ISLAND OF NOSIBE 313 



portion of the eastern coast of the island. There were many 

 islands rising precipitously out of the sea, while ahead of 

 us the lofty mountains of the island of Nosibe soon appeared. 

 These looked exactly like portions of the interior of Madagascar 

 set down in the midst of the sea ; the same red clay soil and 

 the same markings of valley and ravine as seen all through the 

 interior plateaux. Two or three very regular volcanic cones, 

 truncated and showing the craters, were very prominent ; 

 these are parts of that chain of extinct vents of which we have 

 seen numerous examples in our travelling through other parts 

 of the country. Besides the main island of N6sibe, there are 

 many outlying portions of it, looking like detached islets 

 dropped into the sea. Some of these are densely wooded from 

 base to summit. Altogether, as may be seen from a brief 

 glance at the map, the north-western side of Madagascar is 

 totally different, with its numerous deep bays and inlets, from 

 the eastern side, where there is almost a straight line for many 

 hundreds of miles. The geology of the two sides is very 

 different, and this has powerfully affected their physical geo- 

 graphy. 



We stayed several hours at N&sibe, discharging and receiving 

 cargo, and it was nearly sunset when we steamed away to the 

 north-west for Mayotta. For several hours we could still 

 see the island and the mainland by the glare of the burning 

 grass on the hillsides ; and these, for more than five years 

 subsequently, were the last glimpses we had of Madagascar. 



1 See " The South-West Indian Ocean " ; by J. C. F. Fryer ; 

 The Geographical Journal, September 1910 ; pp. 249-271. 



