In the afternoon Mr Pillans and I set off to preach to the people at Ambòhipèno, who had received us so pleasantly on the preceding evening. We wanted to give our own men a perfect rest, and so got some Sihànaka bearers. They jolted us not a little; carrying logs of timber was much more in their line than carrying English missionaries. However, we got there quickly and found the little chapel filled with people waiting for us. On our way to and fro we noticed a peculiar appearance in the grass, as if small handfuls of it were tied together in a bundle, while still growing. On examining a tuft of this, we found the unusual appearance was caused by a small mass of fibres growing around, and the long awns intertwining, involving the neighbouring grasses in their clasp; the end of each is armed with a sharp and barbed point, fine and strong enough to pierce the skin. This grass (_Andropogon contortus_) the natives call _Léfon-dàmbo_ (“wild-hog’s spear”). In walking among this grass the awns cling to one’s trousers by hundreds, and gradually make their way through to the skin, causing a pricking like so many pins. Almost as annoying, although not so painful, is a plant called _Anantsinàhy_, which is found all over the central province, and of which the small dry seeds, called _Tsipòlotra_, are furnished with fine prickles, which make the seeds stick to your clothes by scores, as you pass through any piece of waste ground. [Sidenote: A DINNER WITH THE GOVERNOR] On getting back to Ampàrafàravòla, we found that the Governor wished us to dine with him and his officers in a small house which then served as the _làpa_. In the courtyard was a little shed, much out of repair, in which was a small cannon mounted on a very large carriage, one of those made by M. Laborde for the old queen. At some of the places we subsequently visited, after the usual loyal inquiries for the queen, great officers, and for the governor and lieutenant-governor of the Sihànaka, inquiry was also made as to the welfare of this little two-pounder gun! We _might_ have replied, but did not, that a cleaning now and then, and a little more thatch on the roof of its shed, would probably tend to prolong its existence and conduce to its general well-being. Our dinner was served in thoroughly native style, being cooked in the same place where we ate it, and with about a score of people helping to serve us guests, three in number. They gave us rice and some excellently cooked beef and turkey, and milk to drink. The chief cook would not allow us to make any permanent impression on the heaped-up piles of rice on our plates, for every few minutes they were replenished by fresh supplies of rice and gravy, so we were obliged at last to relinquish the unequal contest. Before dinner they came to ask us if the band should play during the entertainment (as is customary when the great people in Imèrina give feasts); but as I felt doubtful as to the