T-6 VISITS TO MADAGASCAR ciup. vii. 



Both on this and the previous day we passed many tra- 

 vellers, though few journeyed singly. Mostly two or three, 

 and more frequently a large party, travelled in company. 

 The chiefs were carried by four men in open palanquins, in 

 which they sometimes reclined pretty nearly at full length. 

 A mother and her infant were in one of these palanquins 

 attended by several females, who ran along by the side. 

 One or two travellers we passed in a sort of temporary litter, 

 made by fastening a piece of rofia cloth in the form of a 

 hammock, to a single pole, carried on the shoulders of two 

 men, the chief sitting sideways in the hammock, and resting 

 his arms on the pole to which the ends of the hammock were 

 fastened. Sometimes we passed what seemed to be a whole 

 family, comprising adults, children, and slaves. The chief 

 usually carried a spear or staff, or both. The burdens, 

 whether of matting, clothing, or provisions, carried by the 

 slaves, were not borne on the head, as is the uniform practice 

 of the Coolies or Creoles of Mauritius, but were fastened 

 at the back, and the children, when too young to walk, were 

 carried in the same manner. Few appeared to be loiterers on 

 the road, but all were passing along at a tolerably quick pace. 

 None of the parties were much encumbered with personal 

 luggage ; but the loads of rice, and similar articles carried by 

 some of the slaves, appeared heavy. 



Besides the Traveller's Tree, often the chief growth of vast 

 tracts of the country, I noticed another tree of large and 

 shining foliage, like that of the magnolia, and occasionally a 

 large-leaved betonica. The Calophyllum Inophyllum, or 

 other species of gum-tree, imparted a rich and varied character 

 to the scenery. Near the water, at two places where we 

 halted, I found the Hibiscus tiliaceus growing to a great 

 size, straggling over a considerable space, and covered with 

 large yellow and claret-coloured blossoms. The only dif- 

 ference I could perceive between the specimens I met with in 



