August 14, 1879] 



NATURE 



369 



continuous in a very straight line for above 600 miles. 

 The eastern side of the island is for the greater part of its 

 extent without any bay or inlet, but the north-western 

 side is deeply indented with large bays, into which the 

 chief rivers fall. This part of the coast is bold and 

 mountainous, and some of the finest scenery in Mada- 

 gascar is to be found here, as the northern extremity of 



the volcanic region forms several very grand mountains, 

 particularly the one called Amber or Ambohitra. This is 

 said to be about 6,000 feet high, and from its isolated 

 position in the low country surrounding it, is a remarkably 

 majestic hill as seen from every direction, as well as from 

 far out to sea.i It has three summits, and its sides are 

 clothed with impenetrable woods. 



I 



Mauritift.1 



South-west of this mountain is a remarkable rock- 

 fortress of the tribe inhabiting this portion of the country, 

 who are called Antank^rana, that is, "the people of the 

 rocks." It is an enormous, lofty, and precipitous rock, 

 having an elevation of nearly 1,000 feet, and covering an 

 area of about eight square miles. Its sides are so steep 

 that they cannot be climbed unless artificial means are 

 used, and it is thickly wooded wherever trees can 



possibly grow. The only entrance into the interior of the 

 rock, which is full of caves, is by means of a subterranean 

 passage, a portion of which is extremely narrow, allowing 

 only a single person to pass along it at a time, and has 

 on each side of it deep water. 



The other principal group of mountains in Madagascar 



" According to a French engineer's estimate, it considerably exceeds the 

 above given altitude, being, so he says, 2,700 metres high. 



