. I had wondered how the customs would view 
the importation of a boa constrictor into a country which, for 
all I knew, was alive with them, and which was not even on the 
ship’s manifest. 
On reaching Antananarivo (Tananarive to the French), after 
a fourteen-hour train journey, we met the rest of the expedition, 
including Monsieur Delacour. Having inquired quickly the num- 
ber of my room at the hotel, I personally carried the mysterious 
and weighty sack upstairs and locked it in the wardrobe. 
After a few days fitting out, I set out for Lake Alaotra with 
Delacour and the late Willoughby Lowe—the latter being the 
