There are many pleasant walks in different directions through the woods, some of them merely woodcutters’ paths, and others broader, where a palanquin can be taken. One cannot go far, however, without having to go down steep descents and again having a stiff climb; but the variety of leafage, the frequent occurrence of some beautiful flower or bright-coloured berry or fruit, or gay insect makes a walk full of interest; and when we reach a high point there are extensive views over the undulating masses of green foliage of very varied tints around one, and the bare Ankay plain, with the distant lower forest, twenty or thirty miles away, and fading into the distance north and south. Reptiles are not very conspicuous in these woods; one seldom sees a snake, although probably the dense undergrowth affords them sufficient concealment. In the outskirts of the forest, however, and indeed all over Imèrina, a pretty snake, from eighteen inches to two feet long, is frequently seen, dark brown in colour, with fine white lines along its slender length. The under side is white. Notwithstanding the innocuous character of these little snakes, it is amusing to see the dread the people have of them; our bearers, for instance, will leap away from them as if they were treading on the sharpest thorns. Some superstitious notions may partly account for this fear, as one of the former chief idols of the Hova, called Ramàhavàly (“the Avenger”), was supposed to be the patron and lord of serpents. One sometimes sees a water-snake swimming over the surface of a pond in a most graceful fashion. [Sidenote: LIZARDS]