In the centre of the village may often be seen the large family tomb of the chief man of the place, the owner of much of the land and many of the neighbouring rice-fields. If he is an andrìana, or of noble birth, the stonework is surmounted by a small wooden house, with thatched or shingled roof, and a door, but no window. This is called _tràno màsina_, “sacred house,” or _tràno manàra_, “cold house,” because it has no hearth or fire. Seen from a distance, these Malagasy villages often look very pretty and picturesque, for “distance lends enchantment to the view.” Round some of them tall trees, called _àviàvy_, a species of _ficus_, grow, which are something like an English elm in appearance. In others one or two great _amòntana_ trees may be seen; these are also a species of fig-tree, and have large and glossy leaves. The _amòntana_ is evergreen, while the _àviàvy_ is deciduous. A beautiful tree, called _zàhana_, is also common, with hundreds of pink flowers and sweetish fruit like a pea-pod. In the fosses is often seen the _amìana_, a tall tree-nettle, with large deeply cut and velvety leaves with stinging hairs. Many kinds of shrubs often make the place gay with flowers, especially in the hot season. [Sidenote: HOVA CHILDREN] But what are the Hova children like? How are they dressed? And what do they play at? They are brown-skinned, some very light olive in colour, and some much darker. As a rule they have little clothing; perhaps some of the boys may have a straw hat, but no shoes or stockings, and they are often dirty and little cared for. On Sundays and on special occasions the girls are often dressed in print frocks, and the boys in jackets of similar material, and with a clean white calico _làmba_ overall; but on weekdays a small _làmba_ of soiled and coarse hemp cloth often forms almost their only clothing. Of course the children of well-to-do people are sometimes very nicely dressed, although they too often go about in a rather dirty fashion. I am here, however, speaking of the majority of the children one sees, those of the poorer children of a village.[10] One day some of us went for a ride to a village about two miles from Ambòhimànga. A number of children followed us about as we collected ferns in a _hàdy_, and, as a group of seven or eight of them sat near us, we calculated that the value of all they had on would not amount to one shilling!