HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
109 
A treble row of the aviavy, wild fig-tree, was planted soon 
after the soil was levelled, round the grounds of the 
palace, having two spacious rides, or “ drives” between 
them. It was proposed to erect handsome gates at the 
entrances, and a splendid jet d’eau in front. A moat was 
also to have been formed round the building, with two 
draw-bridges ; and the spacious area in front of the palace 
was designed for holding occasional kabarys. 
The principal fault perhaps in the building is, its want 
of elevation. The structure is too low for its extent, and 
several of its rooms, otherwise spacious and noble, appear 
paltry, and quite out of keeping with other parts, for want 
of six or eight feet additional height. It is, however, far 
more wonderful to find such an edifice at all, in a country so 
little advanced in civilization as Madagascar, than that its 
proportions should not be in good taste. Had the architect 
been allowed to follow his own plan, it would have been a 
superior building to that which he was obliged to make it. 
The roads about the capital are kept in a very imperfect 
state of repair. There is but little level ground; the decli¬ 
vities are often steep. The torrents of water which pour 
down the roads in the rainy season, destroy the repairs made 
during the summer; and no highway levies are made. To 
the government belongs the repairing of the roads, and for 
that purpose it employs the prisoners, called gadralava, 
“long chains,” a name given them from the circumstance 
of their being compelled to wear, and work in long iron 
chains, reaching from the neck to the ankle. 
Very few trees adorn the capital. An aviavy, or wild 
fig, has almost the exclusive honour of admission within 
the precincts of the metropolis of Madagascar. The fruit 
of these is of little value, and, long before reaching per¬ 
fection, is knocked off by the boys, and eaten at all risks of 
