152 
MADAGASCAR 
arisen towards the south with plentiful traffic, such as 
Mahanoro and Mahela, because these places have a very 
productive hinterland, and the shortest and most conve¬ 
nient route to the coast for the conveyance of agricultural 
produce, especially rice, passes through them. 
As there are in Madagascar neither roads nor suitable 
transport animMs, it is inevitable that the numerous rivers 
on the east coast should have a strong influence on the 
settlements in the interior. River-navigation is highly 
developed here, and it is along the course of the rivers 
that the villages of the Betsimisaraka are chiefly to be 
found. These are always erecteci on elevated places, that 
the abundant tropical rains may flow off rapidly. The lower 
course of the rivers is short, rapids or waterfalls make 
it impossible for ships to pass into the mountain region, 
and a strikingly large settlement is always to be found 
just above a waterfall. This serves as an emporium 
for the produce from the interior—namely, rice and 
coffee. Here the native Creole traders make their purchases 
and load their boats with the goods that they bring down 
the river to the coast. 
/ 
