230 
VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. 
CIIAP. IX. 
sing one of their hymns with their peculiarly soft melodious 
voices. The sound at a short distance produced an exceedingly 
pleasing effect, and by the time we reached the place where 
they were standing they had commenced singing in our 
language the English hymn of which the concluding stanza 
is— 
“ There we shall meet to part no more. 
0, that will be joyful,” &c. 
When they ceased we alighted, shook hands with them, and 
parted, not without emotion, which some were unable to 
conceal. They silently returned to the village, and we 
pursued our way through the same beautiful and fertile 
country. 
The low hills and hollows were here covered with wood. 
The grass by the sides of the road was in some parts two feet 
high, the soil rich loam, occasionally many feet deep. On 
our route we passed the Mancazana mountain and stream. 
Fort Armstrong taken by the Caffres, the lofty Chumie 
mountains, and the still more lofty “ Luheri high,” or Gfaika’s 
hill, used as a beacon for Caffreland during the late war. 
Some parts of the road were difficult, and just as we had 
passed the Buxton river, the sides of which were steep, I got 
out to walk, and, when a few yards in advance of our oxen, 
saw a large snake in the middle of the road, which our men 
soon killed. It was a puff adder, thick, and about two feet 
long, and said to be very venomous. 
About dusk we reached Philipton, where we were gladly 
welcomed by the daughters of the late Mr. Bead, for whom 
the people had erected a small and comfortable dwelling, 
every building in the place having been destroyed during the 
war. While at tea the conversation turned upon snakes, 
and our friends told us they were very numerous; that re¬ 
cently the wife of one of the people, awaking in the night, 
felt something on her arm, which she took hold of, thinking 
