56 NATIVE MUSIC 



very moderate rate. The poultry were enclosed in large open 

 panniers or baskets made of strips of bamboo plaited together 

 and slung at each end of a bamboo or a pole of light wood. We 

 also overtook many men taking European goods up to the 

 capital quantities of cheap and gaudily painted crockery, iron 

 cooking-pots, and a variety of other articles. Many also 

 carried salt, and others the same open wicker baskets in which 

 fowls are brought down, but now containing quantities of the 

 fibre of the rojia palm. This is taken up into the interior to 

 be manufactured into cloth. Sometimes these men were met 

 singly, or two or three together, but more often they travelled 

 in companies of ten, twenty or thirty. Occasionally we met a 

 Hova officer in a palanquin borne by his slaves, and often with 

 his wife and other members of his family, also in palanquins, 

 with female slaves attending them and running at a good pace 

 to keep up with the men. 



In one day we often saw a great variety of face and colour, and 

 met representatives of several of the different tribes which 

 people the island ; and these differ considerably in colour and 

 features. Among the faces we saw, although there were few 

 that could be called handsome, judging by a European standard, 

 there was yet a large proportion of good heads, with high, well- 

 formed foreheads, and a general look of quickness and intelli- 

 gence. The impression given was certainly not that of a race 

 low in mental organisation or capabilities. 



At Ambatoharanana, where we breakfasted, we were favoured 

 with a little native music while our meal was being prepared. 

 The instrument consisted of a piece of bamboo about four feet 

 long, with parts of the strong outer fibre detached and strained 

 over small pieces of pumpkin shell like the bridge of a violin. 

 With this simple contrivance the performer produced a soft 

 plaintive kind of music, not unlike the tones of a guitar. This 

 instrument is called a valiha, and is played by the fingers. A 

 simpler and ruder musical effect is obtained by a kind of bow 

 of wood, with two or three strings, and to which, at one end, the 

 half of a large gourd is fixed to give resonance ; this is called 

 lokdngam-bdatdvo (vdatdvo, pumpkin), but its sound is poor and 

 monotonous. 



Although the paths we traversed were most difficult, the 

 scenery was singularly delightful. There are few more beautiful 



