36 SEA SHELLS 



capital, but so fragile that it was difficult to find a perfect 

 specimen. 



But although that portion of the shore did not yield much of 

 conchological interest, there are many parts of the coasts of 

 Madagascar which produce some of the most beautifully marked 

 species of the genus Conus (Conus tessellatus and C. nobilis, 

 if I am not mistaken, are Madagascar species), while large 

 handsome species of the Triton (T. variegatum) are also found. 

 These latter are often employed instead of church bells to call 

 the congregations together, as well as to summon the people 

 to hear Government orders. A hole is pierced on the side of the 

 shell, and it requires some dexterity to blow it ; but the sound 

 is deep and sonorous and can be heard at a considerable distance. 

 The circular tops of the cone shells are ground down to a thin 

 plate and extensively used by the Sakalava and other tribes as 

 a face ornament, being fixed by a cord on the forehead or the 

 temples. They are called ftlana. I have also picked up 

 specimens, farther south, of Cyprcea (C. madagascariensis), a 

 well-known handsome shell, as well as of Oliva, Mitra, Cassis, 

 and others (C. madagascariensis). The finest examples are, 

 however, I believe, only to be got by dredging near the shore. 



After some time we left the shore and proceeded through the 

 woods, skirting one of those lagoons which run parallel with 

 the coast nearly all the way from Tamatave to Andovoranto. 

 A good recent map of Madagascar will show that on this coast, 

 for about three hundred miles south of Hivondrona, there is a 

 nearly continuous line of lakes and lagoons. They vary in 

 distance from the sea from a hundred yards to a couple of miles ; 

 and in many places they look like a very straight river or a broad 

 canal, while frequently they extend inland, spreading out into 

 extensive sheets of water, two or three miles across. This 

 peculiar formation is probably owing, in part at least, to slight 

 changes of level in the land, so that the inner banks of the 

 lagoons were possibly an old shore-line. But this chain of 

 lagoons and lakes is no doubt chiefly due to east coast rivers 

 being continually blocked up at their outlets by bars of sand, 

 driven up by the prevailing south-east trade-wind and the 

 southerly currents. So that the river waters are forced back 

 into the lagoons until the pressure is so great that a breach is 

 made, and the fresh water rushes through into the sea. On 



