Perhaps more noticeable even than the old towns are the old tombs, as well as more modern ones, which meet one’s eye in the neighbourhood of every village. The Hova tombs are mostly constructed of rough stonework, undressed and laid without mortar; they are square in shape, from ten to twenty feet or more each way, and generally of two or three stages of three to four feet high, diminishing in size from the lowest. This superstructure surrounds and surmounts a chamber formed of massive slabs of bluish-grey granitic rock, partly sunk in the ground, and partly above it. In this chamber are stone shelves, on which the corpses, wrapped in a number of silk cloths or _làmba_, are laid. The tombs of wealthy people, as well as those of high rank, are often costly structures of dressed stonework, with cornices and carving; some are surmounted with an open arcade, and have stone shafts to carry lightning conductors. Within the last few years some large tombs have been made of burnt brick (externally), although no change is made in the ancient style of interior construction, with single stones for walls, roof, door and shelves. Near some villages are a large number of these great family tombs; and at one place, on the highroad from the present to the old capital, a long row of such tombs, from thirty to forty in all, may be seen. In many places a shapeless heap of stones, often overshadowed by a _Fàno_ tree, resembling an acacia, marks a grave of the Vazìmba, the earlier inhabitants of the country. These are still regarded with superstitious dread and veneration by the people, and offerings of rice, sugar-cane and other food are often placed on them. The winter months are a favourite time for the native custom of _famadìhana_—that is, of wrapping the corpses of their deceased relatives in fresh silk cloths, as well as removing some of them to a new tomb as soon as this is finished. These are quite holiday occasions and times of feasting and, not infrequently, of much that is evil in the way of drinking and licentiousness. CHAPTER IX AUTUMN AND WINTER Other noticeable objects when travelling about the central provinces are tall stones of rough undressed granite, from eight to twelve feet high, called _Vàtolàhy_ (_i.e._ “Male stones”), which have been erected in memory of some bygone worthy, or of some notable event, now forgotten, and which often crown the top of prominent hills. They are also sometimes memorials of those who went away to the wars of olden times, and who never returned to their homes. In these cases a square of small stones—at least three sides of one—is formed as part of the memorial, as a kind of pseudo-tomb. These little enclosures are from eight to ten feet square. A wonderful variety of lichens is often to be seen on these tall stones—red, yellow, grey of many shades, black, and pure white embroidering the rough stone. Some have supposed, from the name of these memorials, that we have here a relic of phallic worship.