The other carnivora of Madagascar are all small animals, and are rarely seen except when trapped. They all belong to the viverridæ or civets, two to the civets proper, five (or six) being mungooses, and one, an ichneumon. The mungooses, known to the Malagasy under the name of _Vontsìra_, somewhat resemble the weasels and ferrets of Europe, except that they are not exclusively flesh feeders. They feed upon poultry, rats and mice, and also fruits. The ichneumon, or _Fanàloka_, is about twenty inches long, with a bushy tail of about a third that length, and is covered with thick warm brown fur. Its claws are long and are used to dig up the eggs of the crocodile, on which it is said to feed. [Sidenote: COLOURED FISH] Although we saw an occasional angler on the banks of the river, we were not fortunate enough to see any of the fish. According to M. Pollen, the rivers of the north-west contain a number of fish, many of which are coloured in a most striking manner; the plates of his valuable work on the fauna of the island show these as banded and barred with the most vivid colours—blue, scarlet, black and yellow—in fact, very much like those strikingly coloured and curiously marked fishes which inhabit the sea round coral reefs and feed upon the brightly tinted polyps. Wednesday afternoon’s voyage was, as regards scenery, the most beautiful of the whole journey. Instead of the country becoming flatter as we approach the sea, it increases in boldness and picturesqueness. Lines of hills covered with wood lie in all directions, and amongst these the river winds, making sudden turns almost at right angles, so that we proceeded towards almost every point of the compass except due south. A few scattered hamlets, of three to six huts each, began to appear. The crocodiles were numerous, from the old patriarch to the infant of a foot or so long. We must have seen a hundred of them that afternoon. We had some difficulty in landing and pitching our tents, and on account of the heat and the mosquitoes passed the most uncomfortable night of the entire journey. Hardly anyone was able to sleep, and I was glad to get up at four o’clock and dress in the bright moonlight and rouse up the others. [Sidenote: OUTRIGGER CANOES]