198 
MADAGASCAR. 
hills of Betsileo and Tanala are largely marked with 
seams of white quartz and patches of decayed granite of 
milky whiteness. The western edge of the great forest 
is a deposit of iron ore, and I have no doubt that gold 
exists in great quantities in the beds of the Tanala 
rivers. All the iron and pottery work of the Tanala 
people is manufactured in Betsileo, and is obtained in 
exchange for soft rush mats and bark cloth, the latter of 
which bears hammer marks similar to those seen in the 
same material from Central Africa. The Tanala houses 
are made of bamboo, split and flattened. They are 
generally a few feet above the ground. All the Tanala 
proper content themselves with folded leaves of the 
cardamom plant for spoons and drinking cups, this 
being one of the peculiarities which distinguishes them 
from the Ampelafa and the Taivondro. They are a 
peaceful and hospitable people, kind and bounteous 
towards the stranger. They have but little knowledge 
of money, and prefer an exchange for their produce, 
beads or calico. Like most of the tribes in Madagascar, 
they practise the rite of circumcision, and trial by ordeal 
is very common. Serious crimes are rare, and within 
the last twenty or thirty years few if any have occurred. 
Capital punishment is almost unknown. In the northern 
Tanala the seat of justice is Ambohimanga, and to this 
place all cases must be taken. In the southern Tanala, 
however, Ratsiandraofana himself, with his judges, visits 
the place where the crime has been committed, and 
there pronounces judgment. The Tanala is the richest 
district in Madagascar, and presents a magnificent field 
for European enterprise in the cultivation of coffee, 
sugar-cane, vanilla, and even tea. The rivers are 
generally much impeded by cascades and boulders, and 
