HINTS TO TRAVELLERS. 
297 
on al fresco occasions. No water should ever be 
taken which has not first of all passed through a 
filterer. These rules may appear a little vexati¬ 
ous at first, but I am convinced that practical 
experience will reveal their stern necessity. In 
fact, a careful attention to the chief of them will 
be obligatory, if life is even to be possible, in 
some particular spots in the island ; but by care¬ 
ful adherence to the chief restrictions here laid 
down, and with a good deal of self-restraint, a 
residence in this delightful island, which has been 
described as “ an emerald set in a silver sea,” will 
not only be tolerable, but sweetness and happi¬ 
ness itself. 
The markets for the purchase of the daily 
necessities of the household are generally held 
in the towns in some central position in the 
open air, each trader being protected with his 
wares from the glare of the sun by a huge 
white umbrella. The meat is cut up in small 
pieces and strewn upon a mat on the ground, 
and the rice and other commodities exhibited 
in small round baskets for the inspection of the 
buyer. The gate of the village is generally 
chosen in country places as the spot where all 
business, legal or commercial, is carried on, and 
where the gossips or the wise men meet to dis¬ 
cuss “the new or the wonderful.” The Mala¬ 
gasy enters upon the preliminaries of bargain- 
