[Sidenote: TREES] There are not many deciduous trees in Imèrina, so the numerous orchards, chiefly of mango-trees, look fresh and green throughout the year. But the Cape lilac, which does cast its leaves, is beginning to put out its bright green fronds; the peach-trees are a mass of pink blossom, unrelieved as yet by any leaves, and the _sòngosòngo_ (_Euphorbia splendens_), in the hedges is just beginning to show its brilliant scarlet or pale yellow bracts. Wild flowers are still scarce, but the lilac flowers of the _sèvabé_ (_Solanum auriculatum_) bloom all through the year. The golden-orange panicles of the _sèva_ (_Buddleia madagascariensis_), which has a sweetish scent, now appear. Nature is arousing from the inaction of the cold season, and the few trees now flowering give promise of the coming spring. And so, from year to year, every month brings some fresh interest in tree and flower, in bird and insect, in the employments of the people, and in the changing aspects of the sky by day and in the starry heavens by night. NOTE.—I may add here that of late years, through foreign influence preceding and following the French occupation, many new trees have been introduced into Madagascar, which have materially altered the look of the country in some provinces, especially in the Bétsiléo district. Millions of trees, chiefly species of eucalyptus, have been planted, especially along the roadsides, as well as mimosa, blackwood and _filào_. The beautiful purple bracts of the bougainvillea, and the large brilliant scarlet ones of the poinsettia, now give a much brighter appearance to gardens and public places, since they have been extensively planted in the capital and other large towns, as well as zinnias, crotons and cannas. [10] Of late years, since numbers of children attend Government schools as well as those of the various missions, a considerable improvement has taken place in children’s clothing. Knickerbockers and jackets are now the dress of hundreds of boys; but the native _làmba_ is still largely used, and is almost always part of girls’ dress. [Sidenote: STARS] [11] Curiously enough, the Malagasy appear to have given names only to these two prominent clusters of stars. The Pleiades they call “_Kòtokèli-miàdi-laona_”—_i.e._ “Little boys fighting over the rice mortar”; while the three stars of Orion’s belt they call “_Tèlo-no-ho-réfy_”—_i.e._ “Three make a fathom.” They have no name for the first-magnitude stars, or for the planets, except for Venus, as a morning star—viz. “_Fitàrikàndro_”—_i.e._ “Leader of the day.” CHAPTER X AT THE FOREST SANATORIUM