10 CONTENTS 



CHAPTER V 



PAOB 



FROM COAST TO CAPITAL : ALAMAZAOTRA TO ANTANANARIVO . 63 

 " Weeping-place of Bullocks " " Great Princess " Rock 

 Grandeur of the Vegetation Scarcity of Flowers Orchids, 

 Bamboos, and Pendent Lichens Apparent Paucity of Animal 

 Life Remarkable Fauna of Madagascar Geological Theories 

 thereon Lemurs The Ankay Plain An Ancient Lake 

 Moramanga River Mang6ro Grand Prospect from If6dy 

 The Takatra and Its Nest Hova Houses Insect Life Angavo 

 Rock Upper Forest Treeless Aspect of Imerina Granite 

 Rocks Ambatomanga And its big House Grass Burning 

 First View of Capital Its Size and Situation Hova Villages 

 A Cloud of Locusts Reach Antananarivo 



CHAPTER VI 



THE CHANGING MONTHS IN IMERINA : CLIMATE, VEGETATION 



AND LIVING CREATURES OF THE INTERIOR . . -75 



The Seasons in Madagascar Their Significant Names Pro- 

 spect from Summit of Antananarivo Great Rice-plain An 

 Inundation of the Same Springtime : September and October 

 Rice-planting and Rice-fields Trees and Foliage Common 

 Fruits " Burning the Downs " Birds Hawks and Kestrels ^/ 

 Summer : November to February Thunderstorms and Tropical 

 Rains Lightning and its Freaks Effects of Rain on Roads 

 Rainfall Hail Magnificent Lightning Effects Malagasy New 

 Year 



CHAPTER VII 



SPRING AND SUMMER , . . . . QO 



Native Calendar Conspicuous Flowers Aloes and Agaves 

 Uniformity of Length of Days Native Words and Phrases for 

 Divisions of Time And for Natural Phenomena Hova Houses 

 Wooden and Clay Their Arrangement And Furniture 

 " The Sacred Corner " Solitary Wasps Their Victims The -j 

 Cell-builders The Burrowers Wild Flowers 



CHAPTER VIII 



THE CHANGING MONTHS IN IMERINA I CLIMATE, VEGETATION, 



AND LIVING CREATURES OF THE INTERIOR . . . 103 



Autumn : March and April Rice Harvest The Cardinal- v/ 

 Bird The Egret and the Crow Harvest Thanksgiving Services 

 Rice, the Malagasy Staff of Life Queer " Relishes to Rice " 

 Fish Water-beetles A Dangerous Adventure with One 

 Dragonflies Useful Sedges and Rushes Mist Effects on Winter 

 Mornings Spiders' Webs The " Fosse-Crosser " Spider Silk ( v 

 from it Silk- worm Moths And Other Moths The " King " 

 Butterfly Grasshoppers and Insect Life on the Grass The Dog- . 

 Locust Gigantic Earthworms Winter : May to August 

 Winter the Dry Season 



