122 
MADAGASCAR. 
They take every care of their passengers, and 
are as gentle and tender as children, and are very 
proud of the commendation which it is always 
right and wise to bestow upon them at the end of 
a day’s journey, if they have deserved it. They 
are, however, very sensitive to rough or unkind 
treatment, and amusing stories are extant of 
cases where they have not been properly used 
by foreigners, when they have offered no violence 
in any form in return for violence to themselves, 
but have just put down their burden quietly in 
the midst of the sombre forest, and retired until 
their fare has come to a better mind,—which he 
very quickly does, as the prospect of being 
deserted under such circumstances is by no 
means flattering or agreeable. 
At Ranomafana a halt is generally made, and 
a visit paid to the celebrated hot springs near 
the village. These waters are medicinal; and 
on the occasion of one of our visits, numbers of 
the natives were bathing in them, as they are 
considered very efficacious for skin affections 
and other complaints. They contain a large 
quantity of sulphur, and would naturally, there¬ 
fore, be beneficial in most cases of cutaneous 
eruptions, from which the natives suffer almost 
universally. 
These waters were visited in 1867 by Queen 
Rasoherina, the chief members of the Hova 
