HOT STREAMS
On the east coast and for some way westward there is no distinct rainy season, as in the interior of Madagascar; it rains more or less all through the year. The temperature did not exceed that of warm summer days in England, with cool mornings and evenings. We reached Rànomafàna as it was getting dusk, my lads bringing me in, as usual, at a smart trot, after doing fifteen or sixteen miles in less than four hours. The name of this village means “hot waters,” and is derived from some hot springs which bubble up in a small stream not far from the houses. The water close to this spot is too hot to touch with the hand or foot; but as it mingles with the cold river water it soon becomes tepid, and I found that in wading in the stream I could have any degree of heat or cold as I chose. Many people come to bathe in these hot waters, and find benefit in certain complaints.
At this place I procured specimens of that remarkable vegetable production, the lace-leaf plant, or water yam (Ouvirandra fenestralis). The existence of this plant had long been known to botanists, but it was introduced into Europe by the Rev. W. Ellis after his first visit to Madagascar (1853-1854); and from plants brought by him to England it was propagated, and specimens were sent to many of the chief botanical collections, as well as to Kew, Chiswick and the Crystal Palace. I knew of this plant being abundant in some of the streams on the east side of the island, and I therefore described it as well as I could to one of my bearers. A little time after our arrival at the village he brought me three or four plants, together with the roots, and in one case with the flower also attached. The leaves were from six to eight inches long and an inch and a half wide; but I afterwards found at Mauritius that they grew to more than double this size in the Royal Gardens at Pamplemousses.
THE LACE PLANT
As the name implies, the leaf is like a piece of lace-work, or, more strictly speaking, like a skeleton leaf, the spaces between the veining being open. The veining is something like that of a lily leaf, the longitudinal fibre running through the whole length, and crossed at very regular intervals by the transverse veins, which are of thread-like fineness. The specific name, fenestralis (“windowed”), conveys this idea of a regular arrangement of structure. The leaf-stalk varies in length with the depth of the water, always keeping a little below the surface. Each plant has ten or a dozen leaves branching from the root, which in the specimens brought to me resembled a small potato. It can be eaten, as its taste is like the farinaceous yam, common to most tropical countries; and from this likeness the generic name, ouvirandra, is derived—ouvy or òvy being the native word for yam. The plant grows in running water and thrives best in warm situations. The flower grows on a long stalk and rises a little above the surface of the water; it is of a pinkish colour, dividing into two curved hairy tufts. Few objects can be imagined more beautiful or interesting for cultivating in an aquarium than this lace-leaf plant, which Sir W. J. Hooker termed “one of the most curious of nature’s vegetable productions.” It is an endogenous plant, included in the order Juncaginaceæ, to which the arrow-grasses and the rushes belong; it is found not only in the eastern region, but occurs in streams near the upper belt of forest in the interior. It is said to be very tenacious of life, retaining its vitality even if the stream where it grows is dried up; the leaves in their various stages of growth pass through a gradation of colour, from a pale yellow to a dark olive-green. When full grown, its dark green leaves form the limit of a circle two or three feet in diameter.
Taking a walk round the village before it was dark, I noticed several houses raised on posts five or six feet above the ground. At the top of each post, just under the floor, was a projecting circle of wood a foot or more in diameter and polished very smooth. I found that these buildings were granaries, and were raised in this way to protect the rice from rats, which are a great annoyance in most parts of the country. The smooth ring of wood effectually prevented them from getting any farther than the top of the upright posts. The ladder for getting up to these granaries is a very primitive contrivance; it consists merely of a round pole with notches cut in the upper side to prevent the foot from slipping. On a subsequent visit to Madagascar my wife and I had to use one of these tràno àmbo (“raised houses”), as they are called, as a bedroom, and very clean and comfortable we found it, free from all insect plagues; the floor was of plaited bamboo, springy to walk on, although the getting up to it or down from it was a somewhat difficult feat.
OUR BEARERS
We were astir early on the Wednesday morning and left our quarters at six o’clock. It was a beautiful morning as we commenced our journey and began to mount hills and descend valleys and cross streams as before—with this difference, that the hills became higher and steeper, and the paths more difficult. How our men managed to carry themselves up and down, to say nothing of the heavy loads on their shoulders, puzzled me, but they did their work apparently without much fatigue. I noticed that many of those who carried heavy loads had the flesh and muscles on the shoulders thickened into a sort of pad, caused, I suppose, from the constant weight and friction of their burdens. When carrying they wore but little clothing, merely the salàka or loin-cloth, and sometimes a sleeveless jacket of hempen cloth or other coarse material. In the cool mornings they generally wore over the shoulders the làmba[4] of rofìa, or of hemp cloth; but during the rest of the day this was bound tightly round the waist, or thrown upon the palanquin. The two sets of four bearers used to take the work in “spells” of a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes at a time; when the others relieved them they did not stop, but those taking the poles of the palanquin would stoop under and take it on their shoulders with hardly any jerk, even when running at full speed. Occasionally one set would take the duty for an hour or more, while if going fast, or on very difficult ground, they relieved each other very frequently. Every three or four minutes they changed the load from one shoulder to another, the leaders lifting the pole over their heads.
In proceeding on our journey we met great numbers of men bringing poultry, manioc, potatoes, rice, and other produce from the interior to the coast. These articles are mostly brought to Tamatave and other ports, so that the ships trading to these places are supplied with abundance of provisions at a very moderate rate. The poultry were enclosed in large open panniers or baskets made of strips of bamboo plaited together and slung at each end of a bamboo or a pole of light wood. We also overtook many men taking European goods up to the capital—quantities of cheap and gaudily painted crockery, iron cooking-pots, and a variety of other articles. Many also carried salt, and others the same open wicker baskets in which fowls are brought down, but now containing quantities of the fibre of the rofìa palm. This is taken up into the interior to be manufactured into cloth. Sometimes these men were met singly, or two or three together, but more often they travelled in companies of ten, twenty or thirty. Occasionally we met a Hova officer in a palanquin borne by his slaves, and often with his wife and other members of his family, also in palanquins, with female slaves attending them and running at a good pace to keep up with the men.
In one day we often saw a great variety of face and colour, and met representatives of several of the different tribes which people the island; and these differ considerably in colour and features. Among the faces we saw, although there were few that could be called handsome, judging by a European standard, there was yet a large proportion of good heads, with high, well-formed foreheads, and a general look of quickness and intelligence. The impression given was certainly not that of a race low in mental organisation or capabilities.