302 
HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
rise fifteen or sixteen feet from the ground. The walls 
are thick, and are of clay, carefully wrought, and imper¬ 
vious. No opening is formed in the sides, and only one 
small aperture is left at the top, which is closed with a 
slab or stone. By means of a rustic ladder, (generally a 
pole with notches cut on its upper side,) the grain is carried 
up, and poured through the aperture. When the rice is 
wanted, a slave-boy is usually let down through the hole, and 
the requisite quantity drawn up in baskets. 
The Antsianaka, the Betsimisaraka, and the Bezanozano, 
preserve it in houses raised six or seven feet above the 
ground by large wooden pillars, in one part of which there 
is usually a projection, very smoothly polished, to prevent the 
ascent of rats. The rice-houses often afford shade or shelter 
to the people. A ladder, similar to that used to reach 
the summit of the conical-shaped houses, is also fixed 
against the door of the elevated granaries. 
