174 
VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. 
CHAP. VII. 
gascar, the Urania speciosa , or Traveller’s Tree. It is not 
easy to imagine* still less to describe, the appearance of a 
somewhat distant, and oval-shaped mountain crested along 
its summit, as it appeared to us on one part of the way, by 
these stately trees, looking like a long line of gigantic Indian 
sachems, with their helmets of radiated feathers, shown in 
strongly-marked outline against the western sky. 
It was dark before we reached Eangazava, a small village 
by the sea-side, where we halted for the night. One room, 
about twenty or twenty-five feet square, the whole inside of a 
native house, served the purposes of sitting-room, sleeping- 
room, and kitchen. Here I developed the pictures I had 
taken on my way, and found them come out tolerably well. 
In the meantime a fire was kindled between stones fixed on a 
heap of sand, the edges of which were kept up by pieces of 
wood. A large, shallow, round earthen pot was then put on 
to boil rice in, and a piece of beef, which we had brought 
with us, spitted on a stick, was fixed by the side of the fire 
to roast or broil. As soon as the rice was cooked the tea¬ 
kettle was put on, and by the time it boiled the meat was 
cooked. I was amused to see the interest and aptitude with 
which my friend, a portly chief more than six feet high, over¬ 
looked and directed the cooking of the evening meal. 
After supper the chief gave me a clean mat, and taking off 
my shoes and using my carpet-bag for a pillow I lay down to 
rest, and though for a time the smoke affected my eyes I ob¬ 
tained a few hours’ sleep. 
By five o’clock the next morning we were stirring, and on 
our journey again before six. Our road this morning con¬ 
tinued for the first eight or ten miles along the edge of the 
sea. Travelling here appeared exceedingly fatiguing. The 
men’s feet sank deep into the sand at every step, except when 
they walked close to the water, where the footing was firmer; 
but here they were sometimes above their knees in water 
