V 

 240 A STRIKING PICTURE 



thousand to three thousand feet above the lower country. Be- 

 tween these bold headlands we could count four or five water- 

 falls, two of them falling in a long riband of foam several 

 hundred feet down perpendicular faces of rock, I^etvy.een the 

 opening points of this great valley, three or four miles apart, 

 could be seen a comparatively level undulating country, with 

 patches of wood and the windings of the river Matitanana. On 

 a green hill to the north side of the valley was a group of houses, 

 which we were glad to hear was Iv6hitrosa, our destination. 

 This hill we found was seven hundred feet above the stream at 

 its foot, but it looked small compared with the towering heights 

 around it. At last we reached the bottom of the valley, crossed 

 the stream, and presently commenced the steep ascent to the 

 village. It was quite dark before we reached it, muddy, wet 

 and tired out ; we had been eight hours on the way, and five 

 and a half on foot over extremely rough and fatiguing paths. 

 The native chief and his people had overtaken us in the forest 

 and went on first to prepare a house for us. 



We found that the best dwelling in the village was ready, and 

 a bright fire blazing on the hearth. It was with some difficulty 

 that we got all our baggage arranged inside, for, although the 

 largest house available, it was rather smaller than our tent, 

 and nearly a quarter of it was occupied by the hearth and the 

 space around it. At one side of ttye fire were sitting four young 

 women, the daughters of the chief. A glance at these young 

 ladies showed us that we had come into the territory of a tribe 

 different from any we had yet seen. They were lightly clothed 

 in a fine mat wrapped round their waists, but were highly orna- 

 mented on their -heads,- necks, and arms. A fillet of small white 

 beads, an inch or so wide, was round their heads, fastened by a 

 circular metal plate on their foreheads. From their necks hung 

 several necklaces of long oval white beads and smaller red, ones. 

 On their wrists they had silver rings, and a sort of broad 

 bracelet of small black, white, and red beads ; and on every 

 finger and on each thumb were rings of brass wire. In the 

 glancing firelight they certainly made a striking picture of 

 barbaric ornamentations ; and notwithstanding their dark 

 skins and numerous odd little tails of hair, some of them were 

 comely enough. We had soon to ask them to retire in order to 

 stow away our packages and get some tea ready. The house 



