COAST SCENERY 37 



account of these sand-bars, hardly any east coast river can be 

 entered by ships. The rivers, in fact, flow for the most of the 

 time, not into the sea, but into the lagoons. These are not per- 

 fectly continuous, although out of that three hundred miles 

 there are only about thirty miles where there are breaks in their 

 continuity and where canoes have to be hauled for a few hundred 

 yards, or for a mile or two, on the dry land separating them. 



It will at once occur to anyone travelling along this coast, 

 as we did, that an uninterrupted waterway might be formed by 

 cutting a few short canals to connect the separate lagoons, and 

 so bring the coast towns into communication with Tamatave. 

 That enlightened monarch, Radama I. (1810-1828), did see this, 

 and several thousand men were at one time employed in con- 

 necting the lagoons nearest Tamatave ; but this work was 

 interrupted by his death and never resumed by his successors. 

 But soon after the French conquest the work was again taken 

 in hand ; canals were excavated, connecting all the lakes and 

 lagoons between Tamatave and Andovoranto ; and for about 

 twelve years a service of small steamers took passengers and 

 goods between Hivondrona and Brickaville, where, until quite 

 recently, the railway commenced. Since the line of rails has 

 now been completed direct to Tamatave, this waterway will 

 not be of the same use, at least for passenger traffic. 



The scenery of this coast is of a very varied and beautiful 

 nature, and the combinations of wood and water present a series 

 of pictures which constantly recalled some of the loveliest 

 landscapes that English river and lake scenery can present. 

 Our route ran for most of the way between the lagoons and the 

 sea, among the woods. On the one hand we had frequent 

 glimpses through the trees of sheets of smooth water fringed 

 by tropical vegetation, and on the other hand were the tumbling 

 and foaming waves of the ever-restless sea. In many places 

 islands studded the surface of the lakes, and I noticed thousands 

 of a species of pandanus, with large aerial roots, spreading out as 

 if to anchor it firmly against floods and violent currents. In 

 the woods were the gum-copal tree and many kinds of palms 

 with slender graceful stems and crowns of feathery leaves. 

 The climbing plants were abundant, forming ropes of various 

 thicknesses, crossing from tree to tree and binding all together 

 in inextricable confusion, creeping on the ground, mounting to 



