[Sidenote: BEAUTY OF THE GRASS] Again were we charmed with the varied scenery of the route, and especially by the grasses, about which I have already spoken in this chapter, and which Dr Mullens graphically describes in a passage which may well conclude this account of our Antsihànaka journey. He says: “I received the impression, afterwards repeatedly confirmed, that one of the most beautiful things to be found in Madagascar is its grass. It is beautiful in the sheltered valleys, where the tender blades, enriched by the dew and the rain, are refreshing to the eye, and yield like velvet to the foot. But here the grass is in its glory on the great hills. Burnt year after year by long sweeping fires, it springs up again with a profusion which clasps huge rocks within its soft embrace. Here it is short but strong; there it rises in vast tufts, each of which contains many thousand blades and covers many feet of ground; and yet again it spreads over vast patches of country in thick, tall masses, which tower above men’s heads, open their tinted blades to the warm sun, and wave their myriads of golden feathers in the summer winds. And it is when we contemplate this rich but simple provision of the divine bounty, when we watch these masses of slender blades, each tuft a forest in itself, clothing with beauty what man has neglected, laying up store for man and beast, opening their golden hair to the dews by night and the warm winds by day, and joyously revelling in the life given them from above, that then we can, with Mr Ruskin, appreciate and share the admiration and the praise given by the Psalmist to Him ‘Who maketh the grass to grow upon the mountains.’”[20] [Sidenote: “NO MAN’S LAND”] The following day we had a long journey over “no man’s land,” taking provisions with us and stopping to dine by a stream half-way, and reached Mandànivàtsy before nightfall. Saturday morning we crossed the high ridge in the forest, entering Imèrina again, and got to Anjozòrobé in good time in the afternoon. After the fatigues of the week we had another pleasant Sabbath, the first of the month, with the good people there. Monday evening brought us to Ambòhitrérana, and a couple of hours’ ride on Tuesday morning took us home to Ambòhimànga in time for breakfast; thus completing in little more than nineteen days our very interesting journey and exploration. [18] Among the Sàkalàva, _Alaotra_ means “ocean” or “sea,” so that it is the sea-like sheet of water. _Cf._ the use of _Bahr_ among the Arabs, in _Bahr-Tabariyeh_, Sea of Tiberias, and _Bahr-Lut_, Sea of Lot—Dead Sea. [19] _Trans. Linn. Soc._, vol. v., pt. 2 (_Botany, 2nd Ser._).