CHAP. XII. THE MOUNTAIN PASS AT ANGAVO. 329 



kind friends with whom I had held such pleasant intercourse, 

 and wound our way up the fertile and lovely valley of Angavo, 

 to the pass in the mountains forming its western boundary. 

 The first objects which attracted my attention after leaving the 

 village were a number of picturesque tombs, of careful con- 

 struction and considerable extent. I was told they were the 

 resting-places of Eamonja's ancestors. 



The ascent upon which we had entered was long and gradual 

 until near the summit, but I walked nearly all the way. At 

 different elevations we passed a succession of hamlets, perched 

 in the most picturesque spots, often on points of high land 

 projecting out into the valley. The houses were all well-built, 

 Avith clean swept court-yards around them. At one which we 

 passed, the first two-storied house I had noticed since leaving 

 Tamatave, a woman was looking out of a chamber Avindow ; at 

 others the inmates of the house seemed to be gathered toge- 

 ther on a sort of parapet in front of their dwellings, in order 

 to see us pass. I frequently halted to look back over the wide 

 green and fertile valley we had left. The cattle feeding on the 

 sides of the hills, the rustic villages scattered here and there 

 along its borders, or on the rocky promontories jutting out from 

 the mountain's side, the gardens and rice fields mapped out 

 below, and the clear cool stream winding its way along the 

 centre, all combined to form an extended and beautiful 

 scene, probably the more charming because seen under a 

 cloudless sky, and tinged with the bright rays of the morning 

 sun. 



In little more than an hour we reached the pass near the 

 summit of Angavo, the natural fortress of the province of 

 Ankay. It is a lofty massive granite mountain, capped with 

 clay, and having steep inaccessible sides. The small portion 

 of level land on the summit is defended by a succession of 

 deep ditches, extending nearly round it, and continued, one 

 after another, from the summit to the edge of the precipitous 



