300 
VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. 
CHAP. XI. 
gratification. The noise, however, was so great, that I was 
glad to give them a piece of silver to retire. One of my 
bearers, who had carried me during the day over nearly 
twenty miles of by no means level road, was dancing to the 
music; so that I felt easy about his not having been over¬ 
tasked with his burden. On leaving my door, the musicians 
adjourned to the next house, where they kept up their per¬ 
formance till past midnight. 
The next morning was dark, and the rain again falling 
heavily; we therefore remained here during the day. Many 
of the natives of the place came to the house, as had been 
their habit at most of the places where we had halted. I was 
struck, as I had been at most of the villages of the Betani- 
mena, and also the Betsimasaraka, with the physical appear¬ 
ance of the people. The men whom I saw were, with few 
exceptions, well formed, stout, and active, rather above the 
middle stature. The women were short and muscular. I 
scarcely saw a woman tall or thin. The men were usually 
good looking, but this could scarcely be said of the women, 
few of whom, judged by the European standard of beauty, 
would have been considered handsome, and none of them 
pretty. I rarely saw an ill formed head, or a low or retreat¬ 
ing forehead. The majority of the people certainly presented 
well proportioned, high, perpendicular foreheads. So much 
so, that I often wished my photographic apparatus had been 
available during the journey. The foreheads of the women 
were not inferior to those of the men. The head was broad, 
and the face rather round than oval. The eyebrows were 
well marked, and but slightly arched. The eyes not large, 
but often clear and bright. The nose was small at its junc¬ 
tion with the forehead, and rather flat than otherwise. The 
mouth was often large, the lips full, and slightly projecting; 
the teeth white and large, occasionally over crowded, as if too 
numerous to stand even. The chin frequently, but not always, 
