Tortoises—Gigantic Tortoises of Aldabra Island—Park-like Scenery—The Fierce Little Fòsa—Small Carnivora—Beautiful Woods—“Many Crocodiles” Town—A Curious Pulpit—A Hot Night—A Voyage in a Dhow—Close Quarters on its Deck—An Arab Dhow and its Rig—Bèmbatòka Bay—Mojangà—An Arab and Indian Town—An Ancient Arab Colony—Baobab-trees—Valuable Timber Trees—The Fishing Eagle—Turtles and Turtle-catching —Herons—The North-West Coast—A Fishing Fish—Oysters and Octopus—Nòsibé and Old Volcanoes—Our Last Glimpses of Madagascar LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Old Village Gateway with Circular Stone _Frontispiece_ FACING PAGE On the Coast Lagoons 28 A Forest Road 32 Low-class Girl fetching Water 50 A Sihànaka Woman playing the Vahiha 50 Bétsimisàraka Women 58 Hova Women weaving 58 Family Tomb of the late Prime Minister, Antanànarìvo 66 Royal Tombs, Antanànarìvo 66 Earthenware Pottery 76 Digging up Rice-fields 76 Pounding and winnowing Rice 78 Hova Middle-class Family at a Meal 78 Rocks near Ambàtovòry 92 Typical Hova House in the Ancient Style 96 On the Coast Lagoons 106 Transplanting Rice 112 Hova Tombs 118 Friday Market at Antanànarìvo 120 Ancient Village Gateway 124 A Forest Village 134 Chameleons 136 Anàlamazàotra 146 Memorial Carved Posts and Ox Horns 156 Blacksmith at Work 156 On the Coast Lagoons 166 Some Curious Madagascar Spiders 168 Sihànaka Men 176 Forest Village 176 A Wayside Market 180 Water-carriers 218 Hide-bearers resting by the Roadside 230 Bétsiléo Tombs 230 Memorial Stone 234