DELIGHTFUL SCENERY 41 



sometimes comes into the rivers in search of food. One was 

 caught in the river Mananjara which measured fourteen feet 

 from tip of saw to end of tail ; the saw alone was three feet six 

 inches in length, seven inches broad at base, and four inches 

 at tip. The flesh is coarse eating, but the liver is very 

 palatable." 



I may remark here that we seldom stopped, either at mid- 

 day or in the evening, at any village without a visit from the 

 headman of the place and his family, who always carried some 

 present. Fowls, rice, potatoes, eggs and honey were constantly 

 brought to us, preceded by a speech in which the names and 

 honours of the Queen were recited, and compliments to us on 

 our visiting their village. The Malagasy are a most hospitable 

 people, always courteous and polite to strangers ; and my first 

 experience of them on this journey was confirmed in number- 

 less instances in travelling in other parts of the country. 



Leaving Vav6ny, where we had our morning repast, between 

 eleven and twelve o'clock, we went on again through the woods 

 along the shores of the lake, which here spreads out into broad 

 sheets of water, two or three miles wide. The scenery was 

 delightful, both shores being thickly wooded, reminding me in 

 some places of the Wye, in others of the lake at Longleat, and 

 in narrow parts of Studley Park. Our road for miles resembled 

 a footpath through a nobleman's park in England : clumps of 

 trees, shrubberies, and short smooth turf, all united to complete 

 the resemblance. These all seemed more like the work of some 

 expert landscape gardener than merely the natural growth. 

 In some parts, where the more distinctly tropical vegetation 

 pandanus, cacti and palms were not seen, the illusion was 

 complete. In many places we saw many sago palms (Cycas 

 thouarsii), a tree much less in height than the majority of the 

 palms and not exceeding twelve or fourteen feet, but with 

 the same long pinnate leaves characteristic of so many of 

 the Palmaceae. 



One of the most conspicuous trees on this coast, especially as 

 seen from the sea, is the Filao (Casuarina equisetifolia), a tall 

 larch or fir-like tree, often called, from the colour of its wood, 

 " the beefwood tree." Like the firs, its leaves are fine filaments, 

 and the wind passing through these produces a peculiar gentle 

 sighing noise. Very plentiful, too, is a much smaller tree bearing 



