CRAYFISH
While staying near the upper forest we had frequently brought to us for sale a basketful of crayfish, which seems fairly plentiful in the streams. This species (Astacoides madagascariensis), with its genus, is endemic in Madagascar, and in the interior is of small size, averaging about three inches in length; the flavour, however, is excellent, and it makes a very good curry. In the south-east provinces, and probably in other coast districts as well, it attains larger dimensions than the above, being about six inches long. It is a curious fact that crustaceans are entirely absent in the African continent, and that the Madagascar species is much like the kind found in Australia, except that the latter is about twice the size of Astacoides.
There is a great variety of ferns to be found in every damp place in the valleys, from the minute hymenophyllums on the tree trunks to the larger species of Asplenium, Osmunda, Nephrodium and many others, up to the tree-ferns, of which there are about twenty different kinds, and which give a special charm to the vegetation in many places. On the eastern side of Madagascar the ferns occupy a prominent place in the flora, there being above two hundred species already known, and comprising no less than above thirteen per cent. of the whole flora of that region. Among the Filici are the beautiful gold ferns and silver ferns, the seed-vessels on the under side of the fronds having quite the effect of the two precious metals. The young leaves of a tree found in the forest (Eleocarpus sericeus), when dried and pressed, form the beautiful objects known as “gold leaves.”
VALUABLE TREES
A large number of the forest trees yield substances of commercial value. Two species of climbing plants afford india-rubber, one of the most valuable exports of the island. A tree called Nàto supplies a bark which is largely employed by the natives in dyeing the deep red used for their silk làmbas, especially those used to wrap the bodies of the dead. Other trees yield various gums and resins, one of these being the valuable gum-copal, of which quantities are exported. From several other trees tough fibres are obtained for the manufacture of cord and rope; while from a palm called Vònitra the “bass fibre” or piassava is taken, which is used for making brooms, brushes, etc. A shrub, a species of castor-oil plant, supplies seeds which are so full of oil or fat that they are strung on a reed like beads and are used to give light, so that it is called “the candle-nut tree.” When one end is lit, the seeds burn steadily, giving a light about equal to that of two good candles and leaving no ash. A very considerable number of trees and plants are employed in various ways by the Malagasy as medicine, both for internal and external use; and although the virtue of some of these may be imaginative only, there can be little doubt that in numbers of instances these native remedies are of value. Probably a careful examination of them would give some valuable additions to the pharmacopœia.
Among the forest trees is a considerable number which yield valuable timber, most of them hard and beautifully grained woods, which are employed for cabinet-work as well as in house carpentry. In the great palace at Antanànarìvo, the three central columns supporting the ridge of the roof are said to be each formed of the trunk of a single tree; the roof is a hundred and twenty feet high, and these pillars are sunk some way in the earth. One of these timber trees, called Vòambòana, is extensively used for making furniture—tables, sideboards, wardrobes, writing-desks, bookshelves, etc.—and resembles mahogany. Another tree called Hàrahàra has extremely hard wood, and is employed for the long spade handles, and formerly for spear shafts. One species of pine known as Hètatra, the only example of that order in the island, gives a hard white wood used for flooring; while ebony is procured from one or two endemic species of Diospyros; sandalwood is also reported to be found in certain localities.
SUPERSTITIONS
It will easily be believed that the mysteriousness of the forest has produced many superstitious notions among the Malagasy, and they have curious stories of marvellous creatures and monsters inhabiting these dense woods. One of these is called Kinòly, and is said to be human in origin, for although it has no intestines or stomach, yet in all its other parts it is like a living person. Its eyes are red, and its nails long; and, with others of its kind, it is said to be constantly thieving, so that when anyone leaves out cooked rice or other food, it takes it. It is difficult, however, to reconcile such accounts with that of their bowelless condition; it is thought to be a great misfortune to meet a kinòly. Another strange creature is called Tòkan-tòngotra, or “Single foot,” because it is said to have only one fore and one hind leg! It is so exceedingly swift that no other creature has a chance of escaping it; it eats men and goes about at night. Still another strange beast is called Siòna, which has also, like the kinòly, something human about it. It is said to live away from men, and when anyone goes through the woods and leaves his rice, or his axe, these are taken by the siòna and conveyed to its abode. When the woodmen go to sleep and leave a fire still burning (for their custom is to leave a big log on the hearth, so that they may be kept warm), then this creature comes and warms itself. Possibly the habits of some of the larger lemurs have given rise to such stories, aided by a good deal of imagination; and the tòkan-tòngotra story probably comes from the herons or flamingoes, which have the habit of standing on one leg when asleep.
In passing along the forest paths we frequently come across examples of the curious ball-insect (Spherotherium sp.), of which there are several species, at least six, in Madagascar. These insects, which are wingless and many-footed, and are called, not very elegantly, by the Malagasy Tainkìntana, or “Star-droppings,” have the power of instantaneously rolling themselves into an almost perfect sphere, which form they retain as long as any danger threatens them, and no force short of pulling them to pieces can make them unroll. The animal is formed of nine or ten segments, each with a pair of legs and covered with a plate of armour; while the head and tail are defended by larger plates, each of which fits into the other and makes a more perfectly fitting suit of armour than was ever worn by medieval knight. There are several species of these pretty and curious creatures. The most common kind here is one which forms a ball barely an inch in diameter and shining black in colour. Another, more rarely seen in the interior open country, but common enough in the upper belt of forest, is of a beautiful brown colour like russia leather, and is quite double the size of the first-mentioned one. In passing through the main forest in 1892, we came suddenly one day to a part of the road which was so thickly covered by such a great number of these creatures that our bearers could not avoid trampling on them. These were of a bronze-green tint and belong to a third species, and were quite three inches in length. Other species of these Sphærotheria are found in Africa, Asia, Australia and some of the neighbouring islands.
Another many-footed and wingless creature is common enough in the upper forest, for we often found it on the upper verandah of the house at Andràngalòaka; this is a shining black millipede, about a foot in length, and half to three-quarters of an inch in thickness. It is called by the natives Kòdikòdy, and its numerous reddish legs, not far short of a thousand in number, have a curious effect of successive waves as it moves along. Although not very inviting in appearance, it is quite harmless and is a vegetable feeder. There is another species, which is marked longitudinally with black and red stripes.