68 
HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
consist of but one room, though this is sometimes divided 
hy a fragile partition of matting. The floor is of flattened 
bamboos fastened to poles, which are raised in order to 
avoid the dampness, that would otherwise be equally 
unpleasant and injurious. 
The principal exports from Tamatave consist in rice, 
poultry, bullocks, and rofia cloth; and several vessels are 
employed in the trade between this port and Mauritius. 
Some also visit it from Bourbon, for the same purposes. 
The neighbourhood is extremely damp and swampy; and, 
as may be supposed, the village and its vicinity are at 
all times far from being salubrious; but the most unhealthy 
period is from the middle of November to the beginning of 
March. The freshness and luxuriance of the verdure give 
so delightful an appearance to the scenery, that a stranger 
can scarcely regard it as the seat of disease; but a few days’ 
residence makes him sensible of the constant exhalations 
from the marshes, which are so productive of the justly 
dreaded fever of the coast. 
The country is woody and marshy. A considerable 
quantity of rice is cultivated here, called the tavy, which 
is grown, not on the low ground, where it may be 
constantly covered with water, but on high ground, fre¬ 
quently the side of a hill. The culture of the rice is 
extremely simple. The trees are cut down, and, after 
burning the stumps, the rice-seed is planted in the spot, 
covered with the ashes, and with but little subsequent care 
the crop is generally abundant. 
In the interior of this province is the fine lake of Nosive, 
one of the most extensive in the island. This lake is from 
twenty to twenty-five miles in length. It contains several 
small islands, some of which are inhabited. It forms part 
of the series of lakes already noticed, and which are known 
