MADAGASCAR 259 



half an inch in length, but it bears a long thread-like appendix. 

 Native sheep having no wool, do not seem to suffer from the 

 danga, while bullocks, owing to their greater height, only 

 collect it while grazing, and that around their horns and eyes. 

 If it gets into the eye it may, of course, be dangerous, yet, 

 broadly speaking, horned cattle do very well on danga. 



Monsieur S. L. Roussel writes me : " The land on which I 

 settled at first was right in the middle of eruptive and granitic 

 hills, and renowned for its good pasture. The sheep — both 

 native and imported Merinos — did well at first, and my shep- 

 herd was delighted with the abundant and rich growth of wool. 

 April came round, however, and with it the seeding season of 

 the danga. We soon saw that there was only one safe course, 

 and that was to keep the Merinos in. For one of them, however, 

 it was already too late ; internal inflammation had set in, and 

 he died after a week's illness. This was my No. 1, a full-folded 

 Rambouillet, bought from the French National ' Bergerie.' 



" I had, however, already looked round and found that 

 between the mountains of Ambia, where I had settled, and the 

 sea there was a region of beautiful pastures, covered with 

 voln'ny ondry, and my arrangements were complete to transfer 

 the flock there. 



" This transfer was no small matter. What with two cart- 

 loads of purebreds, that were too lazy to walk and too valuable 

 to risk on the road, a load or two of lambs which were too young 

 to walk, and some three hundred ewes, most of them in lamb 

 or with young, the comparatively short trip — only about sixty 

 miles — took the best part of a week. The crossing of the 

 Mananare and of the Mandrare Rivers were the chief events. 

 The Mandrare is a broad but not very deep river, where the 

 native ewes had the opportunity of showing off their swimming 

 abilities, while the purebreds were passed in a native ' lakana,' 

 or pirogue, cut out of the trunk of a single tree. 



" This part of the country appears to be all that can be 

 desired for sheep. The grass is good, there is enough of bush 

 to provide shade and shelter — very little or none of the thorny 

 species described above. There is practically no running water, 

 but a fair supply of good water can be secured underground by 

 digging to a depth of from 20 to 40 ft. As the natives will 



