The north-west coasts, from the numerous estuaries surrounded with trees, are particularly favourable for such birds as the herons, some species of which are regarded as sacred by the natives, and are consequently less shy than these birds are in Europe, while others are very wary and most difficult to approach. In habits and feeding these Madagascar herons are much like the European and African species, mostly living on fish, molluscs and crustacea, the larger ones devouring reptiles and small birds and mammals, while the smaller kinds are insectivorous. They are often found in companies, including several different species, settled on the trees overhanging or near water, and remaining perfectly motionless for a long time. Some of the herons appear to be very common, as the ashy, the black-necked, the purple, the white-winged, the garzetta, and some others, and especially the small white egret, which we have noticed more than once in these chapters. Fifteen species of heron are found in Madagascar, three storks, a spoonbill, five ibises and a flamingo.
ISLAND OF NÒSIBÉ
It was a pleasure to us during our week’s stay at Mojangà to meet with several old acquaintances among the Hova officers stationed there; anyone coming from their loved Imèrina always received a warm welcome. On the Saturday of the week after our arrival there, the Packumba returned from Africa, and on the following morning we left in her for Aden and Europe. Steaming northwards, we kept in sight of the mainland of Madagascar during the next day, and this appeared bold and mountainous, and very different from the greater portion of the eastern coast of the island. There were many islands rising precipitously out of the sea, while ahead of us the lofty mountains of the island of Nòsibé soon appeared. These looked exactly like portions of the interior of Madagascar set down in the midst of the sea; the same red clay soil and the same markings of valley and ravine as seen all through the interior plateaux. Two or three very regular volcanic cones, truncated and showing the craters, were very prominent; these are parts of that chain of extinct vents of which we have seen numerous examples in our travelling through other parts of the country. Besides the main island of Nòsibé, there are many outlying portions of it, looking like detached islets dropped into the sea. Some of these are densely wooded from base to summit. Altogether, as may be seen from a brief glance at the map, the north-western side of Madagascar is totally different, with its numerous deep bays and inlets, from the eastern side, where there is almost a straight line for many hundreds of miles. The geology of the two sides is very different, and this has powerfully affected their physical geography.
We stayed several hours at Nòsibé, discharging and receiving cargo, and it was nearly sunset when we steamed away to the north-west for Mayotta. For several hours we could still see the island and the mainland by the glare of the burning grass on the hillsides; and these, for more than five years subsequently, were the last glimpses we had of Madagascar.
[32] See “The South-West Indian Ocean”; by J. C. F. Fryer; The Geographical Journal, September 1910; pp. 249-271.
MAP FOR “A NATURALIST IN MADAGASCAR.”
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