112 
HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
ditches by which their villages might be surrounded, or the 
granaries they might contain. 
The Betsimisaraka have their houses built on pillars, 
about one or two feet above the ground. They have one 
window, opposite to which is the hearth in one corner of 
the apartment. The houses have two doors opposite each 
other. 
The floors of the Malagasy houses are generally covered 
with red and yellow rush mats, neatly put together. 
Those of Manghahei are both soft and strong. On these 
mats they repose without any sort of covering, sometimes 
with a pillow for the head resembling a sofa-pillow, and 
sometimes only with a log of wood placed under the mat 
