HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
303 
This kind of granary, or storehouse, is generally erected 
near the dwellings of the owners of the rice; and in order 
to the greater security of this, one end of the building is 
frequently used as a lodging-place for a slave. Hence a 
female may sometimes be seen ascending towards the door, 
with a young child, secured only by the folds of the lamba, 
hanging at her back, apparently experiencing no inconve¬ 
nience from the rugged and narrow ladder or stair by which 
alone she can gain admittance to her dormitory. 
The growth of rice is the most important agricultural 
occupation of the Malagasy; second to this, is the culture 
of the manioc, called by the natives mangahazo, i. e. purple 
wood, from the colour of the stem. The manioc is usually 
cultivated in enclosed fields; the fence consisting of a bank 
of earth about three feet high, and planted with songo- 
songo, euphorbia splendida , or a mud wall, the top of which 
is thickly set with splinters of bone, in a manner resem¬ 
bling that in which fragments of glass are fixed on walls in 
England. When the ground has been well dug, pieces 
of the stems of manioc, about a foot in length, are pro¬ 
cured, either from the redundant branches of crops ready 
for gathering, or from crops recently gathered. These 
are simply thrust into the ground in a slanting position, 
leaving about a third portion of each stem above the soil, 
which is gently trodden down upon the plant with the foot. 
The slips are fixed about twelve inches from each other. 
When the plants begin to grow, which is generally in about 
a fortnight, manure is scattered over the soil. After the 
field has been planted nine or ten months, the weeds are 
carefully removed, and a few months afterwards the manioc 
is ready for use. From fifteen to eighteen months may be 
required between the planting and the harvest, so as to 
allow two rainy seasons for the crop; the first about the 
