180 
VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. 
cnAr. vii. 
that one or two, about the size of a thrush, with green and 
white feathers, kept for a long time flying in the line of our 
progress, alighting on a bush by the side of our path, and 
when we reached the spot then flying on farther in advance. 
One kind which the natives called Railovi particularly at¬ 
tracted my notice. It was rather larger than a blackbird, 
and much longer in the neck and tail; the plumage of a 
glossy purplish black; the feathers of the tail deeply in¬ 
dented in the middle, and just above where the beak was 
united to the head, two curved feathers, an inch long, arose, 
one on each side, giving the bird a singular but not ungrace¬ 
ful appearance. Occasionally we saw flocks of what appeared 
to be paroquets; but these did not come very near us. 
A little before sunset, on the second day of our journey, 
I reached the broad plain on which the village of Foule 
Pointe is situated, and here I halted until my friend, who had 
travelled more slowly than my bearers, arrived. The high 
wooded country from which we emerged afforded a good view 
of the settlement, which, in extent of land and eligibility of 
situation, appeared greatly superior to Tamatave. On the 
southern side of the buildings and inclosures a line of fine 
stately mango trees, clothed at this time of the year with 
dense dark foliage, gave quite a baronial aspect to the ap¬ 
proach in that direction. The houses of the village, which 
differ little from those of Tamatave, spread along the south¬ 
eastern side of the bay, near the southern extremity of which 
two vessels from Mauritius were performing quarantine. 
One or two streams intersected the plain, which is more than 
a mile across; and in several directions slaves with bundles 
of fire-wood, or labourers returning from the fields, were 
wending their way along the different paths which led to 
their places of abode. 
When my companion arrived, we proceeded to the village, 
and passing between the truly magnificent line of trees, en- 
