TANALA HOUSES 249 



Our route towards the sea was now over a comparatively 

 level country, but not without many steep ascents and descents, 

 and generally following the valley of the Matitanana. As I 

 took with me a good theodolite, I was able to make a running 

 survey of a large portion of our journey, and to map, for the 

 first time, that river valley. The path was often hidden by 

 long grass which was much higher than our heads, the bearers' 

 feet being frequently hurt by the sharp prickly grass called 

 tsevoka. We had beautiful views of the river, and the foliage 

 became most luxuriant ; the valleys were full of the elegant 

 traveller's tree, while in front of us whole hills were covered 

 with the lovely light green of the bamboo, with its graceful 

 curving head and fine pinnate leaves at every joint. 



A very prominent feature in the vegetation of many places 

 we passed through was the longdzy, a plant which seemed 

 frequently to prevent anything else from growing (Amomum 

 angustifolium). It has a rod-like stem, rising sometimes from 

 twelve to fourteen feet high, with leaves a foot or more long, 

 growing alternately on each side the stem. At the base grow 

 the fruits in a bright, smooth, scarlet husk, two or three inches 

 long, enclosing a white silky-looking pulp containing a number 

 of purplish-black seeds, the cardamom of commerce. The pulp 

 has a pleasant acid taste, but if one of the seeds is broken a 

 pungent burning sensation is experienced at the back of the 

 mouth. 



The better kind of houses in these Tanala villages have the 

 walls made of bamboo flattened and plaited together, while the 

 poorer ones are of the leaves of the traveller's tree. Every 

 house is roofed with the latter material ; in many of them the 

 gable projects at the ridge twice as much as at the eaves, so 

 as to make a kind of pent at each end. The gable timbers are 

 frequently cut into a very exact resemblance to ox horns. In 

 most of the villages money seems of little use to the people ; 

 they value beads or calico much more. Every woman and girl, 

 and many of the men and boys,. are decorated with beads, and 

 these seem an important part of their property. Their religion 

 seems to consist chiefly of charms ; cfraj-rns ag ai '"St, g 11 ^; 

 fever, crocodiles, etc. We purchased for a little cloth a charm 

 against gun-shot ; this consisted of three hollow tin receptacles 

 resembling crocodiles' teeth, joined together and filled with 



