FOURTH BULLETIN OF 
538 
[1846. 
ass copal,” is much inferior to the other in not drying so readily. It is very pro- 
bable that they are the produce of different trees. 
A large tree, the Chrysophia faciculata, is much valued by the natives for the 
timber, of which they construct their canoes. It is also the principal timber used 
in building their proahs at this port. 
A species of Adansonia is found very abundant on this coast. 
Canes made of the Dyospyrus ebenaster were exposed for sale here, and the 
natives informed me that this wood was very abundant in the interior. 
The bark of a species of Hibusscus is used here for making coarse cordage. 
Two species of Pandamus or Screwpine is found here — the Pandamus bofa and 
the Pandamus sylveptris. The seed of some species can be eaten. The stem is 
remarkable for sending down aerial roots. 
Among other plants found here, the more remarkable are the Urania speciosa, 
Cassurina equesitifolia, Urtica furialis, Barringtonia speciosa, two species of Big- 
nonia, Mimosa madagascar, &c. 
But little fruit could be obtained here, consisting of a few bananas and cocoa-nuts. 
The water is not good, being obtained from wells fifteen or twenty feet deep, in 
which the water rises and falls with the tide. 
Many of the small hills in the vicinity of Majunga are composed of a ferrugi- 
nous sand, and incapable of being cultivated, although between these very frequent- 
ly is a small extent of alluvial soil, which is generally cultivated with rice, and 
which is flooded with water at times, may be the cause of the fever which prevails 
here at limes, and proves very fatal to foreigners, as also to natives from the in- 
terior. It is a highly inflammatory remittent fever at first, but soon passes into 
the continued form with typhoid characters, coma, &. c. 
Mr. Marks, an American, who has resided here several years, engaged in mer- 
cantile business, informed me that he has had but one attack of fever, and it ap- 
pears from the experience of others also, that after recovering fully from the first 
attack the chances are much less of taking it again. 
The cliffs at the entrance of the bay are low, the lower strata being composed of 
fossiliferous carbonate of lime, the strata alternating with a finer carbonate con- 
taining but few fossils. Occasionally there is a stratum of a very pure clay inter- 
posed. The strata is nearly horizontal. 
The soil is largely impregnated with oxide of iron, so much so at some places, 
as to give it a dark red color. I found in the village a specimen of serpentine 
containing a large quantity of chromate of iron, but its locality I could not deter- 
mine. It is said here that the natives in the interior find native steel, but it is 
most probably meteoric iron, as that is capable of being wrought without under- 
going any process, and is harder than common iron. 
Since the government has been usurped by the present Queen, great exertions 
have been used to check the progress of the Christian religion, which had been ex- 
tensively promulgated by English missionaries during a term of ten years, which 
grant they received from King Radama to reside that length of time on the island, 
establish schools, and instruct the natives in the mechanic arts. Some time after 
the death of Radama, several hundred natives having been converted to the Christian 
faith, it became obnoxious to the Queen and her officers, and the penalty of death 
was imposed upon all those who would not renounce their new faith. Many suf- 
fered death, some in the most cruel manner ; and it appears the persecution still 
continues, as the Governor’s secretary, who accompanied me one day as a guide in 
this neighborhood, informed me that he had been educated at the capita] by the 
English missionaries, and that his brother had lately been put to death near the 
capital, for having been discovered praying and having religious books in his pos- 
session. This person informed me that he believed in the Christian faith, but was 
obliged to conceal his books, and to profess the religion of the country. 
The geological formation of Noos Beh, Madagascar, is of volcanic formation of 
ancient date. Many of the bare rounded hills still present the forms of craters. 
A large deposit of chert flanks the base of one of the hiUs, dipping at an angle of 
35° ; and several dykes of a very compact sandstone, evidently in a state of fusion 
once from its highly crystallized structure, traverse the chert. 
Immense blocks of granite are strewn alon t the shore. The loftiest peak of the 
surrounding hills is perhaps five hundred ft ;t, and is covered with large timber, 
which affords same valuable woods. A large portion of the timber has been cutoff 
