.!G2 VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. chap. xiii. 



The prince appeared much interested in learning the 

 names and properties of some few of the plants we saw on 

 our route. Soon after five o'clock we reached Isoaierana, a 

 spacious building, which the prince had more than once 

 pointed out during our ride, telling me it had been built 

 by the late king Kadama. An immense hill had been 

 removed to provide a site for this building, which we ap- 

 proached by passing throiigh a level space four or five 

 hundred yards wide. The prince then asked if I would 

 enter; and, alighting from the palanquin at one of the 

 principal entrances, he took my arm, and led me in, until 

 we reached a large room nearly a hundred feet long and 

 forty feet wide, apparently occupying the entire centre of the 

 building. It was a splendid room, though too low to be 

 well proportioned. The walls were wainscoted, the floor 

 of native wood beautifully polished, and inlaid in large square 

 panels or mosaics, some kinds richly coloured, and varying 

 almost through every shade, from ebony to maple. It is 

 said there are forty rooms on the ground floor of this build- 

 ing, besides chambers or attics ; but as the evening was ad- 

 vancing, we did not prolong our stay. All the servants in 

 the house retired to a distance as we entered ; but as we 

 departed, they gathered outside, and offered their salutations 

 to the prince. 



This remarkable building is altogether of wood, the walls 

 outside covered with diagonal panels, the sides screened with 

 double verandahs, and the roof covered with shingles. The 

 lower verandah is protected by an iron railing, and also by an 

 iron chain on low posts, at a short distance from the house. 

 Considering the state of civilisation in the country at the 

 time of its erection, Isoaierana is an astonishing building, 

 and would be a splendid mansion had it but been higher. It 

 was built about thirty years ago, as a sort of suburban re- 

 sidence, by Kadama, under the direction of M. Le Gros, a 



