Rev. Mr Cowan on the Natural History of Madagascar . 135 



narrow belt of filao {Casuarinus madagascariensis) trees, the 

 usual fringe of the coast line, we enter upon a scene of great 

 beauty. Before us it may be a wide plain, green and fertile, 

 with here and there a clump of low trees, beyond a gently 

 undulating country covered with traveller's tree, while in the 

 distance, mountains rise in varied shapes and colours. This 

 is as it appears from Tamatave. 



A little further south, the thickets along the shore become 

 broader, but there are still open spaces covered with beautiful 

 turf, reminding one of the lawns in our English parks. 



The chain of lakes, winding here and there, widening out 

 into miles of water, and again narrowing to a few yards, 

 clusters of various trees that stud the park-like scene, the 

 bright broad leaves of the traveller's tree, the pandanus, the 

 lemon tree, and the rich luxuriance of orchids, complete a 

 picture of the most exquisite and indescribable beauty. Such 

 is the country which stretches for hundreds of miles along the 

 coast. 



The lakes, which are in some places separated only by a 

 narrow belt from the shore, at others half a mile distant, 

 are evidently of recent formation, and extend with but few 

 interruptions along the greater part of the eastern coast. They 

 receive from the interior great part of the smaller rivers, 

 but are largely fed by the greater rivers, such as the Ivondro, 

 the Haroka, the Mangoro, the Mananzara, and several others 

 of considerable importance, all of which have their source in 

 the central plateau. 



A few miles up from the lakes, the country is open and 

 generally fertile, especially so near the banks of the rivers. 

 For the first thirty-five miles or so, the country rises gradually 

 to nearly 2000 feet above sea-level, and about this distance we 

 have the limits of the traveller's tree and the eastern boun- 

 dary of the great forest. 



From this forest nearly all the fauna with which we are 

 acquainted has been collected. The rich luxuriance of these 

 primeval woods it is difficult to describe ; the variety of the 

 timber, the dense undergrowth, the huge creepers, the graceful 

 tree-ferns, the beautiful orchids, the rich mosses, all must be 

 seen to be understood. It is in the depths of these forests 



