196 
VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. 
CHAP. VIII. 
beyond which the waters of the ocean faintly reflected the 
rays of the morning sun. In one part of our journey we 
saw numbers of small tortoises, at another place partridges 
ran along the road for a considerable distance before us; but 
the great variety of plants, especially bulbs, gladiolus, or 
Watsonia, stretching along for miles on either side, were par¬ 
ticularly attractive. 
On the second night, when we stopped at a farm house, I 
walked into the garden or orchard, and was truly astonished 
at the abundance of the produce. The fig-trees were covered 
with large well-formed fruit, apples were equally abundant, 
but the pear-trees were literally loaded, and the branches of 
the peach-trees hung straight down from the weight of the 
fruit, which hung on the boughs as thickly as gooseberries 
hang on their bushes in England. The peach-trees were not 
trained against any railing or other support, but were all 
standards. Some of the fruit-trees appeared not to have 
had the least pruning, but were growing in all the rank 
luxuriance of nature. The fruit was small, and, as compared 
with the same kinds in England, rather woolly and insipid. 
The vegetables in the same garden comprised maize, French 
beans, carrots, beet, cucumbers, and pumpkins. Amongst 
the flowers were the common monthly rose, the larkspur, 
the old-fashioned purple stock, valerian, and some curious 
cactuses. 
On the following morning we resumed our journey, and in 
the afternoon reached the missionary station of Zurbraak, 
having travelled, since leaving Cape Town, 175 miles in less 
than four days. Zurbraak is situated in a somewhat con¬ 
tracted valley, and occupies the sides of a small river, from 
which a portion of the land is irrigated. There are about 
1600 people connected with this station, but many were 
absent in service, or at work in Swellendum and the neigh¬ 
bourhood. Mr. Helm, the resident missionary, received us 
