142 VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. chap. v. 



another time, some large centipedes in one of my boxes. The 

 larofest I saw crawled out from the framework of the table 

 on which I was wi'iting : but I escaped injury from all. The 

 bite of the scoriDion, I was informed, was exceedingly severe, 

 and the poisonous effects long continued. One day I was 

 startled by cries of pain in the house opposite to that in 

 which I dwelt, and was soon afterwards sent for by the chief 

 residing there to see his wife, who, in great suffering and 

 alarm, was crjdng out, " I shall die, I shall die ! " A number 

 of her neighbours were gathered round the mat on which she 

 was sitting. Her husband, who was supporting her, informed 

 me that, while gathering fish on the reef, she had been stung 

 in the hand by a small poisonous fish, which they had caught 

 and brought for me to see. There were three punctures in 

 the woman's thumb, and her hand and arm were swollen and 

 discoloured. Although bathed with oil and other remedies, 

 the pain and inflammation continued until the next day, when 

 the swelling abated and the poor woman recovered. 



There are several poisonous kinds of fish among the reefs 

 and rocks near the shore, and their bite or sting is said to be 

 sometimes fatal. There are also serpents in the island, of 

 various kinds; but the largest are not poisonous, though 

 they will bite severely if assailed or irritated. M. Provint 

 told me that on one occasion, when he was travelling in the 

 country, having risen from the mat on which he had slept 

 during the night, he went a short distance, and having 

 directed his servant to prepare the mats for resuming the 

 journey, was called back by the man, who, on rolling up the 

 mats, discovered an immense serpent seven or eight feet long, 

 and as thick in the body as an ordinary wine bottle. It was 

 coiled up in a circle exactly in the spot where he had been 

 lying ; to which it had probably been attracted by the warmth. 

 He said he was startled at the sight of such a monster, and 

 called to the natives to destroy it; but instead of this the 



