IRRITATING DELAY
The afternoon wore on; the doctor took photographs of the opposite shore; Mr Pillans and I took bearings for the map, and collected shells; and at last, after waiting two hours, we reluctantly came to the conclusion that we must go back to the village in the swamp, which we accordingly did. However, we were not so uncomfortable as we had feared, nor did we take any harm from the damp conditions. The head people came to present beef, etc., but I fear I answered them rather curtly, for we saw plainly it was never intended to let us get over the lake until the following day; but, with the usual native unwillingness to speak out plainly, they would not say so to begin with. In the book which Dr Mullens wrote on his return to England he says of this afternoon’s experiences: “I am afraid that the general depression seriously interfered with the reply of our friend, Mr Sibree. The dignity and fulness with which he usually dwelt upon the affairs of the kingdom and the health of the authorities, and the flowery eloquence with which he would describe the purpose of our visit, entirely failed him here. His reply was brief and guarded, and the two-pounder gun he passed over in total silence.”
A DEEP LAKE
On Wednesday morning we left Ambòhitsàra at half-past six, so as to cross the lake as soon after sunrise as possible, as this is always the calmest time of the day in Madagascar waters. We found about a dozen large canoes waiting for us; several of these were from thirty to forty feet long, and three to four feet beam, hollowed out of a single tree. We all embarked and got off soon after half-past seven, but the wind had already risen somewhat, and there was quite a swell on the water. But the sail across was most delightful. As we proceeded, the northern shores opened up, showing two deep bays stretching far away between the hills, and an island, where the Sihànaka made their last stand in resisting Hova domination. From that time it has not been allowed to be inhabited, but is only used for planting vegetables. We had only two paddlers, one at the head, and the other at the stern of the canoe, and so were an hour and ten minutes in crossing. We made an attempt to ascertain the depth of the lake with an old knife as a sinker, and a piece of string as a line, while the doctor, in true scientific fashion, “hove the lead.” I regret to say that no accurate information was obtained, for the sounding line was again and again thrown with the report, “no bottom.” But our short line was no doubt the reason of our ill-success. The lake is probably deep at its northern end, and it is certainly shallow at its southern extremity, gradually changing into marsh. Some of my missionary friends, who subsequently lived in Antsihànaka, have described voyages across the southern end of the Alaotra, where, amongst the dense growth of papyrus, rush, and tall grasses, the only practicable paths for a canoe are dark passages, almost tunnel-like, among the rank vegetation; and where a stranger might easily be lost in the watery and reedy wastes around him.
There can be no doubt that the present lake is but a small remnant of a much larger one; for, at a not very distant period, the water must have covered the whole plain of Antsihànaka, thus forming a lake five or six times the size of the present Alaotra. But at a yet earlier period still, this lake extended for a hundred miles farther south, down the Ankay plain, and for at least two hundred miles farther north, forming an immense extent of water, not much unlike the Tànganyika in Central Africa in size and outline, and of considerable depth; for Mr Baron found numerous indications of old shore-lines at elevations of eleven to twelve hundred feet above the present level. Doubtless, the gradual lowering of the valleys of the Mangòro to the south, and of the Màningòry to the north-east, drained off this great lake, leaving only the present comparatively small sheet of water as its representative.
BIRD LIFE
To an ordinary observer the Alaotra lake presents a good deal of bird life, as well as the large reptiles which bask in the sun on its shores. But to those who will examine more closely and will use a good microscope, there are minute forms of life, both animal and vegetable, which are wonderful for their beauty and their variety. Among the latter are the Algæ, of which my late friend, Mr Baron, made a collection, mostly from the neighbourhood of Alaotra, including a hundred and eighty species, of which seventy proved to be new to science. In a quarto pamphlet of fifty pages, with plates of two hundred different figures, these fresh-water algæ were minutely described, as belonging to thirteen different orders and thirty-one genera.[19] Many new and interesting species were thus revealed, and considerable additional knowledge of the distribution of known forms attained. Without actual inspection of the plates it is difficult to give any clear notion of the various remarkable, often strange, and frequently beautiful forms of these lowly organised plants as revealed by the microscope. The bi-lobed outlines of the Cosmaria are especially noticeable, and hardly less so are the stellate, triangular and multangular forms of other species. It is difficult to believe that some of these remarkable organisms are plants at all; in many cases they are more like some beautiful shell, delicately and elaborately sculptured; while in others they take the form of a simple cell—round, oval or triangular—often as if about to increase by fissure; while others again have curious processes, more like those of some grotesque polyp than anything belonging to the vegetable kingdom. These plants are additional illustrations of the wonders that lie hidden from ordinary observation in the mud of almost every pond and in the slime that gathers round almost every water-plant.
It is a rather interesting fact that the crocodile found in the Alaotra is a different species to that inhabiting all the rivers of Madagascar; but it is identical with the crocodile found fossil, together with the remains of the extinct hippopotamus and the gigantic birds and lemurs which inhabited the island probably until the appearance of man upon the scene. These reptiles are very numerous in the lake, for in the afternoons, on the small rocky islets which rise only a little above the water, the crocodiles are seen snapping at each other to get space to bask in the sun. In the small streams flowing into Alaotra they are numerous at all times of the day, so that if there are only a few canoes, people dare not cross for fear of being upset. Tortoises are also plentiful on the shores and islets of the lake. Two species of water-lily are found in the water, one being identical with the lotus of the Nile; besides these there are numerous other water-plants, one being a twining plant, called Tsihìtafòtotra (“the root not seen”), which twines about other plants in all possible directions, clinging to them by numerous little disks; and there are also two species of convolvulus (Ipomæa), with large red flowers. Besides the masses of papyrus (zozòro) and hèrana sedge, growing in the marshes and shallow parts of the lake, a gigantic and handsome grass, called Bàraràta, growing from twelve to fifteen feet high, is very abundant. It would be taken by ordinary people for a species of bamboo, for its size and the thickness of its jointed stem; its sharp prickly leaf sheaths near the root make it very unpleasant for the unshod feet of the natives. In and about the marshes occur the Jaboàdy, a species of wild cat, and also a kind of muskrat, both of strong scent.
MYTHICAL CREATURES
There are certain mythical creatures firmly believed by the Sihànaka to exist in Lake Alaotra. One of these is a monster having seven heads and known as Fanànim-pìto-lòha. It is said to be a sort of serpent, and when it lifts itself out of the water, as it does occasionally, its head touches the sky! There are also Andrìambàviràno (lit. “water-princesses”). These creatures, though residing beneath the water, never get wet, as they live in water-tight palaces. They are said to have hair reaching down to the waist. Veritable water-nymphs these!