SMALLER LSLANDS NEAR MADAGASCAR 
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of the plantations, which the Sakalava could never be 
brought to do; we also find Hova occasionally, besides 
Hindoo and Arab traders. 
Even Comoro islanders from Johanna have made 
their way here; they are cunning and averse to 
labour, but are popular as jesters. They are in the 
habit of performing their dances in the evening; they 
Helville on Nossi-Be. 
usually live at the cost of their good-natured Sakalava 
wives, whom they have married in order to be supported 
by them. 
The busiest spot on the island is Helville, with its 
European buildings. It lies on a flat elevation in a 
charming situation beside the wide roadstead and 
opposite to the mighty mass of Nossi-Cumba. To the 
west are dimly seen the ruddy hills reaching to Cape 
Finaloa; in the east is the slope of the forest of Lokube. 
