94 
HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
formed one above another. A principal thoroughfare, or road, 
divides the town east and west; out of which branch innu¬ 
merable small pathways, leading between the houses, where, 
however, room is scarcely left in some places for two foot- 
passengers to pass ; and even that little can only be obtained 
with difficulty, perhaps by means of enormous stones jutting 
out of a bank, amidst hollows caused by incessant torrents of 
rain, or across some mass of rock projecting over a frightful 
precipice beneath. The nature of the ground on which 
the city stands precludes the possibility of regularity in the 
formation of the streets or the disposition of the buildings. 
The principal houses in the capital are built of wood, 
and are sometimes substantial and durable. The chief 
entrance always faces the west. The threshold of the 
door being often raised eighteen inches or two feet above 
the level of the pathway, a block of stone is placed 
outside the door as a step, and another inside to assist in 
reaching the floor. The houses are detached, and gene¬ 
rally surrounded by a low mud wall. The fronts of several 
comparatively new houses are screened by verandas, and 
a few of recent construction, belonging to the officers of 
government, have boarded floors. In general, a coarse 
and strong matting, spread on the earth, constitutes the 
bed, table, and floor of the inhabitants. 
In building a house, the Malagasy consider it essential 
to commence on a day declared by Panandro to be a 
lucky day. The commencement is always made at the 
north-east corner, that being deemed more sacred than 
any other; they then proceed to the south-east, and thence 
round by the west. The occupants of houses are usually 
the owners of them. The system of renting is little prac¬ 
tised. A few Arab traders have hired houses for shops; 
when this is the case, the purchasers of goods at such 
