All over the Sihánaka country we had noticed the singular manner in which the people erect memorials of the dead. They take the thin poles of the _vintána_ tree, fix them firmly in the ground, and under the high fork of the tree they fasten a number of cattle-skulls and one or more tin boxes, baskets or mats. The latter articles were the property of the deceased: the skulls belonged to the cattle slaughtered at his decease. The relics are placed there, doubtless, according to the usual custom of the Malay tribes, best known to Englishmen from the North American Indians, under the idea that they will be useful to the deceased in the world to which he has gone. In the tombs of the nobles throughout Imerina, and especially in those of the royal family, the amount of property laid up in former days was very great. Forty years ago, on the death of one of our scholars, a young noble, his books, slate, pencils and copy books were placed with him in his tomb. Christianity, the great teacher of common sense, will soon change all that. Outside Márosalázana we found a larger group of these memorial poles than we had found anywhere else. There were twenty-four in all in six rows of four each: and we thought that the village had been named from them. Close to Márosalázana and at the end of the ridge on which it is built, stands the old fortress and town of Ambóhitrandriana, “Prince’s town.” It occupies the end of the bluff, and overhangs the waters of the lake which guard it on three sides. Deep fosses have been cut around the top, especially on the land side, with a view to render it impregnable. Only five of the Sihánaka hills have been fortified in this way. A recognition of all the circumstances of the province and the manners of the people produced the conviction that the Sihánaka province has been colonised from the east coast, and that its inhabitants are an offshoot of the Betsimisáraka tribe. Their houses are Betsimisáraka; their dress, their ornaments, the plaits of their hair, the necklaces of their women, are all from the same quarter. As a people they stand almost entirely alone. On the south lies the province of Ankay, the only district easily accessible: but all the northern part of Ankay is uninhabited; its population are Tanála and Bezanozano, working from the south: and their villages have not yet reached the large district without inhabitants through which we ourselves had passed. Access to the province on the west, east and north is barred off by the great mountains. In the north-east is the valley of the Maningory river, the outlet of the Lake Waters. It is evident that some pioneers, ascending this valley from the sea-coast near Fenoarivo, discovered the great plain, saw the rich soil, appreciated its capabilities, and invited their friends. The largest number of villages is still in this north-eastern corner, around the head of the lake. From this point they spread southward along the level