HINTS TO TRAVELLERS. 
309 
for the feet is desirable, and a hood may be 
added to draw over the head as a protection from 
the sun or rain. The Hovas use a pole, carried 
by two men, with merely a strong cloth attached 
at each end, and hanging down, upon which the 
passenger sits. For ladies a very comfortable 
willow or cane conveyance has been invented, 
very much in appearance like a square cradle, in 
which the passenger lies at full length. This, 
however, is not so popular as the simple chair 
arrangement referred to above, which can be 
made very well by Silver & Co., who will furnish 
designs of various kinds of filanjdna for Mala¬ 
gasy travel. These are all made so that they can 
be taken to pieces and packed in a very small 
compass on board ship, and refitted on arrival 
at Tamatave or any other port in the island. 
Horses do not live long on the coast, but they 
are rapidly coming into use at the capital. 
The projected telegraph wire to the capital 
will be a great convenience both to the native 
Government and officials, as well as to the Euro¬ 
pean community at Antananarivo. It will also 
be the means of saving a large expense for mes¬ 
sengers and letter-carriers when once it gets into 
working order. There will be very little diffi¬ 
culty in its construction, and doubtless it will be 
taken in hand very soon. The tram-line along 
the east coast for the conveyance of the produce 
