314 
MADAGASCAR. 
tions. The gradual clearing of the undergrowth, 
however, and the improved sanitary arrange¬ 
ments, with the judicious use of quinine, the 
planting of belts of the Eucalyptus, or blue gum 
of Australia,—a tree which has the power of 
absorbing the fever germs, and of rendering the 
atmosphere innocuous to human beings,—have 
considerably reduced the mortality of the dis¬ 
trict ; and now that the Malagasy fever is better 
understood, and proper remedies used, its ravages 
are not so fearful as at the period of our first 
acquaintance with the country. There is a kind 
of cinchona tree-bark in the woods, which has 
some of the properties of Peruvian bark ; and of 
this the natives take the root, which they chew 
when attacked with the malady, and which 
affords them certain relief. 
The rojia palm is the characteristic tree of 
Madagascar. It is to them what the banyan 
is to the Indian, and furnishes them with almost 
every article of domestic use. The ribs of the 
branches are used for building the light cool 
houses, or rather enormous baskets, in which the 
people live; the leaves form the thatch; the 
fibres make excellent cord for binding the vari- 
ous parts of the structure firmly together : no 
nails are ever used. The green leaf is used for 
spreading on the ground at meals as a table¬ 
cloth ; small pieces of this also are twisted very 
