34 GIGANTIC ARUMS 



and loaded. At each end is a kind of projecting beak, pierced 

 with a hole for attaching a mooring-rope. From the smooth- 

 ness of the sides, and the great length compared with the beam, 

 they can be propelled at considerable speed with far less exertion 

 than is required to move a boat of European build. Instead of 

 oars, paddles shaped like a wooden shovel are employed, and 

 these are dug into the water, the rower squatting in the canoe 

 and facing the bows ; the paddle is held vertically, a reverse 

 motion being given to the handle. We went a couple of miles 

 down the stream, which here unites with others, so that several 

 islands are formed, all the banks being covered with luxuriant 

 vegetation. Conspicuous amongst this, and growing in the 

 shallow water close to the banks, were great numbers of a 

 gigantic arum endemic in Madagascar (Typhonodorum lind- 

 leyanum), 1 and growing to the height sometimes of twelve or 

 fifteen feet, and possessing a large white spathe of more than 

 a foot in length, enclosing a golden- yellow pistil, or what looks 

 like one. The leaves are most handsome and are about a yard 

 long. After about twenty minutes' paddling we landed, and, 

 when all our little fleet had arrived, mounted our palanquins, 

 and set off through a narrow path in the woods. The morning 

 air, even on this tropical coast, was quite keen, making an over- 

 coat necessary before the sun got up. 



Our road for some miles lay along cleared forest, with stumps 

 of trees and charred trunks, white and black, in every direction. 

 It is believed that the white ants are responsible for this de- 

 struction of the trees. We saw numbers of a large crow (Corvus 

 scapulatus), not entirely black, like our English species, but 

 with a broad white ring round the neck and a pure white breast, 

 giving them quite a clerical air. This bird, called godika by the 

 Malagasy evidently an imitation of his harsh croak is larger 

 than a magpie, and his dark plumage is glossy bluish-black. 

 He is very common everywhere in the island, being often seen 

 in large numbers, especially near the markets, where he picks 

 up a living from the refuse and the scattered rice. He is a bold 

 and rather impudent bird, and will often attack the smaller 

 hawks. There were also numbers of the white egret (Ardea 

 bubulcus) or vbrom-pbtsy (i.e. " white bird "), also called voron- 

 tian-bmby (i.e. " bird liked by cattle "), from their following the 

 herds to feed upon the ticks which torment them. One may 



