Proceedings of Learned Societies. 477 



companions and a native crew, started for the northern commence- 

 ment of the lakes in the month of April. The whole jonrney from 

 north to sonth occupied the party thirty-two days, during which 

 they travelled nearly 400 miles, partly over lakes of larger or smaller 

 dimensions, but chiefly along winding channels ond streams which 

 connected the lakes together. The chain of lakes and channels 

 occupies a belt of low land along the coast, and is sometimes 

 separated from the sea only by banks of sand. The large rivers 

 which descend from the high lands of the interior, are connected 

 with the network on reaching the low belt of coast land. During 

 the journey the travellers passed numerous villages and several 

 large towns, some of which contained about 1000 inhabitants ; their 

 voyage terminating at Manzanari. They were well received by the 

 Hova governors ; they saw very little cultivated land, and the in- 

 habitants seemed an indolent and improvident, but good-humoured 

 race. The banks of most of the winding channels and lakes were 

 clothed with magnificent tropical vegetation, which in the narrow 

 watercourses arched overhead, and added much to the beauty of the 

 scenery. At Manzanari they saw several individuals of the Akongo 

 tribe, whose territory lies towards the south, and who have suc- 

 ceeded in maintaining their independence against the Hovas. Their 

 capital is several days' journey south-west of Manzanari, and is 

 situated on a high hill, the sides of which have been escarped for 

 the purposes of defence. 



The Rev. W. Ellis described Ankova the central province of 

 Madagascar, and the royal or sacred cities it contains. The country 

 is hilly or mountainous, but the elevations rise singly or in masses, 

 rather than form continuous chains. Mount Ankaratra, in the south- 

 west, is one of the highest mountains in the island, being about 

 13,000 feet above the level of the sea. It had not yet been ascended 

 by a European, and probably not by the natives, although they 

 stated that in the cold season snow lay in the hollows near the 

 summit. Between the isolated hills or mountain masses lay fertile 

 valleys or level plains, some of them several miles in extent. The 

 province is well watered, and the rivers, though not large, seldom 

 fail through the long droughts of summer. Forests border the 

 province on three sides, and supply it with abundance of valuable 

 timber, but the central district itself is almost destitute of trees. 

 Flowering euphorbias and fruit trees had, however, been introduced, 

 and grew luxuriantly. Horned cattle are numerous and increasing ; 

 and it is a singular fact that, whilst the domestic ox is the humped 

 Indian species, the vast herds of wild cattle are all of the straight- 

 backed kind. The sacred cities of Ankova are twelve in number; 

 they derive their sanctity from having been the birthplaces, abodes, 

 or burial-places of their monarchs. The belief in the influence of 

 the spirits of the ancestors of their monarchs is one of the chief 

 features of the Malagash religion ; it enters into all their most im- 

 portant ceremonies, and influences the actions and policy of royalty. 

 Europeans are forbidden to enter the sacred cities ; and although 

 some of them are places of large size, they have not yet been laid 

 down on our maps. 



