158 VALUABLE TREES 



quite the effect of the two precious metals. The young leaves 

 of a tree found in the forest (Eleocarpus sericeus), when dried 

 and pressed, form the beautiful objects known as " gold leaves." 



A large number of the forest trees yield substances of com- 

 mercial value. Two species of climbing plants afford india- 

 rubber, one of the most valuable exports of the island. A tree 

 called Nato supplies a bark which is largely employed by the 

 natives in dyeing the deep red used for their silk Idmbas, especi- 

 ally those used to wrap the bodies of the dead. Other trees 

 yield various gums and resins, one of these being the valuable 

 gum-copal, of which quantities are exported. From several 

 other trees tough fibres are obtained for the manufacture of 

 cord and rope ; while from a palm called Vonitra the " bass 

 fibre " or piassava is taken, which is used for making brooms, 

 brushes, etc. A shrub, a species of castor-oil plant, supplies 

 seeds which are so full of oil or fat that they are strung on a reed 

 like beads and are used to give light, so that it is called " the 

 candle-nut tree." When one end is lit, the seeds burn steadily, 

 giving a light about equal to that of two good candles and 

 leaving no ash. A very considerable number of trees and 

 plants are employed in various ways by the Malagasy as medi- 

 cine, both for internal and external use ; and although the 

 virtue of some of these may be imaginative only, there can be 

 little doubt that in numbers of instances these native remedies 

 are of value. Probably a careful examination of them would 

 give some valuable additions to the pharmacopoeia. 



Among the forest trees is a considerable number which yield 

 valuable timber, most of them hard and beautifully grained 

 woods, which are employed for cabinet-work as well as in house 

 carpentry. In the great palace at Antananarivo, the three 

 central columns supporting the ridge of the roof are said to be 

 each formed of the trunk of a single tree ; the roof is a hundred 

 and twenty feet high, and these pillars are sunk some way in 

 the earth. One of these timber trees, called Voambdana, is 

 extensively used for making furniture tables, sideboards, 

 wardrobes, writing-desks, bookshelves, etc. and resembles 

 mahogany. Another tree called Hdrahdra has extremely hard 

 wood, and is employed for the long spade handles, and formerly 

 for spear shafts. One species of pine known as Hetatra, the 

 only example of that order in the island, gives a hard white 



