CIIAP. XI. 
FIRST NIGHT’S HALT ON THE ROAD. 
275 
the side, and four others carried my cooking apparatus and 
personal luggage. Our road, for a considerable distance, led 
over a sandy plain, presenting occasionally long lines of sand¬ 
banks running parallel with the ocean, and having at different 
periods formed its boundary. The country afterwards became 
more woody, and we often passed trees of large size and 
vigorous growth. About half-past three we reached Anzolo- 
kafa, a straggling village on the banks of the Hivondro, nine 
miles distant from Tamatave, and where we were to halt for 
the night. 
My bearers hung up my palanquin, by means of cords, to 
the rafters of the house in which we were to sleep, so that it 
answered the double purpose of a carriage by day and a bed 
by night. By this plan I was also effectually removed from 
the dirt of the floor and the swarms of its inhabitants, which 
are celebrated for the numbers in which they come forth by 
night. T walked to an elevated part of the village, which 
commanded an extensive view of the coast and the wide 
rolling ocean, from its junction with the lake on one side, and 
the placid water of the broad Hivondro, and the fertile and 
level country on the other; and I was greatly delighted with 
the scene. 
In less than an hour the whole party had arrived, and 
amongst them the aide-de-camp of the prince with letters 
from the capital. The packages were deposited in the lapa, a 
sort of public or government house, erected for the use of 
travellers, and of which there is one, if not more, in every 
village of any consequence. The next thing they did was to 
kill the bullock, which they managed very adroitly, by throw¬ 
ing the animal on its side, tying its legs, and then cutting its 
throat with a large knife. It was soon cut up, without stop¬ 
ping to take off the skin; and amidst shouting, and dancing, 
and other demonstrations of joy, the meat was distributed 
amongst the parties around, whose numbers were greatly in- 
