HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
11 
« In travelling a distance of about thirty miles along the 
north-west side of this range, I do not recollect seeing a 
single piece of any other stone than that above described. 
But there is a place called Kiotrakiotra, where, for a few 
miles, huge masses of granite, and small fragments of 
quartz, indicate a change in the nature of the rock. Some 
little account of this place, which I wrote on the evening of 
the day we passed it, may not be unacceptable. 
“ Many large stones appeared standing out of the 
ground. One that we saw projected horizontally to the 
distance of twenty-five feet, forming a kind of cave under¬ 
neath, where travellers are accustomed to lodge. 
“ The neighbourhood of this cave formed one of the 
most romantic and picturesque scenes we had yet seen. 
It consisted of a deep, narrow vale, in many places not less 
than 500 feet deep, with a considerable stream at the 
bottom: the rivulet meandering sometimes through the nar¬ 
row bottom of the vale, and at other times almost lost among 
the beautiful green shrubs, which clothed its banks, and were 
the resort of several kinds of birds, apparently little dis¬ 
turbed by our intrusion. Wherever the water presented 
any extent of surface, numerous waterfowl sported in com¬ 
parative tameness on its surface. 
, “ In the neighbourhood of the cave, the change in the 
scenery became more romantic and bold. Masses of rock, 
some of them from thirty to fifty feet long, projected from 
the side of the ravine, like rudely-shaped pillars, and on 
the top of these rested other masses of rock, sometimes 
projecting so as to threaten destruction to all below. 
“ Between the masses of rock, thus strewn in wildest con¬ 
fusion on every hand, many kinds of shrubs were growing 
with greater luxuriance than any we had hitherto seen in 
our journey. The rivulet, which formerly flowed in a ser- 
