TREES 125 



where, as already described, the rice is sown broadcast before 

 transplanting into the larger fields. 



There are not many deciduous trees in Imerina, so the 

 numerous orchards, chiefly of mango-trees, look fresh and green 

 throughout the year. But the Cape lilac, which does cast its 

 leaves, is beginning to put out its bright green fronds ; the 

 peach-trees are a mass of pink blossom, unrelieved as yet by any 

 leaves, and the songosongo (Euphorbia splendens), in the hedges 

 is just beginning to show its brilliant scarlet or pale yellow 

 bracts. Wild flowers are still scarce, but the lilac flowers of 

 the sevdbe (Solanum auriculatum) bloom all through the year. 

 The golden-orange panicles of the seva (Buddleia madagas- 

 cariensis), which has a sweetish scent, now appear. Nature 

 is arousing from the inaction of the cold season, and the few 

 trees now flowering give promise of the coming spring. And so, 

 from year to year, every month brings some fresh interest in 

 tree and flower, in bird and insect, in the employments of the 

 people, and in the changing aspects of the sky by day and in the 

 starry heavens by night. 



NOTE. I may add here that of late years, through foreign 

 influence preceding and following the French occupation, many 

 new trees have been introduced into Madagascar, which have 

 materially altered the look of the country in some provinces, 

 especially in the Betsileo district. Millions of trees, chiefly 

 species of eucalyptus, have been planted, especially along the 

 roadsides, as well as mimosa, blackwood and filao. The 

 beautiful purple bracts of the bougainvillea, and the large 

 brilliant scarlet ones of the poinsettia, now give a much brighter 

 appearance to gardens and public places, since they have been 

 extensively planted in the capital and other large towns, as well 

 as zinnias, crotons and cannas. 



1 Of late years, since numbers of children attend Government 

 schools as well as those of the various missions, a considerable 

 improvement has taken place in children's clothing. Knicker- 

 bockers and jackets are now the dress of hundreds of boys ; but 

 the native l&mba is still largely used, and is almost always part 

 of girls' dress. 



2 Curiously enough, the Malagasy appear to have given names 

 only to these two prominent clusters of stars. The Pleiades 

 they call Kotokeli-middi-laona " i.e. " Little boys fighting over 



