CHAPTER IX. 



LA FORET D' AMBRE, MADAGASCAR. 



THE day after we left Mayotte, Cape Ambre was 

 sighted, and at noon we entered the harbour of 

 Diego Suarez, the principal port of Madagascar. 

 The town is strongly fortified and owing to a 

 deep indentation of the coastline, it has an ideal 

 harbour. 



The governor of Diego Suarez was exceedingly 

 kind. He granted us a permit for collecting 

 during our stay, and also supplied us with free 

 passes for the " train " from the town to Camp 

 d' Ambre, which we wished to visit in order to see 

 the great forest of Ambre. Moreover, a message 

 was sent to the officer in charge of this camp to 

 give us all the help possible during our stay there. 

 We started at 7 o'clock in the morning and boarded 

 the " train," which was in reality a tram consisting 

 of two carriages drawn by four mules. The road 

 was a steep ascent, and we were three hours in 

 reaching the camp, which is 2000 feet above sea- 

 level. The first part of the road led through 

 fields of long grass, in which were great numbers 



