334 VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. chap, xii; 



lodge. Here I was most affectionately welcomed by a number 

 of friends, with some of whom I had had much pleasant inter- 

 course on a former occasion, at Tamatave. My meeting and 

 intercourse with friends, at this place, was deeply affecting ; 

 and the accounts I received of the severe afflictions of some, 

 and the perils of others, almost deprived me of sleep. 



We were stirring early, and in looking over the village 

 nothing struck me as more surprising than the narrow and 

 intricate passages between the houses, and from one part to 

 another. Here I saw for the first time two pits called fahitra, 

 in which oxen are confined and fattened. The pits, which 

 were close to the houses, were somewhat larger than the 

 animal, and a little deeper than the top of his horns. Over 

 one of these a covering of thatch was placed ; and the food of 

 the animals, fresh wet grass, was placed upon a ledge cut out 

 of the clay sides of the pit, in a rude sort of rack. 



Very early in my journey I found that if I left my clothes 

 by my bedside at night, they were in danger of being devoured 

 by the rats and mice before morning. Cats and owls, being 

 considered animals of ill-omen, are not allowed near any house . 

 so the rats and mice are left \indisturbed, and have it all their 

 own way. I had, therefore, been under the necessity of putting 

 all my clothes, including cap and great coat, into a bag, and 

 hanging them up by a cord to one of the rafters of the house. 

 But one night, when in consequence of indisposition I had 

 spread my great coat over me for an additional blanket, I 

 found in the morning that it had been eaten in several places. 

 Even the silk handkerchief spread over my head had suffered 

 considerably during the night; but this morning I found to 

 my great distress that several parts of a manuscript vocabulary 

 which I kept at the head of my palanquin, had been eaten by 

 the rats. For the future, therefore, I never ventured to leave 

 any book exposed by night. 



We left the village about seven o'clock, passing out by the 



