68 
MADAGASCAR. 
even earlier; and the crowing cock is an invari¬ 
able adjunct to a Malagasy family, being accom¬ 
modated with a perch inside the house, or on the 
rafters just above the sleeping-place of the head 
of the family. 
The intense heat in the middle of the day 
necessitates these early habits. From eleven 
o’clock to three in the day all activity ceases, and 
all who can do so retreat to the shade of their 
houses for refreshment and rest. 
Strangers on their first visit to Madagascar 
will possibly be startled occasionally by the 
spectacle of some miserable-looking and poorly 
clad wretch hobbling along through the streets, 
with iron shackles about his ankles, and attached 
to a roughly fashioned iron girdle, which galls 
the flesh terribly at times, and is riveted about 
his waist. This is one of the convicted felons. 
The tottering wretch is generally carrying a 
bundle of firewood or perhaps merchandise upon 
his shoulders, and is altogether one of the most 
repulsive sights to be witnessed either in Mada¬ 
gascar or in the world, in these days of advance 
in social science and in the methods of treatment 
of the poor and the degraded residuum of society. 
The more humane treatment of its criminal classes 
is a point we would in all friendliness press upon 
the Hova Government, as well for the sake of the 
community at large as the prisoners themselves; 
