OR, PLAIN TEACHING. 



147 



The island of Madagascar is 

 generally considered as pertain- 

 ing to Africa. It is a large 

 island lying in the Indian Ocean, 

 separated some 106 miles from 

 the nearest point of the African 

 coast. The interior of this island 

 has been little explored by Eu- 

 ropeans. There are only a few 

 formidable wild animals in the 

 island, which is remarkable for 

 producing valuable herds of 

 horned cattle of the hunched breeds, 

 12, like those of India. There 

 are, however, wild cattle in the 



467. 



forests which have no hunch, 

 and are said to resemble the 

 handsomest of our domestic 

 breeds. 



The traveller's tree, 13 (urania 

 speciosa), is a native of this island, 

 where it grows in the greatest 

 perfection. There is a kind of 

 natural cistern at the base of the 

 leaves of this tree, in which 

 moisture accumulates. Travel- 

 lers on their journeys refresh 

 themselves with the cool liquid, 

 the base of a single leaf some- 

 times affording as much as a 

 quart of water. It may also 

 as appropriately be called the 



468. 



builder's tree, since its leaves 

 form the thatches of all the 

 houses on the eastern part of the 

 island ; the stems of its leaves 

 form the 

 partitions, 

 and often 

 the beams, 

 and the 

 hard out- 

 side bark 

 is used 

 for floor- 

 ing. When 

 green, the 

 leaves are _ 

 also used ^2 

 as a wrap- 

 per for v~ 

 packages, 

 and to keep out rain. It also in 

 various forms supplies table- 

 cloths, dishes, plates, spoons, and 

 drinking vessels. Such are the 

 manifold uses of this valuable 

 tree. 



Quitting the shores of Africa, 

 proceeding across the equinoctial 

 line, 236, in a north-easterly 

 direction, we reach th3 central 

 of the three great peninsulas of 

 Southern Asia, Hindoostan, or 

 what is sometimes called Penin- 

 sular India. We are at once 

 reminded of the late terrible 

 revolt, and of the awful suffer- 

 ings incident thereto. 



The principal vegetable pro- 

 ductions of Hindoostan are rice, 

 maize, wheat, barley, cotton, indigo, 

 sugar-cane, opium, tobacco, and 

 various rich spices and fruits. 



The elephant, rhinoceros, tiger, 

 leopard, panther, hyaena, wild 

 boar, deer, jackal, orang outang, 

 and various other animals are 



