258 A LARGE GOVERNMENT HOUSE 



clusters of sheaths, about a dozen in each, much resembling 

 the horns of a short-horned ox. These project from between 

 the leaf-stalks, two in full bloom, and the other two generally 

 dying off, or shedding the seeds, or rather the seed-pods. These 

 are oval in shape, about two inches long, and yellow in colour, 

 something like very large dates. These, when ripe, open and 

 show each pod dividing into three parts, each of which is double, 

 thus containing six rows of seeds about the size of a small bean. 

 But what seems very curious is, that each seed is wrapped in a 

 covering exactly like a small piece of blue silk with scalloped 

 edges. I could not get these, however, without some difficulty 

 from the ants, which swarmed all over trunk, leaf-stalks, and 

 leaves, and resented vigorously any intrusion into their domains. 



At Mahamanina we found old friends in the governor and 

 his wife. The Idpa or government house was the largest and 

 finest house I had ever seen in Madagascar, except the chief 

 palace in the capital. It was three storeys high, entirely of 

 timber, with stout verandah posts and very high-pitched roof ; 

 and everything here, gateways, guard-houses and stockades, 

 was of the most substantial character, and made of fine massive 

 timbers. After two days' stay we proceeded farther south, and 

 at the village where we encamped for the night we noticed a new 

 style of coiffure among the women. Some of them had their 

 hair done in two rows of little balls, while behind the head there 

 was a piece of hollow wood ornamented with brass-headed nails 

 and fastened into the hair. In this they kept their needles and 

 other small property. Beads also were a good deal worn, and 

 they had the Idndo or square mat on the back. At one village 

 the young women wear round the breast a broad band of neatly 

 woven straw, ornamented with a variety of patterns in different 

 colours. It was rather difficult to understand the talk of the 

 poeple ; the nasal n, the peculiar intonation, and the pronouns 

 and adverbs being all different from the Hova forms, made their 

 conversation a puzzle to us. Some, if not all the people here, 

 are a Sakalava colony from the west of the island. 



We came the next day to a very boggy and difficult rice- 

 valley. Hereabouts the people make their vcdam-parihy, or low 

 earthen banks between the rice-fields, with a foundation of 

 small stakes stuck in the ground, apparently to hold the earth 

 together, as it seems less tenacious and binding than that in 



