The marshes in Imèrina are not useless to the people, for a variety of useful plants grow there and are also planted in them. Among these are the _Hèrana_, a sedge which grows to three or four feet in height, and is extensively used for thatching native houses. If the roof is a proper pitch this sedge is very durable, and when cut and trimmed has a very neat appearance. Then there is the _Zozòro_, a much taller sedge, closely allied to the papyrus, with a triangular stem, and a feathery head of flowers. The strong tough peel is used to make the excellent mats employed for flooring, and also all sorts and sizes of baskets; the pith is used for stuffing pillows and mattresses; and the stems firmly fixed together are used for temporary doors and window shutters, and for beds. A rush, called _Hàzondràno_, is employed for making baskets and mats. As the colder weather advances, the mornings are often foggy, at least a thick white mist covers the plains and valleys soon after the sun rises and remains for an hour or two until his increasing power disperses it. Seen from the higher grounds and from the most elevated parts of the capital, this mist often presents a very beautiful appearance; a billowy sea of vapour is brilliantly lit up by the sunlight, and out of this sea the hill-tops rise up like islands. But these misty mornings also reveal many things which cannot be seen, or can only be seen by very close observation, in clear sunshine, especially the webs of various species of spider. There they are all the time, but we are not aware of their presence except on a misty autumn or winter morning, when a very delicate thread and filmy net is marked out by minute drops of moisture which reveal all their wonderful beauty of structure. Many kinds of bush are seen to be almost covered by geometrical webs: one species seems to choose the extremities of the branches of the _sòngosòngo Euphorbia_, but the most common is a web averaging five or six inches in diameter which is spread horizontally on tufts of grass, and may be seen by thousands, half-a-dozen or so in a square yard. This web has a funnel-shaped hole near the centre, with a little shaft leading down to the ground. Near this, the maker and tenant of the structure—a little greyish-brown spider about half-an-inch long—may often be found, if carefully searched for. As the sun gains power, these numerous webs become almost invisible, but before the moisture is all dried from them, they present a beautiful appearance in the sunshine, for they are exactly like the most delicate gauze, studded with numberless small diamonds, flashing with all the prismatic colours as we pass by and catch the light at varying angles. [Sidenote: SPIDERS]