310 FISHING EAGLES 



small expanse of the branches ; and their glossy dark brown 

 bark, their rapid tapering upwards, and their bareness of 

 foliage for the greater part of the year, mark them very dis- 

 tinctly from all others. They are curious in appearance, but 

 not at all beautiful. The bark is used to make rope, and the 

 sap is said to be potable and tasteless ; the wood, however, is 

 so soft that it can be pulled away by the fingers. 



Many trees affording beautiful and valuable timber are found 

 in these western woods ; among these is one yielding the kind 

 called by cabinet-makers " zebra-wood," while ebony is obtained 

 from one or more of the twenty-two species of Diospyros known 

 in the island. We have seen the mangrove (Rhizophora mucro- 

 natd) on the shores of Bembatoka Bay, and this tree is found 

 at the mouths of almost all the rivers and inlets on the north- 

 western coast, where it is the most prominent feature in the 

 extensive swamps, probably also helping to extend the land. 



We had no opportunity of seeing the largest of the Mada- 

 gascar birds, the Ankody, or fishing eagle (Haliaetus vocijeroides), 

 although it is found all along the western coast. It is a large 

 and handsome bird, and is said to keep watch on a tree or cliff 

 at the edge of the water, swooping down like lightning into the 

 sea after its finny prey, and being able to arrest instantaneously 

 its downward flight. M. Grandidier says that a single pair of 

 these eagles is found in very many of the innumerable small 

 bays of the north- western coast, and of this they take exclusive 

 possession, allowing no other eagle to encroach on their own 

 preserves. They feed principally on fish, catching adroitly 

 those which appear near the surface. The name of Ankody 

 applied to this bird appears to be an imitative one derived from 

 its cry of hoai, hoai. 



It is doubtful whether there is another eagle really indigenous 

 to Madagascar, although a harrier-eagle (Eutriorchis) was once 

 shot in the Mangoro valley ; if this was not a chance immigrant, 

 it must be extremely rare. This one example was remarkable 

 for the extreme shortness of its wings, and immoderate length 

 of tail. 



One of the most important occupations of the coast Sakalava 

 is the catching of turtles (fdno). Some of these creatures are 

 oval in form and very fat and plump, others are much thinner 

 and flat ; of these latter, some are said to attain a length of 



