RAINFALL. 



37 



antimony seems to be plentiful ; and oxide of manganese 

 lias been found about fifty miles south of the capital. A 

 substance resembling plumbago exists in great abundance, 

 and is used by the Malagasy to colour and glaze some of the 

 articles of pottery. A considerable variety of ochres and 

 coloured earths are met with, and are used not only for 

 colouring the native houses, but also in dyeing some of the 

 woven cloths made by the people. 



In conclusion, it may be remarked that there is a vast 

 extent of country on the coast plains where the soil is most 

 fertile, but which is only thinly peopled, or has no popula- 

 tion at all. Many parts of the island which separate the 

 territory of one tribe from another are well watered and 

 wooded, and seem to invite occupation. Madagascar could 

 well sustain a population from ten to twenty times its 

 present amount, for hardly any portion of it is rainless or 

 desert, except a small section of the extreme south-western 

 coast. Surrounded by the ocean, it enjoys an abundant 

 rainfall, so that the droughts which constantly afflict large 

 portions of Southern Africa never occur in Madagascar, while 

 its insular position gives it a more equable climate, freer 

 from extremes of temperature, than is enjoyed in most tropical 

 countries. 



