OUR BEARERS 55 



consists merely of a round pole with notches cut in the upper 

 side to prevent the foot from slipping. On a subsequent visit 

 to Madagascar my wife and I had to use one of these trdno 

 dmbo (" raised houses "), as they are called, as a bedroom, and 

 very clean and comfortable we found it, free from all insect 

 plagues ; the floor was of plaited bamboo, springy to walk on, 

 although the getting up to it or down from it was a somewhat 

 difficult feat. 



We were astir early on the Wednesday morning and left our 

 quarters at six o'clock. It was a beautiful morning as we com- 

 menced our journey and began to mount hills and descend 

 valleys and cross streams as before with this difference, that 

 the hills became higher and steeper, and the paths more difficult. 

 How our men managed to carry themselves up and down, to say 

 nothing of the heavy loads on their shoulders, puzzled me, but 

 they did their work apparently without much fatigue. I 

 noticed that many of those who carried heavy loads had the 

 flesh and muscles on the shoulders thickened into a sort of pad, 

 caused, I suppose, from the constant weight and friction of their 

 burdens. When carrying they wore but little clothing, merely 

 the saldka or loin-cloth, and sometimes a sleeveless jacket of 

 hempen cloth or other coarse material. In the cool mornings 

 they generally wore over the shoulders the Idmba 1 of rofia, or 

 of hemp cloth ; but during the rest of the day this was bound 

 tightly round the waist, or thrown upon the palanquin. The 

 two sets of four bearers used to take the work in " spells " of 

 a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes at a time ; when the 

 others relieved them they did not stop, but those taking the 

 poles of the palanquin would stoop under and take it on their 

 shoulders with hardly any jerk, even when running at full speed. 

 Occasionally one set would take the duty for an hour or more, 

 while if going fast, or on very difficult ground, they relieved 

 each other very frequently. Every three or four minutes they 

 changed the load from one shoulder to another, the leaders 

 lifting the pole over their heads. 



In proceeding on our journey we met great numbers of men 

 bringing poultry, manioc, potatoes, rice, and other produce 

 from the interior to the coast. These articles are mostly 

 brought to Tamatave and other ports, so that the ships trading 

 to these places are supplied with abundance of provisions at a 



