326 VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. chap. xit. 



-over a large part of the lower ground ; a few only of these fields 

 being now cultivated, their aspect seemed to indicate that 

 the population had, in former times, been much larger than 

 at present. Our road led us towards a large enclosure formed 

 by walls nine or ten feet high, the roof-shaped top of the 

 wall being armed with pointed spikes, firmly cemented in 

 the sun-hardened clay of which the wall was composed, and 

 placed within a few inches of each other around the whole 

 enclosure. As the gates to this enclosure were open we passed 

 through, and in the centre passed by a large and well built 

 house of wood, with floors, and several apartments; while 

 within the same enclosure I noticed a number of inferior 

 structures. The whole was in good preservation, and was 

 altogether the most feudal or aristocratic looking place we 

 had met with. 



Soon after leaving the enclosure we crossed the clear- 

 flowing river Valala, and wound our way through plantations 

 along a path formed on the side of steep banks, through deep 

 cuttings in clay, and by large blocks of granite, to one of the 

 villages of Prince Eamonja, at the foot of Angavo (lite- 

 rally the lofty), a high massive mountain that had been long 

 in sight. This was the first fortified village we had entered. 

 The ditch was deep, the path across it to the gateway narrow. 

 The" wall or fence on the upper side of the ditch was termin- 

 ated by large upright stones; and the gate itself, a large 

 slab or stone which it would require a number of men to 

 move, stood against the wall just within the gateway. I 

 passed through the village to the house of Eamonja, a well 

 built wooden edifice with a lofty narrow roof. 



As soon as I had entered the house, an aged woman, tall, 

 but shrivelled and grey-headed, rose from her seat, and, 

 stooping as she moved, came towards me, bursting into the 

 most passionate expressions of joy, and exclaiming — '-'Efa 

 tonga ! efa tonga ! is come, is come ! " then clasping m}'^ hand 



