We noticed just now the signs of the ancient villages and towns in the central province; but something may be added here as to the existing villages we see as we travel through it. The ancient towns were, as we have seen, all built for safety on the top of hills, and many of those now inhabited by the people are still so situated, although in several districts the French authorities have obliged them to leave the old sites and build their houses, with plenty of space round each, on the sides of the newly made roads. But a good number of the old style of village still remain, and it is these I want to describe. They mostly have deep fosses, cut in the hard red soil, surrounding them, about twenty to thirty feet across, and as many feet deep, sometimes still deeper; and before guns and cannons were brought into the country they must have formed very effective defences against an enemy, especially as there is often a double or even treble series of them. The gateways, sometimes three deep, are formed of stone, often in large slabs, and instead of a gate a great circular stone, eight or ten feet in diameter, was rolled across the opening and was fitted into rough grooves on either side, and wedged up with other stones inside the gate. I have slept in villages where it was necessary to call several men before one could leave in the morning, until they had answered our inquiry: “Who shall roll us away the stone?” In these fosses, which are of course always damp, with good soil, ferns and wild plants grow luxuriantly; and the bottom forms a plantation in which peach, banana, guava and other fruit trees are cultivated, as well as coffee, arums and a variety of vegetables. Tall trees often grow there, so that these _hàdy_ or fosses are often the prettiest feature of the village. It must be added that the paths between and leading to the gateways are often winding, and formed by a thick mass of prickly plants. In some parts of the central provinces the villages have no deep trenches round them, but they are protected by a dense and wide plantation of prickly pear. The thick, fleshy, twisted stems, the gaily tinted flowers, and even the fruits, are all armed with spines and stinging hairs; and it is no easy matter to get rid of the minute little needles, if they once get into one’s skin. So one sees that a thick hedge of prickly pear was a very effectual defence against enemies, especially since the people wore no shoes or any protection for legs and feet. In many places, instead of prickly pear, the fence round the village is made of _tsiàfakòmby_ (“impassable by cattle”), a shrub with bright yellow flowers and full of hook-like prickles. In some cases, instead of a door at the gateway, a number of short poles are hung from a cross-piece at the top, which passes through a hole in each of them; and one has to hold up two or three poles in order to pass through.