NEW GROUND. 
195 
and broken patches. Few persons are located in 
the forest, and the chief population appears to 
be settled in the low-lying valleys to the east. 
The abrupt wall of the great eastern terrace 
of the island is strikingly picturesque, on 
account of the enormous height to which it 
reaches here; and the lofty peaks of Ikongo, 
Ivohibe, and Ambohitrandriana may be seen 
from the coast. Water abounds, and the soil, 
as in the north-west, seems to be capable of pro¬ 
ducing very abundant crops—flourishing sugar¬ 
cane and rice fields appearing throughout the 
district, and well-kept and productive coffee 
plantations covering most of the hillsides. 
Many of the towns are occupied only for a time, 
as the Tanala appear to be nomadic in their habits, 
and to go forth from place to place in search of 
fresh rice-grounds as soon as the crop has been 
gathered in from the old fields. They simply 
burn the brushwood before the season of the 
rains, and sow their rice upon the ashes and soil 
thus prepared. They hardly ever remain longer 
than a single season in any particular spot, and 
the same custom prevails all through the district 
with few exceptions, and these near the residences 
generally of the chiefs. 
“ From the river Faraoney southward the country is 
virtually independent, and is under the rule of the 
Zafirambo chiefs. The head of this family long resisted 
