122 VOYAGE TO MADAGASCAR. 



** cafles tbemfelves by the advantage of a 

 ** reciprocal exchange, 



** When I am eftabliilied at Fort Dau- 

 " phin, with a detachment of troops under 

 ** my command for the defence of the fort^ 

 " and the proteQion of the French, 1 will 

 " make an excurfion for fix months into the 

 ** interior parts of the country, becaufe Fort 

 *' Dauphin muft not be confidered as the 

 " beft place for^ fettlement. Three leagues 

 " to the fouth of that fort is the beautiful 

 " river of Fanfliere, the courfe of which, to 

 *' the diftance of twenty leagues from the 

 ** fea, is navigable for fmall vefTeis. Above 

 " lU mouthj it forms a lake, three thou- 

 " faud fathoms in diameter, the depth of 

 *' which is never more than ten fathoms. 



" This lake communicates with the fea 

 " by a channel, of from fifty to fixty fathoms 

 " in breadth, formed by the fall of the wa- 

 ** ter^ andj in the drieft feafon, it is fuffi- 

 2 cient 



