30 MY PALANQUIN 



strong and active young men, spare and lithe of limb, and proved 

 to possess great powers of endurance. The loads they carried 

 were not very heavy, but it was astonishing to see with what 

 steady patience they bore them hour after hour under a burning 

 sun, and up and down paths in the forest, where their progress 

 was often but a scrambling from one foothold to another. Two 

 men would take a load of between eighty and ninety pounds, 

 slung on a bamboo, between them ; and this was the most 

 economical way of taking goods, for, on account of the difficulty 

 of the paths, four men found it more fatiguing to carry in one 

 package a weight which, divided into two, could easily be 

 borne by two sets of bearers. 



Eight of the strongest and most active young men, accustomed 

 to work together, were selected to carry my palanquin, and took 

 it in two sets of four each, carrying alternately. Most of the 

 articles of my baggage were carried by two men ; but my two 

 large flat wooden cases, containing drawing boards, paper and 

 instruments, required four men each. All baggage was carried 

 by the same men throughout the journey, without any relay or 

 change, except shifting the pole from one shoulder to the other ; 

 but my palanquin, as already said, had a double set. The 

 personal bearers, therefore, naturally travel quicker than those 

 carrying the baggage, and we generally arrived at the halting- 

 places an hour or more before the others came up. The hollow 

 of the bamboos to which boxes and cases were slung served for 

 carrying salt, spoons, and various little properties of the bearers, 

 and sometimes small articles of European make for selling at 

 the capital. The men were, and still are, very expert in packing 

 and securing goods committed to their charge. Prints, calicoes 

 and similar materials were often covered with pandanus leaves 

 and so made impervious to the wet ; and even sugar and salt 

 were carried in the same way without damage. 



As the conveyance of myself and my baggage required more 

 than thirty men, and Mr Plant took a dozen in addition, it was 

 some time before everything was arranged, and there was a good 

 deal of contention as to getting the lightest and most convenient 

 packages to carry. We had hoped to start early in the forenoon, 

 but it was after one o'clock when we sent off the last cases and 

 I stepped into my filanjdna to commence the novel experience 

 of a journey in Madagascar. We formed quite a large party as 



