HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
37 
among its many valuable and indigenous productions, it 
may not be unsuitable to mention the following:— 
The ravinala, mania speciosa; fotabe, barringtonia 
speciosa; filao, casuarina equisetifolia; baobab, adan- 
sonia , found abundantly on the western coast; the highly 
valuable rofia, a species of cyrus; ampaly, a species of 
morns , whose hard leaf is used to polish wood-ware; ebony, 
the finest kind of diospyrus ebenaster; avoha, or dais 
Madag .; from which a coarse kind of paper has been 
manufactured on the eastern coast; tapia edulis , on which 
a native silkworm is extensively reared; the tamarind, 
which abounds on the western coast, but will not thrive in 
the interior; amiena, urtica furialis , on which the native 
voaloboka, or Madagascar grape, is often trained; aviavy, 
a species of Indian fig, and amontana and voara, other 
species of fig; Indian betel; foraha, callophyllum inophyl- 
lum , the dragon tree; the vakoa, (vaquois of the French,) 
or pandanus, of which there are three species known, viz. 
P. ho fa, P. sylvestris , P. longifolius pyramidalis , the last 
being found in Antongil bay; and the bamboo, bambusa 
arundinacea , found in some parts so abundant as' to 
have given its name, volo , to a part of the country called 
I-volo-ina. 
To these may be added the azaina, (azign of Chapelier,) 
which has been regarded by some as the most useful tree in 
Madagascar. It is the chrysopia fasciculata. Three other 
species of it have been met with, viz. verrucosa , pomifera , 
and parvijiora. They belong to the family of the guttiferoe , 
and produce a great quantity of yellow juice or resin, called 
by the natives kitsy, and used by them in fastening knives, 
&c. into their handles. The tree is used for the construc¬ 
tion of canoes; which are made by scooping out the trunk. 
The hymencea verrucosa is also found, and affords a 
