272 MAGNIFICENT ORCHIDS 



E, misy re ! Oh yes, there's some ! 



E, ny akoho manatody, zalahy, e ! Oh, the egg-laying fowls, lads, oh ! 



E, misy re I Oh yes, there's some ! 



E, ny vazaha be vola, zalahy, e Oh, the very rich foreigner, lads, oh! 



E, misy re ! Oh yes, here he is ! 



and so on, ad libitum. 



In another song sung by men on this voyage, the chorus was, 

 Manddny vatsy, Toamasina malaza e! i.e. "Consumes pro- 

 visions for the way, famous Tamatave O ! " while the recitative 

 brought in all the different villages on the journey from Tama- 

 tave to the capital, ending with Avara-drova, the northern 

 entrance to the palace yard. Our return voyage was a rough 

 one ; there was a considerable swell, for the sea breeze had set 

 in very strongly, as is generally the case in the afternoon along 

 the east coast ; and had I not had an unusually large and good 

 canoe, I dared not have ventured across the broad expanse of 

 water near the mouth of the river. 



While waiting for the canoe that afternoon I was delighted 

 to see the profusion of orchids along the shore. I had, of course, 

 often admired these on the trunks and branches of trees on the 

 coast ; but, here, the magnificent Agrcecum superbum was 

 growing by hundreds on the ground, on good-sized bushes, 

 which occurred in scores, the large waxy-white flowers all in 

 full bloom. It was worth a fatiguing journey to see such a 

 wealth of floral beauty. Here I may notice that another fine 

 orchid, the Angrcecum sesquipedale, is also to be seen in flower 

 in the months of June and July on this eastern coast. It is 

 not so numerous in blooms as the other species, but its large 

 pure white flowers shine out like stars against the dark trunks 

 of the trees on which it grows. As its specific name signifies, 

 its remarkable spur or nectary is nearly a foot and a half long, 

 pointing to an insect with a very long sucking tube in order to 

 reach the honey stored there. There are several other species 

 of AngrcBcum found in Madagascar, but with smaller flowers 

 than the two just named. As Mr Baron remarks, " What- 

 ever else may escape the notice of the traveller, the A. 

 superbum forms far too striking an ornament to be passed by 

 unheeded." And I think the same might almost be said of 

 the sesquipedale ; of this latter Mr Baron says that it generally 

 chooses trees which overhang the rivers or lagoons as its 



