CHAPTER X 
PRODUCE 
The western side, inhabited by the Sakalava, is of 
small fertility, and on this account no attempts at colon¬ 
ization worthy of mention have ever been made there. The 
soil suits cattle-raising better than agriculture, and this 
industry has been carried on very extensively by the 
Sakalava of Menabe because this district has abundance 
of fertile meadow land. In the south of the island there 
is a prevalence of miserable steppe land. The extreme 
north too is a wretched district, and I was astonished to 
find in the environs of Diego Suarez, which were described 
to me as a veritable paradise, nothing but a miserable 
desert. 
In strong opposition to this is the condition of the 
eastern side; here the soil is almost everywhere well 
watered and of an astonishing fertility, begetting a 
vegetation of tropical abundance such as can be sur¬ 
passed in few spots on the earth. To this is added 
the advantage that regions of very different altitudes are 
met with so near together as to be easily reached, one 
from the other. 
In the north, it is true, the wooded mountains approach 
the sea only too closely, but from the locality of Tam- 
atave southwards the coast belt becomes broader, and 
the plains fitted for tropical culture are thus more 
productive. Lastly, the Central Upland with its soil of 
reddish losz is bare of woods and moderately fertile; 
but here the Hova, by dint of industry and perseverance, 
have reclaimed the numerous valleys and dells of the 
