During the three or four hours’ waiting on the river bank we had a good opportunity of observing the people from the village just above, who came down to watch our passage over the water. Amongst them was a girl whose appearance was so striking that I must attempt a description of her. She was a comely lassie, although a dark-skinned one, and was so ornamented as to be conspicuous among her companions even at some distance. Round her head she had the same fillet of white beads with a metal plate in the front which we had observed at Ivòhitròsa, but from it depended a row of small beads like drops. On each side of her temples hung a long ornament of hair and beads reaching below her chin, several beads hung from her ears, and a number of white and oblong beads were worked into her hair at the back. Round her neck she had six strings of large beads, and another passing over one shoulder and under the arm. On each wrist were three or four silver bracelets, while on every finger and thumb were several coils of brass wire. Her clothing was a piece of bark cloth fastened just above the hips, over a skirt of fine mat, and on each toe was a brass ring. Thus “from top to toe” she was got up regardless of expense; she was probably the daughter of the chief; anyhow, she was evidently the village belle, and seemed well aware of the fact. [Illustration: TANÀLA SPEARMEN Note the wooden shields covered with bullock’s hide, and the charm on a man’s breast. They are very expert spearmen] Our route towards the sea was now over a comparatively level country, but not without many steep ascents and descents, and generally following the valley of the Màtitànana. As I took with me a good theodolite, I was able to make a running survey of a large portion of our journey, and to map, for the first time, that river valley. The path was often hidden by long grass which was much higher than our heads, the bearers’ feet being frequently hurt by the sharp prickly grass called _tsèvoka_. We had beautiful views of the river, and the foliage became most luxuriant; the valleys were full of the elegant traveller’s tree, while in front of us whole hills were covered with the lovely light green of the bamboo, with its graceful curving head and fine pinnate leaves at every joint. A very prominent feature in the vegetation of many places we passed through was the _longòzy_, a plant which seemed frequently to prevent anything else from growing (_Amomum angustifolium_). It has a rod-like stem, rising sometimes from twelve to fourteen feet high, with leaves a foot or more long, growing alternately on each side the stem. At the base grow the fruits in a bright, smooth, scarlet husk, two or three inches long, enclosing a white silky-looking pulp containing a number of purplish-black seeds, the cardamom of commerce. The pulp has a pleasant acid taste, but if one of the seeds is broken a pungent burning sensation is experienced at the back of the mouth. [Sidenote: TANÀLA HOUSES]