PRODUCE 
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of whitish colour with a brown spot at the tip of the 
anterior wing. The silk of this cocoon cannot be wound 
off, it is pulled away and the material itself is spun. The 
yarn is coloured light yellow, green, red or violet, and 
the cloths produced have polygonal figures woven into 
them. They are generally 10 ft. long and 5 ft. broad, 
and these gorgeous tissues are high in price. A fine 
lamba of silk fetches 20, 50 or even 80 piastres (about 
four shillings). 
Another branch of industry in which the Malagasy 
display great skill, is straw plaiting. The numberless 
rushes and the stalks of the rice-plant supply a material, 
obtainable everywhere, from which hats, caps, napkins, 
mats etc. are plaited. By the introduction of coloured 
straws really tasteful patterns are produced. The chief 
market for straw goods is the city of Antananarivo, 
where they are often sold to supply the east coast. 
The Hova artizans have an unusual aptitude for metal 
work. There are really good workers in gold and silver 
among them, who imitate European articles such as 
bracelets, chains, earrings, etc., with great skill; but under 
the former condition of things these people had no in¬ 
terest in cultivating their talent; on the contrary, they 
endeavoured to conceal it, for the Hova government 
used to take inordinate advantage of skill of this kind, 
and requisitioned their services without payment. The 
iron workers prepare lance-heads, knives, axes and similar 
articles, but they are of somewhat primitive workmanship. 
As bellows for the forges they use two upright cylinders 
in which the pistons are moved up and down alternately, 
similar to those in use in the Malay archipelago. 
The workers in horn produce really beautiful work, 
which, it is true, is suggestive of a European origin; 
spoons, boxes, cups, plates, bowls etc. The large 
horn of the Madagascar ox serves as material. It is 
warmed over a gentle fire and cut into plates of different 
