* @param _typecode Datatype (a single character)
     * @return The new multiarray
     */
    public static PyMultiarray ascontiguous(final PyObject seq, final char _typecode) {
        if (seq instanceof PyMultiarray && ((PyMultiarray) (seq)).isContiguous
                &&
                ((PyMultiarray) seq)._typecode == _typecode) { return (PyMultiarray) seq; }
        return PyMultiarray.array(seq, _typecode);
    }