184 
MADAGASCAR. 
is no longer allowed to be inhabited. It was 
there that the old Sihanaka chiefs made their 
final stand against the Hovas, and bravely and 
successfully resisted them, until Eadama I., hav¬ 
ing placed a cannon upon a raft, finally destroyed 
the stronghold. The birds which throng the 
lake are very numerous, and at evening, when 
they settle down along the shore, one cannot 
walk along, and the ground is black with them 
on all sides. The vivy (diver) and the famakisi- 
fotra (breaker of a land - shell) are the most 
important amongst the feathered denizens of 
Alaotra. The latter is like a small heron, but 
its beak is quite the length of one’s hand, and at 
the same time small as a penholder in length 
and diameter. A bird called mlonibonkomana is 
worthy of notice for its good manners, as it 
always, when feeding, covers up its head with 
both its wings till it has finished. Fish abound 
in the waters of this lake, and the inhabitants 
of the surrounding villages carry on a very 
lucrative fishing trade with Imbrina, and even 
more distant provinces. 
Crocodiles are to be found everywhere, and on 
the small rocky islets they may often be seen on 
a fine afternoon snapping and struggling for a 
place to bask in the warm rays of the sun. The 
people seldom cross the lake except in companies 
of two or three lakana, as they are in great 
