284 THE ODYSSEY OF AN ANIMAL COLLECTOR 
arranged their visit and I went to Diego by plane to meet them. 
They were highly delighted with the visit, though they fully 
realized the difficulties of getting timber out of the hilly eastern 
forests where the rain made the going extremely heavy. Much of 
the timber had to be cut on the spot by hand-saw and carried out 
by porters as there was no means of getting it to a saw-mill. It 
was decided to give the scheme a trial, and I received the high- 
sounding title of Madagascar Representative of the East African 
Timber Control. 
Early in 1944 the changes in the war had made it less imperative 
to get timber from Madagascar and the project was dropped. 
I was told that if I cared to go to Kenya a staff appointment 
would be found for me, which would have been fine from the 
purely money-making angle, but as I was more interested in 
collecting I declined the offer. So in June of that year, after 
eighteen months’ employment with the British Army of Occupa- 
tion, I found an opportunity of doing the trip I had long had in 
mind. This was to the Androy country in the extreme south, a 
wild sub-desert region populated by nomads. Even under the 
most favorable climatic conditions it is somewhat desert-like 
owing to the porousness of the earth and to the prevailing south- 
easterly winds, but it is very fertile, and if the seasonal rains arrive 
the Antandroy natives have no difficulty in producing enough 
food to live on. At the time of my arrival, however, there had 
been no rain for three years, and the sight was an unforgettable 
one. 
At the principal town of Ambovombe everyone was in an 
emaciated condition and the death roll was heavy, especially 
among the old people and children, who were, in the main, 
abandoned to their fate. Ambovombe means the “Place of many 
wells,” and fortunately these still carried water. 
Shortly afterwards, owing to the efforts of the local District 
Commissioner, the Government made a free distribution of maize 
and cassava brought from the well-watered districts of the south- 
east. The appearance of the people underwent a remarkable 
change in a short time and many thousands were saved from a 
pitiful death. 
