Many trees affording beautiful and valuable timber are found in these western woods; among these is one yielding the kind called by cabinet-makers “zebra-wood,” while ebony is obtained from one or more of the twenty-two species of Diospyros known in the island. We have seen the mangrove (Rhizophora mucronata) on the shores of Bèmbatòka Bay, and this tree is found at the mouths of almost all the rivers and inlets on the north-western coast, where it is the most prominent feature in the extensive swamps, probably also helping to extend the land.
FISHING EAGLES
We had no opportunity of seeing the largest of the Madagascar birds, the Ankoày, or fishing eagle (Haliaetus vociferoides), although it is found all along the western coast. It is a large and handsome bird, and is said to keep watch on a tree or cliff at the edge of the water, swooping down like lightning into the sea after its finny prey, and being able to arrest instantaneously its downward flight. M. Grandidier says that a single pair of these eagles is found in very many of the innumerable small bays of the north-western coast, and of this they take exclusive possession, allowing no other eagle to encroach on their own preserves. They feed principally on fish, catching adroitly those which appear near the surface. The name of Ankoày applied to this bird appears to be an imitative one derived from its cry of hoai, hoai.
It is doubtful whether there is another eagle really indigenous to Madagascar, although a harrier-eagle (Eutriorchis) was once shot in the Mangòro valley; if this was not a chance immigrant, it must be extremely rare. This one example was remarkable for the extreme shortness of its wings, and immoderate length of tail.
TURTLES
One of the most important occupations of the coast Sàkalàva is the catching of turtles (fàno). Some of these creatures are oval in form and very fat and plump, others are much thinner and flat; of these latter, some are said to attain a length of eight or nine feet. In catching them the natives go out to sea in the early morning, when the turtles come to the surface to enjoy their morning nap, and at which time the sea is usually very smooth. A kind of harpoon, about twelve feet long, shod with a piece of barbed iron is used, and to this a strong rope, a couple of hundred yards in length, is attached. Great care and caution has to be used in approaching the sleeping animal, for, if struck, it dives down immediately, and the fisherman will not leave go of the rope, but dives down with it, if the water is deep. The natives seem to be able to stop an extraordinary time under water. As soon as the turtle is secured, the captors make for the shore, and all the people gather together to share in the feast. Nobody must bring anything from a house to the spot, for the animal must be wrenched open and cut in pieces with knives belonging to the canoe, it must be cooked in sea-water in the shell of the turtle itself, and served in scoops or other vessels from the canoe, or in pieces of turtle-shell. None of the flesh is allowed to be brought into a house to be cooked or eaten there. All these and several other precautions are ancestral customs and must be religiously observed, or the turtles would disappear.
A curious account is given by the natives of the north-west coast of a fish which they call Hàmby, whose length is said to be about that of a man’s arm, and its girth about that of his thigh. Its dorsal fin, they say, is just like a brush, and it has a liquid about it, sticky like glue, and when it fastens on to another fish from below, with this brush on its head, the fish cannot get away, but is held fast. On account of this peculiarity, the people use the hàmby to fish with. When they catch one, they confine it in a light cage, which they fasten in the sea, feeding it daily with cooked rice or small fish; and when they want to use it, they tie a long cord round its tail and let it go, following it in a canoe. When it fastens on a fish they pull it in and secure the spoil. I wonder whether this fish has any connection with one found on the east coast, which is called Làdintavìa, and is said by Mr Connorton to be covered with a kind of slime, so that when many of them are together, it looks as if they are floating in a thick lather of soap.
Two or more kinds of oysters are found on this north-west coast; one of these is called by the people Sàja, which may be seen covering the rocks in great abundance on the seashore at low water. It is a small oyster, but excellent in quality. Another kind, called Téfaka, is only found at some depth below water. It is a much larger oyster than the sàja, with the interior of the shell beautifully pearly. It is said to be delicious in flavour. Quite recently an English company was projected to exploit these oyster beds for pearls and for the pearly shells themselves.
Another sea-living creature in Madagascar waters is a species of octopus called Horìta, which, notwithstanding its repulsive appearance, is reckoned a delicacy by the coast people, although Europeans who have tried it pronounce it as tough and gluey and uneatable, although cooked for a long time.
HERONS