HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
35 
over hills broken by sudden and deep chasms, or tenaciously 
occupying an under-soil, from whence the upper has been 
washed away by heavy rains and torrents, leaving merely 
a net-work of roots and fibres, with fallen and decayed 
timber, to support the foot of the passenger. 
The four principal forests in the island are, Alamazaotra, 
Ifohara, Bemarana, and Betsimihisatra, all of which, how¬ 
ever, unite, and form one immense belt of forest, traversing, 
with occasional interruptions, nearly all the provinces in the 
island. These forests assume, as may be expected, different 
names in the different provinces which they intersect. 
Amidst the recesses of the forests are numerous immense 
caverns, which are often frequented in times of war as 
places of retreat,* and at other times used by the jiolahy, 
or brigands, to conceal themselves and their plunder. 
These retreats are seldom known, except to those who live 
in their immediate neighbourhood, hence they are but 
rarely discovered by persons from other provinces. 
The forests yield abundance of timber, of varied durabi¬ 
lity and value; they also furnish dye-woods, with suitable 
wood for cabinet-work, carpentry, and ship-building. To 
the patrons of botany, Madagascar presents a rich, exten¬ 
sive field, scarcely penetrated, almost entirely unexplored, 
yet promising a choice and abundant harvest. This is evi- 
* A eurious instance of this kind occurred some time ago in the Sakalava 
country. Radama, with a large army, undertook the subjugation of the 
province. At the close of the campaign, he married Rasalina, daughter of 
the king of the Sakalavas. Referring afterwards to the war between 
Radama and her father, she remarked to some officers who had accom¬ 
panied the king, “We saw you, during your whole march, and observed all 
your movements in search of us. We were near you in the woods, and 
concealing ourselves in caverns; and on one occasion you actually 
walked over our heads, without ever imagining we were so near.” Yet there 
were several thousand persons with Radama, and as many with the Sakalava 
prince. 
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