176 
VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. 
ciiap. vii. 
Both on this and the previous day we passed many tra¬ 
vellers, though few journeyed singly. Mostly two or three, 
and more frequently a large party, travelled in company. 
The chiefs were carried by four men in open palanquins, in 
which they sometimes reclined pretty nearly at full length. 
A mother and her infant were in one of these palanquins 
attended by several females, who ran along by the side. 
One or two travellers we passed in a sort of temporary litter, 
made by fastening a piece of rofia cloth in the form of a 
hammock, to a single pole, carried on the shoulders of two 
men, the chief sitting sideways in the hammock, and resting 
his arms on the pole to which the ends of the hammock were 
fastened. Sometimes we passed what seemed to be a whole 
family, comprising adults, children, and slaves. The chief 
usually carried a spear or staff, or both. The burdens, 
whether of matting, clothing, or provisions, carried by the 
slaves, were not borne on the head, as is the uniform practice 
of the Coolies or Creoles of Mauritius, but were fastened 
at the back, and the children, when too young to walk, were 
carried in the same manner. Few appeared to be loiterers on 
the road, but all were passing along at a tolerably quick pace. 
None of the parties were much encumbered with personal 
luggage; but the loads of rice, and similar articles carried by 
some of the slaves, appeared heavy. 
Besides the Traveller’s Tree, often the chief growth of vast 
tracts of the country, I noticed another tree of large and 
shining foliage, like that of the magnolia, and occasionally a 
large-leaved betonica. The Calojphyllum Inojphyllum , or 
other species of gum-tree, imparted a rich and varied character 
to the scenery. Near the water, at two places where we 
halted, I found the Hibiscus tiliaceus growing to a great 
size, straggling over a considerable space, and covered with 
large yellow and claret-coloured blossoms. The only dif¬ 
ference I could perceive between the specimens I met with in 
