300 VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. chap. xi. 



gratification. The noise, however, was so great, that I was 

 glad to give them a piece of silver to retire. One of my 

 bearers, who had carried me during the day over nearly 

 twenty miles of by no means level road, was dancing to the 

 music ; so that I felt easy about his not having been over- 

 tasked with his burden. On leaving my door, ihp musicians 

 adjourned to the next house, where they kept up their per- 

 formance till past midnight. 



The next morning was dark, and the rain again falling 

 heavily ; we therefore remained here during the day. Many 

 of the natives of the place came to the house, as had been 

 their habit at most of the places where we had halted. I was 

 struck, as I had been at most of the villages of the Betani- 

 mena, and also the Betsimasaraka, with the physical appear- 

 ance of the people. The men whom I saw were, with few 

 exceptions, well formed, stout, and active, rather above the 

 middle stature. The women were short and muscular. I 

 scarcely saw a woman tall or thin. The men were usually 

 good looking, but this could scarcely be said of the women, 

 few of whom, judged by the European standard of beauty, 

 would have been considered handsome, and none of them 

 pretty. I rarely saw an ill formed head, or a low or retreat- 

 ing forehead. The majority of the people certainly presented 

 well proportioned, high, perpendicular foreheads. So much 

 so, that I often wished my photographic apparatus had been 

 available during the journey. The foreheads of the women 

 were not inferior to those of the men. The head was broad, 

 and the face rather round than oval. The eyebrows were 

 well marked, and but slightly arched. The eyes not large, 

 but often clear and bright. The nose was small at its junc- 

 tion ynih the forehead, and rather flat than otherwise. The 

 mouth was often large, the lips full, and slightly projecting; 

 the teeth white and large, occasionally over crowded, as if too 

 numerous to stand even. The chin frequently, but not always, 



