MADAGASCAR (III) 263 
chicken and some rice, and put the best hut at my disposal, which 
is a customary procedure in many parts of Madagascar. In my 
reply to his speech of welcome I asked if the Tanala fleas were 
fine healthy specimens, and he solemnly assured me that they were 
plentiful and as good as any in the land! 
The forest here was decidedly patchy as the bulk of it had been 
destroyed by the natives to make way for their cattle. 
The Tanala people appeared to have little knowledge of the 
small mammals inhabiting their forests, for my inquiries 
brought forth the information that they contained nothing dif- 
ferent from those inhabiting their villages, namely the common 
rats. 
It is true that the imported rats are as plentiful here as they are 
in the Perinet district about two hundred and eighty miles to the 
north, but I also trapped a number of Tufted-tailed Rats, Neso- 
gale and Oryzoryctes. In this district the skins of the former are 
extraordinarily fragile, in texture resembling wet blotting-paper. 
Skinning them required great patience as the slightest pull caused 
a tear, and when sewing them up even the insertion of the needle 
and the tying of the cotton had the same annoying effect. 
Owing to the proximity of the Ivohibe Mountain, the rainfall 
here was heavy; the undergrowth of the forest was always drip- 
ping wet, and clouds often descended low to clothe everything in 
mist. Mosses and lichens festooned the trees and a wonderful 
variety of ferns issued from the crevices of rocks on the slopes of 
the steep ravines. The mountain torrents maintained a ceaseless 
roar as they crashed against the huge boulders strewn in their path, 
and sent columns of spray high into the air. 
After tolerating these conditions for a fortnight, during which 
time my clothes were never dry, I decided to go to the west side 
of the mountain where the rainfall was less heavy. In spite of this, 
the leeches were much more abundant here and greatly hampered 
us in our work. My porters, who used to assist me daily in the 
search for rodent holes, were unable to proceed more than a few 
yards at a time without being compelled to stop and scrape dozens 
of leeches off their bare legs with their long-bladed knives. After 
a while, in spite of constant vigil, their legs would be streaming 
with blood. Almost every plant, leaf and blade of grass supported 
