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26 VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. CHAP. II. myself more at home in answering his questions, and those of others who spoke in French, respecting the missionaries who had formerly been in Madagascar. In the meantime, they freely answered the questions asked by Mr. Cameron in the native language respecting the officers and others he had formerly known, and the general state of affairs at the capital. After remaining here some time, the harbour master in vited us to his own dwelling, a short distance further from the shore. On arriving, we entered a large enclosure formed with sticks, or small poles, about an inch and a half in diameter, and eight or nine feet high, fixed upright in the ground and fastened together with a tough and fibrous species of creeper. Part of this large enclosure was fenced off as a cattle fold; other parts were occupied by the dwellings of some of his assistants and the huts of his slaves; while the rest was under cultivation. In this garden a few plants of tobacco, some pine apples, and a large quantity of sweet potatoes were growing, and looked remarkably well. Besides some very tall and grace ful cocoa palms and one or two species of pandanus, there were some fine trees in the enclosure covered with fresh and shining leaves, which added greatly to the charm of the place, not only by their beautiful appearance, but by the depth and extent of shade they afforded. One of these, apparently a Zizyphus jujuba, bearing a small edible fruit, was remarkably fine, as was also a species of betonica, and an indigenous citron, of which there are two kinds peculiar to Madagascar, with rich glossy foliage. The house of the harbour master was a well constructed native dwelling, about forty feet long and between twenty and thirty feet high, with a door in the centre and a window on each side, the whole front shaded by a broad verandah, and the house thatched with the leaves of the traveller’s tree. The floor of the verandah, as well as the house, was formed of thick planks or boards neatly joined, and raised a foot and a